The winter edition of The Fairyland for Fashion Paris has been hit by the exceptional circumstances of Coronavirus, which prevented almost 50% of the Chinese exhibitors from leaving their country to come to Paris. In some cases, the European agents of these Chinese companies were able to present the collections on the stands, according to the fair organiser, Messe Frankfurt France.

The six major trade fairs organised by Messe Frankfurt France that are dedicated to fabrics and materials, garment production, textile innovation, clothing and accessories hosted 7109 visitors. This means a drop in footfall (down 49% compared with the previous year), which is explained by the disruption of the market.

„The shows were held this year under very particular circumstances. Health checks conducted by the Chinese authorities prevented a large number of exhibitors from coming to France. Despite it all, our main Chinese partners have signalled their readiness to renew their confidence in us by confirming that they will certainly be back in September. As always, the players in this dynamic market will demonstrate their resilience and professionalism. Even if buyers decide to put alternative sourcing routes in place on a temporary basis in order to guarantee supplies, they will want to resume their usual routes quickly. For this reason, one can already imagine that the September session will be very good for business,” said Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt France.

„The shows were held this year under very particular circumstances. Health checks conducted by the Chinese authorities prevented a large number of exhibitors from coming to France. Despite it all, our main Chinese partners have signalled their readiness to renew their confidence in us by confirming that they will certainly be back in September. As always, the players in this dynamic market will demonstrate their resilience and professionalism. Even if buyers decide to put alternative sourcing routes in place on a temporary basis in order to guarantee supplies, they will want to resume their usual routes quickly. For this reason, one can already imagine that the September session will be very good for business” remarked Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt France.

The uncertainty regarding Chinese production that had prevailed since the beginning of the month has therefore helped to boost buyers’ average buying behaviour, since they were keen to secure their procurement with the exhibitors who were present. Countries such as Turkey, Korea – which was very impressive this year – Pakistan or Bangladesh appear to have benefited from this exceptional situation. A large number of buyers are already anticipating a clear strengthening of business in the coming months.

Small quantities much in demand

Circumstances also favoured, probably for similar reasons, orders for small quantities of textiles or finished garments. Texworld Paris was the first to offer this extra service for buyers, and designers in particular. A trend that is made easier by providing special signage at The Fairyland for Fashion trade fairs with the circuits for “Small Quantities„, “Artisan” or “Sustainable Sourcing„. At the same time, the segmentation and national pavilions have helped to give prominence to emerging countries for sourcing, such as Mongolia, which was exhibiting for the first time, and also Ethiopia, which was successful in demonstrating the extent of the country’s skills.