From the Sector

Unveiled at the forthcoming Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris trade fair, from 10 to 12 February at the Paris-Le-Bourget Exhibition Centre, the trend book for the Spring-Summer 2026 season opens up new creative worlds where emotion attempts to regain the upper hand over pure materials.

Entitled Néocène, the new forward-looking journey proposed by Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud, the artistic directors of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, explores a world undergoing profound change. Conceived against a backdrop of severe economic, social and environmental tensions, this document is the result of cross-referencing and analysing emerging signals detected and interpreted by a panel of stylists, designers, graphic artists, authors and scenographers. In four major themes, it sets out an aesthetic framework to help fashion designers and buyers develop their spring-summer 2026 collections.

1 wardrobe, 4 universes
A new era without humans, the Néocène is a clean slate, an indefinable horizon that obeys only the laws of physics. New shapes, new colours: each theme in this trend book reflects a creative universe organised around specific materials and 3 “star colours” in 6 intermediate shades. Presented in the introduction, these colours provide a glimpse of the palette for the collections to come.

#1 Quantum.
In this universe of atoms, everything is just energy, chance and freedom. This first proposal plunges back into the heart of substance with fluid, heated and incandescent materials, on the edge of solid and liquid. The soft textures and expanded forms are particularly at home here, and express themselves in a radiant, sunny colour system: spicy flavours, tones of tan and caramel are very present.

#2 Gravity.
“The structure of the universe [...] An invisible interdependence.” This theme plays on the multiple meanings of gravity: a heaviness that is both physical and emotional. Mineral and sandy materials, repetitive or sequential geometrical patterns, all find their place here, as do aqueous aspects and biomimetic and animal-inspired forms. The colour palette here is clearly diaphanous and serious, natural and diffuse.

#3 Relativity.
This proposition should be seen as a deepening of the previous theme, until the propositions are reversed: “Ugly has become beautiful [...] Stillness accelerates”. A world of oxymorons in which graphic motifs express a mummified vegetal world, supported by lines shaped like imprints, draped textures, embroideries intended as traces of an anterior world. The colours are those of ash, tattoo ink, animal... The blues and mauves are dark and intense.

#4 Magnetism.
In stark contrast to the other universes, this axis exalts order and renewal, and brings lightness, even fragility, to the creative approach. Transparency is assertive, as are floral motifs and curved, ample and comfortable lines. The colour palette is in tune with the emotion of the theme: marshmallows, sweet flavours, peach and blush pink are at the heart of the theme.

A new layout to maximize synergies
The return of the Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris shows to Halls 2, 3 and 4 of the Paris-Le-Bourget Exhibition Centre is accompanied by an exciting new space organisation to make the buying experience even more efficient and inspiring. At the heart of hall 2, the Trends Forum will captivate visitor with its four dynamic themes, and will also house all key services, including the Agora for engaging conferences and lively round-table discussions, as well as inviting restaurants. In terms of products and services, some Texworld and Apparel Sourcing sectors have been brought together to promote synergies, with coherent areas devoted to women's clothing (Hall 4) and outdoor-sportswear-casualwear (Hall 3). This layout not only makes the Apparel Sourcing offering easier to navigate but also optimises the entire sourcing process, providing a more streamlined and productive experience.

The summer edition of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris welcomed nearly 1,200 exhibitors from 26 countries. This season event was characterised by a number of new features and the dynamics remained satisfactory. Next event: February 10, 2025, in a partially renovated Paris-Le-Bourget exhibition centre for a session rich in initiatives.

The latest edition of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, offered in its full version with the Avantex and Leatherworld sectors, ended on July 3 with attendance levels down on the July 2023 session. Over and above a possible "Olympic Games effect" and its consequences on transport and accommodation costs in the capital, the current economic situation is prompting the show's organizers to explore all alternatives to adapt the offer to market demand. However, these results do not seem to have had any impact on the flow of business between visitors and exhibitors, who reported a fairly positive overall climate.

The dynamic on the booths remained steady and the exchanges satisfactory, as shown by several manufacturers particularly well established on the European market. Indian shirt manufacturer Sheraton Apparel, for example, made around thirty solid contacts over 3 days, and reported several serious approaches to African distributors. The same goes for SMIT, a Turkish company specialising in Made in Turkey sourcing, which was able to see its main European customers and open up new contacts with Canadian and Brazilian buyers.

An expanded offering
At the Near Sourcing Hub, the phygital sourcing space connected by QR Code to the B2B digital platform of Messe Frankfurt France partner FourSource, inquiries to exhibiting companies remained much the same as in 2023. The visitor profile, on the other hand, focused on buyers from networks of small multi-specialist boutiques looking for an original mid-to-top-range offering. It was in response to this market demand for differentiation that the show organizers decided to extend Apparel Sourcing's range to include new categories in the fashion accessories sector, such as jewelry and bags.

High-profile initiatives
Other innovations were also on show this summer. The yarn pavilion - a first conceived in collaboration with Yarn Expo, originally a Shanghai show run by Messe Frankfurt - showcased the expertise of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and Taiwanese companies, while at the same time highlighting upstream products and services. At Avantex, where some twenty suppliers of solutions for more sustainable fashion were grouped together, the new Designer Hub enabled designers and buyers to discover some original initiatives, such as that of stylist Jean-Luc François' association, supported by Messe Frankfurt's Texpertise network, which trains people who are far from employment, or the 3D design studio Scotomalab.

Materra wins 2024 Avantex Fashion Pitch award
The Avantex Fashion Pitch jury has awarded the 2024 prize to Materra. This British start-up, founded in 2019, designs solutions to support the cotton cultivation adapted to climate change. At the other end of the chain, it offers brands a service designed on a Cotton-As-A-Service model that encourages them to source from the producers it supports. Materra will benefit from a €2,800 stand at Avantex Paris 2025 donated by Messe Frankfurt France, plus €2,000 from Texpertise Network, the textile sector network of the Messe Frankfurt Group, and 1 year's incubation at Foundry donated by IFA Paris, official partner of the competition.

A trendy area at Leatherworld
New for 2024, the Leatherworld sector inaugurated its Leather Trend area, developed in collaboration with publisher Edizioni AF and the Arsutoria School design centre. Designed around the expertise of Italian companies specialising in the manufacture of leather shoes and bags, this inspirational space presented the autumn-winter 25-26 trends through 4 creative axis built around the expression of simplicity, nature, dynamism (sportswear collections) and finally romanticism. Leather Trend was also an opportunity to discover the new leather tanning technology developed by Ecotan, which avoids the use of metals (Chrome) and chemicals in the leather preparation stages thanks to the use of vegetable tannins.

Nearly 8,000 international visitors came to meet the 1,300 exhibitors at Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris. This year's event was enhanced by a boldly designed showcase in the heart of Paris.
The offer was broader, more diversified and more accessible. Despite increasing requirements in the industry, visitor numbers remained stable. It was on these two objective notes that the latest edition of the Texworld and Apparel Sourcing Paris trade shows for the fashion industry came to a close, held from 5 to 7 February 2024 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. During these 3 days, nearly 8,000 visitors came to meet 1,300 weaving and clothing companies from 25 countries on the two levels of Hall 7 (7.2 and 7.3).

Visitors: a Euro-Mediterranean Top 5
This unprecedented concentration of international companies in Europe, which exceeds in number that of February 2019, is a reminder of the central role of European markets for the global fashion industry. This position is confirmed by the weight of buyers from the Euromed zone in the visitor structure: Top 5 is concentrated around buyers from France (20% of the total, up sharply on 2023), the UK (8.3%), Italy (7.9%), Turkey (7.2%) and Spain (6.8%). This Parisian event is proving to be an essential point of contact between designers, buyers and suppliers of fabrics or finished products.

Making the offer ever more accessible “Despite the slowdown in the clothing market, Europe remains a major market for textile and finished goods manufacturers" explains Frédéric Bougeard, President of Messe Frankfurt France. “For some players, it is becoming a strategic market to offset the uncertainties weighing on the Russian and American markets" he continues. Our mission is to fulfill our role as a market place, to adapt to these changes and to make the international offer more and more accessible." The February event also highlighted near sourcing. Nine Ukrainian companies grouped together under the banner of the Ukrainian Association of Textile and Leather Industry Companies (Ukrlegprom), as well as Bulgarian, Italian and Dutch companies, were able to take advantage of the show's visibility to include their expertise in the sourcing plans of French and European buyers.

Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, a new name for our trade fairs
Reflecting the adaptation of Messe Frankfurt France's strategy to changes in the market, Texworld Evolution Paris is changing its name to Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris. This move reflects developments in fashion sourcing and the expansion of brand universes. A growing number of buyers now want to be able to select materials, while also sourcing finished products directly to complement collections or expand their range. The new name is accompanied by a new dual baseline - Weaving the future; sourcing I business I solutions - to underline these developments and reinforce the fairs' service-led positioning.

From 1 to 3 July 2024 at Porte de Versailles
This new signature will be fully expressed at the next edition of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, including Avantex and Leatherworld, which will take place from 1 to 3 July 2024 in Hall 7 (7.2 and 7.3) of the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The show, which will remain the same size and offer a more selective range of products, will reflect this convergence between textiles and finished products. This session will also have no interaction with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which are due to open on 26 July, three weeks after Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris