Looking back at an anniversary Textile Forum

The Textile Forum exhibit, which took place earlier this month, marked the 20th show for the exhibition that brings together a panoply of fabrics from leading British and Continental suppliers aimed at the designer market. Across daywear,

eveningwear and bridalwear, buyers have religiously returned for the great selection of high quality fabrics at Textile Forum, with the bonus that they are available in small minimums and often available from stock. Fashionunited caught up with event organiser, Linda Laderman to find out more.
 
What

do you feel were the key factors to come out of this year’s 20th Textile Forum show?
Optimism – a record number of visitors for a spring show so there is evidently an ever growing demand for the event; and buyers were placing orders not just sampling. Also there was an increasing number of visitors from major retailers, as well as from independent designers, maybe due to a new and increased interest in British-made fabrics.

How do you most see the exhibition as having developed over the years?
On the exhibitor side we offer a broader range of fabrics, particularly for men as well as women. Initially we were attracting womenswear and bridalwear designers and while these still make up a large percentage of visitors, we have definitely expanded into other areas – stronger representation of menswear and so we see a broader selection of buyers – as mentioned above – not just fashion designers but major brands and retailers attend the event.

More than half the exhibitors have shown with us for more than 10 seasons and benefit from half of the visitors at every show being first-timers, reflecting the ever changing fashion scene. Some exhibitors have fine tuned their collections to better serve buyers looking for stock lines and adapted their swatching services to meet demand and offer good customer service.

We have also developed our links with students – the next generation designers – running both competitions and briefing sessions.

How do you see the textile industry in general as having developed?
Demand for high quality niche fabrics with a quick delivery continues to thrive; the use of technical textiles in a huge range of applications is also a growing market.

Why do you think you’ve managed to sustain your customer/buyer interest over such a long period of time?
We have always selected exhibitors offering top quality products who compete on design rather than price, and always have new exhibitors at every show. Exhibitors, obviously, offer what buyers want in terms of product and service. Timing is also key – a few weeks after London Fashion Week and Premiere Vision is perfect. The show has a great buzz and visitors like attending – atmosphere is very important. The show is large enough to provide variety but small enough so that every visitor will see every exhibitor. We have developed our marketing so that social, as well as traditional, media now plays a big role in communicating the Textile Forum message. We are also now often the first port of call for designers looking for fabrics and help identify suppliers outside of the show schedule.

Ultimately, we have never shifted from our original premise of offering fabrics for the designer market, and have therefore filled a gap in the landscape.