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Texworld Evolution show to relocate to Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris
Due to the renovation work to prepare the Le Bourget centre for the Paris Olympic Games, textile and apparel trade show Texworld Evolution had indicated it wanted to hold its July 2023 edition at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris. The event has now confirmed that all its summer sessions will be staged there, next door to international lingerie show SIL and sourcing show Interfilière.
Texworld Evolution will next be held in hall 1 of the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre from Monday July 3 to Wednesday 5. This means the event will overlap for two days with international lingerie show SIL, and with Interfilière, the trade show for lingerie and beachwear sourcing, both scheduled from Sunday July 2 to Tuesday 4. Texworld Evolution did not relocate its February edition this year only because there was no availability at Porte de Versailles.
Next year, because the Le Bourget exhibition centre will host the Paris Olympic Games’ media centre, Texworld’s February 2024 edition will instead exceptionally be held at Porte de Versailles. The event will be staged again at Le Bourget in February 2025, when in theory the exhibition centre will be served by a planned extension of the 17 line of the Paris underground.
Texworld’s July 2023 edition will simultaneously mark the event’s 25th anniversary and the 25th edition of Apparel Sourcing, its companion show dedicated to finished products, organised with the support of CCPIT-Tex, the textile industry’s sub-council within China’s Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The show is expected to host 1,300 exhibitors in July, and 250 have already signed up. Double the number compared to the 750 exhibitors at the show’s current session, being held at Le Bourget’s hall 4 on February 6-8 2023, with a layout featuring narrow, busy aisles, to maximise the number of stands.
“Our goal is to always make all exhibitors accessible and visible to buyers,” said Frédéric Bougeard, president of show organiser Messe Frankfurt France, who indicated there is an increased presence of exhibitors from Turkey, India, Korea, Ghana, Ethiopia and Uzbekistan, as well as China. Despite the fact that the show’s February edition could not accommodate all the Chinese companies wishing to exhibit, it is still hosting 450 of them. “Three years of forced absence have hardened the resolve [of Chinese companies] to come and meet European buyers,” said Bougeard.
He also said that the event is keen to offer more services based on participants’ requests. “We were told that organising business meetings for buyers was not necessary. On the other hand, we understood that a venue to talk business away from the stands would be welcome,” he added. Bougeard is therefore planning to enlarge the VIP area, where buyers will be able to meet manufacturers in ad hoc spaces.
Texworld Evolution also intends to place greater emphasis on providing details of the exhibitors’ sustainability commitments. An approach triggered by the growing demand in this field, but also by the fact that many exhibitors currently display their own labels and certifications. However, Bougeard emphasised that Texworld Evolution will not engage in checking sustainability claims, since buyers are knowledgeable enough not to be misled.
The future venue change raises the question of the connection with Première Vision Paris, held in Villepinte, hence relatively close to Le Bourget, but far from Porte de Versailles. Bougeard told FashionNetwork.com that shuttles will be organised between Porte de Versailles and Villepinte, but also pointed out that buyers mostly find accommodation in central Paris. “Besides, Première Vision focuses on the high-end market segment, while we feature everything else, and buyers have become accustomed to visit either show one day at a time,” he said. A balance that Texworld’s partial relocation doesn't intend to upset.
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