Autumn/Winter 2018-19 for Milano Unica (MU) opened its first July Italian Textiles and Accessories Trade Show from 11 to 13 July. Normally held in September, this year’s trade show was brought forward, thanks to faster textile selection from Europe’s major brands, and expanding pre-collections. The responses from European exhibitors were mixed, but the change was favourably received by exhibitors from Japan, as it meant advancing trade negotiations before the holidays in Europe, and a higher possibility of increased incoming orders.

There were Japanese companies participating for the seventh time that will have pavilions in the Observatory Project, which will open the doors for tradeshows outside of Europe. Continuous exhibitions allow a company to steadily gain recognition; there were 40 companies exhibiting, the number having increased by two from the previous September trade show.

Although there were visible differences in exhibitors’ customers, there was a high level of interest in Japanese textiles, with robust sample orders and productive trade talks. Below, we introduce some of the textiles revealed at the trade show.

TAKISADA-NAGOYA

The specialised trading company Takisada-Nagoya Co., Ltd proposed a scarf and shirt-collar created with Arimatsu Shibori tie-dyeing techniques passed down over the years in the Arimatsu Narumi area in Midori Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture.

Producers of traditional Japanese fabrics, though able to use their craftsmanship background as a sales tool, cannot easily utilise their wares in modern fashion. By suggesting products that they themselves have created, exhibitors demonstrate the possibilities of their textiles as fashion fabrics. In terms of specialty wool manufacturing, CORDURA® mixed weave and sporty ripstop fabrics were revealed as technowool, which combines wool and Japanese technology. There were many enquiries made concerning this product.

MIZUHO KOGYO

Mizuho Kohyo Co., Ltd., who carry out their dyeing process in Bishu, the greatest woollen fabric producing area in Japan, offered woollen fabrics made with added high-quality post-processing and many novelties in their Bishu Wool Collection.

Their double-weight cut Jacquard, with two check patterns, is a luxurious product created by cutting over half the weft and allowing the second pattern to be glimpsed from the cut part. It is lightly fulled, finished with a well-used texture. This seemingly top-dyed Saxony wool fabric is made using two dyes. Through the company’s original post-process, Re Born®, which uses foam, the fabric gains tension.

AOBUN TEXTILE

The popularity of Jacquard knit is increasing in Aobun Textile Co., Ltd of Yonezawa Textile Co-Operative Association, which is based in the major silk fabric production area of Yonezawa City in Yamagata Prefecture. Cut Jacquard with indistinct motifs and blurred stripes using natural fibres such as cotton or wool, was well liked.