The Front Line Spinexpo rolled out a micro version of its robust Shanghai fair in Hong Kong, a much-welcomed opportunity for the industry to meet in person.Despite massive efforts to digitize trade fairs, both buyers and suppliers agree that there’s nothing like the real thing – especially when it comes to fashion.It's the touch, feel, vividness of the color, and the subtle details of the products that are so difficult to capture online.Spinexpo Hong Kong featured about 30 exhibitors, a well-edited selection that represent the industry’s leading mid-to-high-end mills. The booths were simple, the trend area was scaled down – but it worked. In fact, it worked very well.“The fair has been very useful to ‘start the engine’ again,” said Andrea Pisani, managing director at Filivivi. “It’s motivated people to get working again,” he told Inside Fashion.“At a small expo we can really connect with customers. Many of the bigger exhibitions are big just to impress the buyers,” said Raymond Lai, general manager of Guotai Huasheng Industrial (GTIG).“The show is good, it’s above my expectations. It’s more relaxed than most fairs,” said Erica Poon, Senior Designer at Gears Apparel Sourcing Ltd.“It’s been very successful for us,” said Chris Mak, sales manager at Yusheng Yarn. “We saw a lot of good customers here from Polo, H&M, Club Monaco, Tommy and others.”“I will definitely come back next year. It’s been a good show,” added Stanley Ma, sales manager at Regal Lugang Technology (HK) Ltd. Andrea Pisani and P.J. Wong from FiliviviClement Lee from EsquelKason Pun from KyototexAlice Wong and Yo Yo Yeung from Winning TextileAlun Yeung and Erica Poon from Gear Apparel SourcingChris Mak and Winnie from Shanghai RegaleYo Yo Yip and Ivan Mok from May Fortune Textile Previous Next A Slow Recovery“Business is slowly returning to normal. Our China factory is very busy now. Capacity is fully booked. For some brands, the order size is growing, especially the online brands,” Raymond Lai told Inside Fashion. However for most spinners recovery is coming, but more slowly.“Business is getting better. The market is moving. The next few months will be telling. If Autumn/Winter ’21 is good, then next year will be good,” said Mr. Pisani from Filivivi.Most companies said that the European market was showing solid recovery, and that the China market was also doing well. However orders from the U.S. were still not improving.“Demand is picking up. The EU is better now, however the U.S. is still having a lot of problems with the virus and that’s holding back recovery there,” said Ms. Poon.While most spinners were optimistic, there were many who said that they did not see signs of improvement in the near future.“Business is coming back for Spring ’21. However Fall/Winter ’20 is terrible and a lot of merchandise will be warehoused and then offered again for Fall/Winter ’21. So we think orders for Fall/Winter ’21 will be weak,” said Clement Lee, senior manager at Esquel.One of the many looming problems that supplier face is a massive surplus of unsold inventory of orders that were placed during the pandemic.Some of those orders were cancelled. In other cases buyers accepted those orders but with greatly extended payment and delivery dates. Unless holiday season sales are exceptionally strong, there is likely to be a lot of unsold inventory on hand. Retailers and brands that can afford to might opt to warehouse this till next year, rather than take steep markdowns.Bestsellers Surprised Us – Sort of …As in previous seasons, everyone was presenting sustainable yarns as their ‘new developments’. But when asked which products were doing the best in terms of sales volume, it was the eye catching ones that buyers were betting on.Metallics are a must-have for both spring and autumn. From a hint of shimmer to full on sparkle, buyers are banking all the glitters will turn to gold.“Our bestseller is our yarns with metallic shimmer, especially our new yarn with 1mm micro sequins,” said George Lu, sales manager at Lailia (HK) Corporation Ltd. “Yarns with a metallic look are very popular,” said Marco Wong and Brian Li at Yarns and Colors. At Winning Textile Co, there was a new metallic yarn with a hairy surface, as well as new slub metallic yarn.It’s understandable. The two biggest trends right now are vivid colors and things with a sparkling look. Both are upbeat, energetic – mood lifters. Every spinner was showing yarns with some degree of shimmer, shine or sparkle. From standard Lurex and nylon yarns that add shimmery look to Angelina fibers for a softer sparkle, everyone was trying to find ways to update, elevate and create with glittering materials.A lot of attention was also being paid to developing shining yarns that had a soft hand. While consumers love the look, the hand feel of many metallic and nylon yarns can be very scratchy on the skin.Not surprisingly, blends were playing a key role in helping to bring down prices. People still want the luxury of cashmere, and the natural touch of cotton, wool and linen, but there is no denying that most consumers are spending cautiously. While consumers are looking for reasons to not buy, many brands are, sadly, giving them more incentive to save – or at least not to buy apparel.“More plain yarns are selling right now,” said Raymond Lai at GTIG. “It’s difficult to present garments made with fancy yarns online. You can’t fully appreciate the quality online so consumers don’t see the value in these garments,” he said.However, basic garments – at a price – are not going to motivate a consumer to buy. Especially since most people already have a closet full of basics. The only thing that will motivate them now is something special. We can see this reflected in the new Nike collections that launched during Q2 and Q3, which were bursting with color and patterns. The same could be said for H&M and others. Looking AheadMore than anything, Spinexpo Hong Kong gave people hope that business was starting to move again. Perhaps not very quickly, but at least there’s more clarity in the market. And that alone is giving buyers and suppliers more confidence to move forward.