60 contract manufacturers @ Texprocess Source it!

The response to Texprocess Source it! has been very good: over 60 contract manufacturers have signed up to make presentations at the sourcing area of Texprocess, the new leading international trade fair for processing textiles and other flexible materials in Frankfurt am Main from 24 to 27 May 2011. The exhibitors are national pavilions and production companies from Egypt, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Lesotho, Kenya, Columbia, Mauritius, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Tunisia, Turkey and Vietnam. The focus of the presentations will be on technical expertise and the sourcing situation in the individual countries.

For Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt, this is a great success. “Particularly against the background of the upheavals taking place in the procurement markets, we offer the apparel industry access to future-oriented markets via the contract manufacturers from Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America represented at Source it!. The idea of generating synergies with a sourcing platform at a technology fair has borne fruit.”

Messe Frankfurt offers an opportunity to make optimum preparations for Source it! with an online platform called i-tex – apparel sourcing system. Before the fair, fashion companies can research into which companies are of interest to them on the internet.

To do so, they only have to register free of cost with the i-tex online portal and complete a profile outlining, inter alia, which products they want to have made, i.e., men’s wear, women’s wear, children’s wear, sportswear, home textiles, etc. They then receive a list of companies that match their criteria. Hence, they can get in touch with the contract manufacturers concerned and make appointments with them before leaving for the fair. The contract manufacturers taking part in Source it! also create a profile for the business platform.

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UF&D and Sheex land new partnership

During their careers as coaches of the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team, Michelle Marciniak and Susan Walvius witnessed an evolution in sportswear and the corresponding competitive advantage the newer high-tech athletic fabrics gave their players. In 2007, they translated this idea to bedding, launching SHEEX, the world’s first luxury bed sheets made from performance athletic fabrics. Now, United Feather & Down has partnered with the SHEEX brand as they expand their product line.

The new partnership brings together the luxury bedding manufacturer’s two centuries of expertise with the innovation of the SHEEX brand, as United Feather & Down creates pillows, comforters and mattress pads for the company. Like the sheets, each of the new products will feature advanced comfort, breathability and moisture-wicking ability.

“SHEEX Performance Bedding is the first product of its kind on the market, so it was important for us to find a partner that shared our vision and forward thinking,” said SHEEX co-founder Michelle Marciniak. “United Feather & Down’s reputation as an innovator in the bedding industry and its unparalleled attention to detail and quality makes the company a perfect fit for us as we grow our brand.”

“SHEEX is a truly unique and innovative brand, and we look forward to working with Michelle and Susan as they expand the product line,” said Bob Hickman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at United Feather & Down.

Read more on UF&D and Sheex land new partnership at Fibre2fashion