by+Flora

Heading into the second half of the year， the global apparel fabrics and accessories industrys attention has begun to focus on the 2016 Autumn Edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics which will be held from 11 – 13 October. Over 5，000 exhibitors from more than 25 countries and regions will take part and showcase an all-encompassing range of products across 260，000 sqm. of exhibition space at the Nation Exhibition and Convention Center （Shanghai）. To ensure fair participants can easily identify their target suppliers and buyers with so much on offer， a number of well-distinguished product zones will feature again.

In response to strong growth in the global activewear market， Intertextile Shanghai launched its first Functional Lab at the 2015 Autumn Edition. The zone has quickly garnered much attention in the industry， with both exhibitors and buyers praising its effectiveness for capturing the opportunities in this high-potential market. Carrying on from the strong result of the debut edition， the Functional Lab （hall 5.2） is set to return this October. As of this month， two pavilions， organised by INVISTA and Gyeongbuk Natural Color Industry Institute， as well as innovators from China， Hong Kong， Israel， Japan and Korea have already reserved their space to present a spectrum of the latest innovative products. These include some of the industrys top players such as：

Far Eastern New Century Corp （FENC） will demonstrate its ‘Internet of Textile， concept which aims to offer consumers an innovative experience of smart technology. FENC has also used sustainable raw materials， eco-friendly dyeing and functional finishing in its yarn and fabric production.

Nilit Ltd will highlight nylon （polyamide） 66 fibres for apparel applications， and specialty yarns including Nilit？ Duelle， Nilit？ Heat， Nilit？ Aquarius， Nilit？ Duomix， Nilit？ Body Fresh， Nilit？ Britex， Nilit？ Breeze and Nilit？ Ecocare.

Toyobo Co Ltd will introduce its EXLAN？ acrylic fibre as well as its [eks]？ acrylate fibre which features deodorisation properties and generates heat to aid with moisture absorption.

Unifi Textiles （Suzhou） Co.， Ltd. will showcase its REPREVE？ products made from 100% recycled materials， as well as its aio？ all-in-one performance yarns， SORBTEK？ permanent moisture management yarns， REFLEXX？ stretch yarns， MYNX？ UV items and A.M.Y.？ permanent antimicrobial yarns for odour control.

In addition to these fabric suppliers， well-known machinery supplier Santoni （Shanghai） Knitting Machinery is also taking part to offer a diverse range of machineries for knitted fabric and garment production.endprint

“Brooklyn Today” – the new look for Beyond Denim

Just as denim never goes out of style， neither does the design of Intertextile Shanghais Beyond Denim hall. American design studio Doneger Creative Services will once again give this ever-popular product area a new look under the theme “Brooklyn Today”. Continuing with this image， Doneger Creative Services is also developing a Denim Forum to illustrate the 200-year transformation of denim from workwear to high fashion， as well as reveal exhibitorsdenim products and production technology under four themes： Modern， Heritage， Vintage and Rebellious.

Moreover， the impressive product line-up at Beyond Denim is not to be missed. This year， both domestic and overseas denim manufacturers will reside in hall 7.2 to showcase an extensive selection of denim products， including denim yarns， fabrics， accessories and machinery. Amongst the many confirmed exhibitors to date are two first time exhibitors from Pakistan and Chinese Taiwan， as well as the returning Chinese Hong Kong and Turkey suppliers：

Cone Denim （Chinese Hong Kong）， celebrating their 125th anniversary， will be showcasing their newest performance denims such as： Toughmax， Sorbtek， Transdry， Drirelease， Dyneema， SGene？， Trutone， Selvage & Natural Indigo. The mill also recently launched their online shop for small quantity orders.

Glowtex Co.， Ltd. （Chinese Taiwan） developed its own Milagro dyeing， which is an eco-friendly dyeing method aimed at reducing the environmental damages during the fabric dyeing process. With this special technique， Glowtex will exhibit a selection of eco-denim.

Mekotex （Pvt） Ltd. （Pakistan） is a fully integrated vertical mill with its own in-house spinning， denim preparatory， weaving， denim finishing and power generation systems. The company will bring products ranging from cotton yarns to denim fabrics to the fair.

Orta Anadolu Ticaret Ve Sanayi Isletmesi T.A.S. （Turkey） will feature denim & flat fabrics， 100% cotton， comfort， high elasticity， powerstretch， special weaves， lightweights， coated denim， duo-core set， blended denim， duocore stretch， functional denim and natural indigo denim.

Super Wings International Ltd. （Chinese Hong Kong） will present a wide variety of the newest denim products， which include stretch and nonstretch items， fabric with different materials， shades， constructions and weight.

Yuen Hing Cotton Company Ltd. （Chinese Hong Kong） runs its own denim production with imported automatic machines from Japan and Europe. Their specialized denim cotton yarns and fabrics will be on display.endprint

Leading companies return to All About Sustainability zone

Besides functional and denim fabrics， sustainable products and services also hold much potential because of the increasing concern on environmental issues in the apparel industry. To provide the industry with all they need to address these issues， the All About Sustainability zone returns again， and is located in hall 5.2 and contains three main areas：

Educational Zone： a focal point for sustainability related NGOs， certifiers， testing companies， business tools and solutions providers， dye and chemical manufacturers， as well as fabric producers. OEKO-TEX Pavilion will also return to this zone with 10 of its certified members and a concept area – Made in Green / STeP by OEKOTEX？ – introducing its members sustainable manufacturing achievements and their products.

ecoBoutique： a stage for fashion brands and retailers to demonstrate their latest collections of eco-friendly outfits.

Forum Space： an open platform for testing companies， manufacturers， suppliers， fashion brand buyers and textile media to share eco-related experience， knowledge and new technology.

Many well-known testing companies have already confirmed their appearance in October. These include bluesign technologies ag which will introduce solutions for sustainable textile production that eliminate harmful substances from the beginning of the manufacturing process， as well as set and control standards for environmentally friendly and safe production； and FITI （Shanghai） Testing & Inspection which offers world-class quality testing and certification services for eco and functional textiles. Other leading companies such as Hohenstein， SGS， TüV Rheinland and Intertek will also take part.endprint