From the Sector

• Autumn edition from Aug. 29-31, 2022, in Shanghai

Scheduled to take place in Nanjing in May, CHIC Spring requires another postponement due to the pandemic development of Covid19 in China. Organizers are focusing on the autumn edition of CHIC in Shanghai. From Aug. 29-31, the latest trends in the Chinese consumer market will be on display at the National Exhibition and Convention Center.

The trade fair concept is being revised for the autumn edition, which is expected to attract around 900 exhibitors. Ahead of the show, the CHIC LIVESTREAMING format will provide information on relevant topics during talks with industry experts on social media. The CHIC LIST OF THE BEST section of the trade show will also be launched. Based on industry research, it will showcase best practices and particularly successful brands in the areas of research and design, cultural values, technical innovation, best selling, etc.

CHIC is organized by Beijing Fashion Expo Co. Ltd. and China World Exhibitions sponsored by China National Garment Association, China World Trade Center and SubCouncil of Textile Industry (CCPIT).

DOMOTEX will not take place in January 2022. This was announced by Deutsche Messe AG as organizer of the leading trade show for carpets and floor coverings.

"We have been fighting for DOMOTEX together with the exhibiting companies until the very end, and have been in daily communication with the industry for months," says Sonia Wedell-Castellano, Global Director DOMOTEX, Deutsche Messe AG.

"DOMOTEX is particularly affected by the impact of the Corona pandemic, as the vast majority of DOMOTEX exhibitors and attendees come from abroad. However, given the current pandemic situation, international business travel is not expected to recover in the short term," adds Wedell-Castellano.

Just over a month ago, the organizers wanted to stage DOMOTEX in the southern part of the Hannover exhibition grounds in a compact format as a Re-Start event in three halls, thus giving the industry a chance to meet physically after almost two years of pandemic.

Wedell-Castellano: "What was considered a realistic and promising Re-Start scenario a month ago, and was also well received by the market, has proven to be no longer feasible in recent days."

The organizers are looking into a DOMOTEX date later in the 2022 calendar year. 

On the occasion of the VDMA press conference, André Wissenberg, Head of Marketing, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division, presented the company's concept for ITMA Asia with the claim: Clean Technology. Smart Factory.

Due to the Corona pandemic, Oerlikon has decided to concentrate with their Chinese sales and service teams on guests primarily from China and greater Asia. However, some experts from Germany, who are working in China at our locations anyway, will be live on site at the booth. Other experts from Germany, India and US will be available online for the entire 5 days of the trade fair and will simply be connected by video conference to the discussion with the visitors on site if there is a need for.

At ITMA Asia 2021, Oerlikon will present the next generation of an automatic texturing solution with up to 25 % energy saving and up to 30 % higher production speed, easy maintenance and best yarn quality. The core of this machine, the socalled EvoCooler, will be shown as an exhibit in combination with digital solutions like AIM4DTY. In the field of high-precision flow control solutions components, the two new gear metering pumps developments for the production of aramid and spandex will be presented as well.

• Next Jec World Will Take Place From March 8 To 10, 2022

The continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic unfolding throughout 2021 has forced the JEC World team to reexamine the possibility of holding the next edition of JEC World this year. Thus, after thorough consultation of clients and partners, the JEC World team has decided to postpone the next edition of JEC World to March 8 to 10, 2022.

Amidst growing concern among our exhibitors and partners surrounding the critical situation of the Covid 19 restrictive measures and other limitations in place in many countries, the JEC World team has decided to work on a new timeline to hold the next edition of the event in the best conditions in 2022. Thus, JEC World exhibitors were asked to respond to a survey offering two new dates to determine which one would suit them the most. It appeared that 89% of respondents favored holding the next JEC World session from March 8 to 10, 2022.

“The coronavirus pandemic situation has taken the central stage, so in light of the current situation, it would not be possible for us to satisfy our customers’ requirements for such an international trade fair as JEC World in June. We truly regret having to make this difficult decision once again. However, we are all committed, starting today, to deliver the best JEC World experience to our clients in 2022.” says Eric Pierrejean, CEO of JEC Group. “While waiting for welcoming the international composites community back to Paris in March 2022, JEC Group team is preparing various online Rendez-Vous in June enabling the entire composites community to discover trends and innovations, and to connect″, he added.

The leading composites event will take place from March 8 to 10, 2022, at Paris Nord Villepinte (same venue) and online for a new augmented experience.

As the leading trade show of the composites industry, JEC World will bring together the whole composites materials value chain and professionals from application sectors, experts from the scientific and academic world, associations, and media from more than 112 countries, introducing in 2022 its audience its new digital platform, JEC World Augmented.

“JEC World 2022 and the augmented platform  will bring the international composites community and specialists together to resume business, network, hold business meetings. They will also have the chance to participate in conferences, workshops, and discover the latest composites innovations,” says Adeline Larroque, Show director and EMEA events.

• Anita Tillmann, managing partner, about Premium Group´s January 2021 Events

“These are challenging times – for all of us. On one hand, because we can't meet up in the same carefree way as usual. And, on the other hand, because decisions have to be made based on factors that are out of everyone’s control. Alongside all this, it’s essential that we look to the future with positivity, that we use the time effectively and continue to advance in the face of adversity. This not only affects the trade show and event organisers, but the whole industry.

We have carried out market research and surveyed exhibitors, partners and buyers on the current circumstances. The objective was to obtain a data-based assessment of the current economic situation, a summary of the success of the exclusively digital events, and insights into the requirements of our network with regard to the physical trade shows. Following analysis of the data gathered we have established that there is a personal wish for an event to happen – inclusive of the appropriate hygiene measures – however, this is unfortunately not currently possible from a professional perspective. As long as there are delays to production and constantly changing travel and contact restrictions in place, we cannot put on any trade shows, conferences or events that would meet our demands or the demands of our exhibitors.

We have therefore decided not to hold PREMIUM, SEEK or FASHIONTECH next January. This was an incredibly difficult decision to make. Especially because we didn't want to say goodbye to Berlin without a fitting farewell.

Now, though, it’s about looking forward and concentrating on what is certain: Frankfurt Fashion Week, which we will be staging in July 2021 together with Messe Frankfurt, the City of Frankfurt and the region of Hessen. We have big plans and are working on a new, fresh start – not only for us, but also for all stakeholders in the fashion industry, nationally and internationally.

Another press conference is planned for the end of November, when we shall be introducing new concepts, partners and event formats. Preparations are already in full swing: we are having numerous discussions, sitting in workshops, activating partners, designers, publishers, politics and society so as to get a unique, fully formed event successfully up and running. Expectations are huge – and we intend to satisfy them. We are putting all our energy into this future-focussed project.

With the aim of being able to share our enthusiasm, we are planning a FFW Preview to present the new locations in Frankfurt am Main and the concepts to journalists, brands and retailers at the beginning of next year.

Until then, all we can say is this: stay curious. Stay optimistic. Because even though there won't be any events this coming January, the show does go on. True to form, that means there will be more business opportunities than ever before, along with innovative formats, events and conferences and a fully formed city concept that has never been imagined before.”

As the first composites trade show worldwide since the Covid-19-crisis, the China Composites in Shanghai (September 2 to 4, 2020) took up its activity. The show counted about 600 exhibitors and over 20 000 visitors, mostly Chinese locals, attended the exhibition.

Chinese Reach Group under the lead of its president Daniel He represented a large portfolio of European companies and their recent developments through their cooperation with Dr. Michael Effing´s AMAC/Germany, among them Airborne (NL), Textechno (D) and Conbility (D).

Daniel He describes the situation: „The Chinese market is picking up again; a price increase of 7% for glass fibers was announced right before the China Composites Show, on August 25th 2020, which was even leading to a temporary material shortage. Today, the most booming industries in China are wind energy, building and infrastructure and innovation for electric cars. Unlike the rest of the world, where the aircraft industry undergoes a deep decline, in China it takes up by 50 %, which is very promising. Furthermore, we expect half a year for a full recovery of the industry, while the China growth of 2020 is still expected to be between 2 and 4 %.“

Michael Effing replied: “Enabling the composites business between China and Europe is the aim of our cooperation with Reach and with our customers, which are active in digital automatization, testing equipment or cost optimization software. We are very happy to have been present in China through our representant Reach and are looking forward to bridge and overcome the Covid-19-crisis with our upcoming event in Germany, the Composites for Europe in Stuttgart in November and hope to be back to full global business speed at the JEC in Paris in 2021.“

ITM International Textile Machinery Exhibition and HIGHTEX International Technical Textiles and Nonwoven Exhibition, held every two years in partnership with Tüyap Tüm Fuarcılık Inc. and Teknik Fuarcılık Inc., and in cooperation with TEMSAD, were planned to be held between June 2-6 this year. However, as effects of Corona virus (Covid-19) continue to increasingly impact all the world, ITM and HIGHTEX exhibitions had been postponed to 14-18 July 2020, but it has been announced that the events have been rescheduled to 22-26 June 2021. 

Exhibitions Preparation Continue
Preparations for ITM and HIGHTEX 2021 Exhibitions continue at full steam to bring together hundreds of manufacturers and global investors who develop leading technologies in their fields. The latest technologies and new products to be displayed at ITM and HIGHTEX Exhibitions, which will open their doors in Istanbul Tuyap Fair Convention and Congress Center next year, will meet with textile investors from all over the world.
 
ITM 2018, where textile machinery leaders exhibited their latest technological products, turned into a trade show with global launches and hosted one of the largest meetings in the world, with 1150 exhibitors from 64 countries and 58.942 visitors (14.248 of them foreigners) from 94 countries.

• The PREMIUM GROUP in Berlin is cancelling its PREMIUM and SEEK trade shows for this summer season, as well as the FASHIONTECH conference – in collaboration with the leading global digital B2B marketplace, JOOR, there is still a guaranteed trading option.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, in April the dates of the PREMIUM GROUP’s events were provisionally moved from the original schedule of 31 June-2 July 2020 to 28 -30 July. Now, the Federal and State governments have decided to cancel large-scale events with over 1,000 visitors until 31 August 2020.
     
A statement from Anita Tillmann, Managing Partner of the PREMIUM GROUP: 

“We greatly regret the decision of course, especially after the success of our January events. The ban on large-scale events has been around for some time and has been publicly discussed. It hurts us to do it, but we are also conscious of our responsibility. If cancelling our trade shows, conferences and parties contributes to the safety of our customers and visitors, then we have to take this step.
 
We are in close contact with all our brands and partners and have spent the last four weeks discussing possible approaches, concepts and new focal topics for the summer. The bottom line is that digitalisation is clearly the focus. It’s all about using the time over the next few months sensibly. The timing for brands and retailers is now right – all market participants are aware of the necessity of this.

We have been working closely with JOOR, the leading B2B marketplace globally, for around a year, after successfully integrating our own digital platform, Veee.com. JOOR has digitalised the entire procurement process and ensures a seamless, functioning wholesale process on an international scale – both for brands and retailers.
 
We shall shortly be offering webinars on this and can offer our customers an optimal, digital ordering solution so as to use this time of the pandemic efficiently. We are very happy with this option and our year-long investment in the topic of digitalisation. This has come good for us now.
 
Our trade show formats have been about more than just ordering for a long time now. They are about encounters, emotion, inspiration, communication and, finally, the fashion community getting together. Although lots can take place digitally nowadays, it doesn't replace physically meeting up in person. We have seen this more than ever in the present situation.
 
We are going to work on new concepts for 2021, and we will liaise with the key stakeholders in Berlin and with all others too to ensure we hit the ground running again. We’re taking on the challenge and will come back to the industry when we have news.”