Spotlight on Trends | Fabrics & Trims You’ve Used Even If You Haven’t Heard of Them

As more people yearn to explore the world, outdoor apparel has subtly made its way into everyone’s wardrobe. But do you still remember the powerful performance of those “you may not have heard of but definitely used” fabrics and trims? Even outdoor novices can rattle off benchmark features like waterproofing, breathability, and windproofing. Of course, as the user base expands, there are also growing demands for fashion and eco-friendliness in outdoor clothing.

June 30 – July 3, 2016Come to Nanjing to focus on the Asia Outdoor Exhibition, keep up with industry trends, explore the latest outdoor products, and gain a comprehensive understanding of mainstream fabric and trim trends. This year,the Asia Outdoor Exhibition Fabrics & Trims Zonefeatures a net exhibition area of 1,500 square meters, with nearly 80 fabric and trim exhibitors. Renowned domestic and international fabric and trim companies such as the Taiwan Textile Federation-led Taiwanese pavilion, PrimaLoft, Toray, Huayang Textile, Yangshi Textile, Shangyu Textile, Liansheng, Hengfeng, and others have chosen China’s most professional platform to showcase their latest functional textile technologies and cutting-edge outdoor styles.

Main Fabric Trends: Functionality vs. Fashion

In 2016, the Asia Outdoor Exhibition, together with representatives from the Fabrics & Trims Zone, discussed and summarized the mainstream trends for the coming period.FunctionalityandFashionability— you can’t have one without the other. Addressing both is essential to meet the ever-growing demands of users.

Functional Outdoor: Emphasizes the functionality of fabrics required for sports and competition, suitable for professional outdoor activities. It demands specific performance standards in waterproofing, moisture permeability, and windproofing.

Fashionable Outdoor: Highlights personalized colors and styles, suitable for urban leisure activities such as short trips and road trips. Functionally, it only needs to meet basic outdoor requirements, featuring UV protection, mosquito resistance, and simple windproof or waterproof capabilities.

● Skin jackets, which have been all the rage in recent years, face fierce competition, with profit margins for fabrics becoming extremely slim. The Korean-style patchwork colors of previous years have also grown tiresome for consumers. This spring and summer, elastic fabrics will be a trending choice. Lightweight windbreakers with certain moisture permeability and waterproofing suitable for spring and autumn will be more readily accepted. In the broader context, environmental sustainability remains a key element.

● For hiking series, popular colors (neutral blues, vibrant yellows, and other simple hues) dominate, paired with darker tones. The business travel series favors high-saturation, bold blues and deep pinks. Eye-catching patterns and designs are highly regarded, integrating motifs and colors into fabric design. Varying color purity adds vibrancy and richness. Fabric suppliers who can also recommend distinctive accessories or provide styling advice to clothing clients will be better positioned to secure collaborations.

New Trend in the Fabric Industry: Branding

Domestic fabrics are still generally perceived as factory-produced goods within the industry. However, some fabric companies are beginning to recognize the value of branding—emphasizing quality, creativity, technology, philosophy, and core values, while focusing on brand image. Last year at the Asia Outdoor Exhibition, the inauguralCOA Outdoor Summit Forumspecifically discussed the topic “The Importance of Material Brands for the Growth of the Outdoor Market.” Distinguished representatives from leading material and fabric brands and apparel brands, including Mr. Tomas, founder of BRAIND, Mr. Huang Geng, Chairman and General Manager of Nanjing Biancheng Sports Goods Co., Ltd., Mr. Zhuang Songming, General Manager of the Apparel Division of Gore Industrial Products Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in China, and Mr. Jochen Lagemann, General Manager for Eurasia at PrimaLoft, attended the discussion. This undoubtedly provided new insights for domestic material suppliers.

When discussing advice for Chinese fabric brands, Mr. Tomas from BRAIND said: “To learn from successful international examples, domestic fabric brands must first shed their image as mere processing factories. They should develop innovative, patent-protected products, enhance technological content, establish strong brand images, and build consumer awareness and loyalty. In terms of overall product value chain recognition, fabric brands must also increase investment. They need to collaborate with well-known brands and platforms to successfully market themselves and make terminal customers aware of the fabric brand.”

The Asia Outdoor Exhibition has always focused on the professional outdoor gear sector. As a platform where brands compete to shine—the Asia Outdoor Industry Awards—is a comprehensive evaluation platform considering innovation, design quality, functionality, craftsmanship, environmental friendliness, and safety.Asia Outdoor Industry AwardsSince 2014, the Awards have included a Material Innovation Award. That year, the SURROUND® outdoor footwear technology brought by GORE-TEX was the first to win. In 2015, the material brand PrimaLoft claimed this honor. Many domestic consumers often wear outdoor apparel made with PrimaLoft materials without knowing it, so PrimaLoft's award has made the brand more relatable.

2014 Asia Outdoor Industry Awards – Material Innovation Award: GORE-TEX® SURROUND® Outdoor Footwear Technology, offering a solution for summer waterproof and breathable shoes.

2015 Asia Outdoor Industry Awards – Material Innovation Award Winner: PrimaLoft® Silver Insulation Active, leading a new revolution in outdoor insulation materials.

This year, Shaoxing Yangshi Textile Co., Ltd., an exhibitor at the Asia Outdoor Exhibition, collaborated with EquippedCool and the Asia Outdoor Exhibition to launch a “custom-made” campaign for end customers—“Find the Yangshi Spokesperson.” Exclusive test videos of the spokespersons were released on the Asia Outdoor Exhibition platform, serving as an excellent way to bring the Yangshi brand image into consumers' hearts. In fact, this isn’t Yangshi’s first close collaboration with the Asia Outdoor Exhibition. In 2014, Yangshi Textile recycled mineral water bottles on-site at the exhibition and processed them into fabric, showcasing its commitment to environmental sustainability and technology. Yangshi’s various initiatives are commendable steps toward branding for domestic fabric enterprises. We look forward to even greater achievements from Yangshi Textile.

Showcase a better brand image—choose the Asia Outdoor Exhibition.

Whether you’re an outdoor gear brand or a fabric and trim brand, as long as you have uniquely innovative products,Welcome to the 7th Asia Outdoor Industry Awards platform!Here, outstanding products stand out, and here, audiences and media can discover their value in the first place. In addition to traditional awards such as Gold Award, Silver Award, Eco Product Award, Women’s Product Award, Running Sports Product Award, and Material Innovation Award, this year we have newly introduced the Water Sports Product Award and Children’s Product Award. Just like the brands that keep innovating, we never miss any spark of wisdom or light of design. Promoting great design to end users has always been the foundation of the Asia Outdoor Industry Awards!
Registration for the 7th Asia Outdoor Industry Awards:

Contact Person: Mr. Tao

Phone: 025-66925716

Email: taowenbo@nfexpo.com

From June 30 to July 3, 2016, at Nanjing International Expo Center, we are dedicated to delivering a more high-end and comprehensive professional outdoor products trade show. During the four-day exhibition period, the show is only open to professional visitors. Visitors who successfully pre-register online in advance can attend for free.Follow the WeChat public account “Asia Outdoor Show Service Account”, reply “Register” to access the quick pre-registration page. For more information, please visit the official website of the Asia Outdoor Show at www.asian-outdoor.com.