Blossom Premiere Vision (Paris, July 4-5, 2017) kicked off the AW’18/19 fabric season with a positive vibe as mills said that they were optimistic about the coming season.

Most mills agreed that business has been slowly improving over the past few seasons and that this is likely to continue.  So while no one was expecting a boom year, there was a quiet confidence that the market has stabilized and is now moving forward.

“I have no complaints.  Compared with last year, things are a little bit better,” said Claudio Wassan representing Ratti’s R Collection.

“Last year the orders came very later and the environment was not very good. Now it is much better and we are doing well. The optimism is there,” said Eve Corrigan at Malhia Kent.

“The mood is a little better this year…I don’t know how much better business will be, but it definitely will be improving, said Maria Manzini at Selecta Comor SpA.

But the best news for mills is that people are starting to dress up more.

“High fashion is coming back…we are very happy about this!” said Sophie Baghagha at Sfate & Combier.

 

New Challenges for a New Season

Blossom focuses on the higher end European mills, which fortunately has kept most companies out of the price fight that embroils most mass-market suppliers.  Still, every market has its challenges.  For high end mills meeting shorter lead times and meeting the demands for creativity are keeping executives working overtime.

“We’re working on our lead times, it’s an area where we really need to improve,” said Hugues Barting at Les Tissages Perrin.  “When there is a project we need to be fast… We know we have something like ten days to two weeks to give customer what they are looking for.”

“The fashion houses want to see creativity, they want to see new techniques.  So every mill is trying to bring something new to the market,” said Paul Hurel at Hurel Paris.

“The main challenge is to find what’s the trend is going to be.  We sell all over the world, and every market is different, so we need to offer so we need to offer the right qualities for the right market,” he told Inside Fashion.

 

No Place Like Home

Better mills agreed that the best market was Europe, where brands and retailers are will to invest in better quality and more creative fabrics.  The volumes are smaller but then high-end mills are not working from a business model driven by volume sales.  That they can do smaller orders in a competitive advantage, especially now that even big brands want to place smaller, more frequent orders rather than huge seasonal orders as they did in the past.

On the other hand, the development of new, niche brands in the US and Asia is also opening up opportunities for European mills.

“At the moment the European market is more important one for us.  However, the Chinese market is growing,” said Maurizoi Isacco at Gruppocinque Swing. 

“The European market is improving, while the US market has been a little slow. However I think the US market will rebound pretty soon,” said Ms. Corrigan at Mahlia Kent.

“Europe is our main focus, and we do work with some Asian customers. The US is more of a challenge because of price pressure.  Quality and lead times are important, but there are big issues with price. However we do work with some American customers,” said Mr. Barting.

 

What’s Selling, What’s New

Product development is the core of European mills’ value proposition and the mills at Blossom had plenty of creativity on display.

“Right now everyone is looking for silk that has good body, something with a lot of drape,” said Maria Manzini at Selecta Como SpA

Lurex and all things that shimmer and sparkle remain strong sellers, despite having been in the market for many seasons. However, they have huge consumer appeal and so they remain as a solid part of a most collections.

Europe has been a champion of sustainability and so it was not surprising to find mills incorporating an eco-friendly element into even high-end fashion collections.

“We have a new polyester fabric that is made from recycled PET bottles,” said Ms. Baghagha, showing this along side luxury fabrics made from cashmere, silk and cotton/cashmere blends.  “We always challenged by our customer to find new things, to find new fabric, new technology, and in the same time, we have to be more sustainable.”

While 2017 might not be a peak year for most mills, there is a clear sense that the better fashion segment of the market is returning and that’s great news for European mills.