Fabric makers from China, Taiwan, India and South Korea accounted for nearly half of the 620 companies showing their wares at TexWorld, the international clothing textiles trade show in the French capital's business district, La Defense, that closed last Wednesday.
"We come for the large quantities and the tiny prices," explained designer Olivier Lapidus, who was purchasing fabric for his Pronuptia Couture label wedding gowns.
According to Lapidus, the quality of the fabrics on offer at TexWorld has vastly improved since the trade fair began in 1997.
Innovative weaving and dying techniques have pulled Asian textiles out of the bargain basement and onto the top shelf and cheap labour has made them highly competitive.
TexWorld has become such an important industry event it is now poses a threat to Premiere Vision, the show featuring high-end fabric by European manufacturers that takes place in Paris at about the same time.
Some exhibitors at Premiere Vision have tried to cut the action both ways, putting their subsidiaries on the floor at TexWorld. French fabric maker Carreman has taken that tack with its Romanian unit Carreman Romania.
According to Aloke Kumar Jaipuria, president of Indian firm Gyan Silk Mills which is showing at TexWorld, "buyers come to see the colors and trends at Premiere Vision, then they buy their fabrics at TexWorld."
Gyan Silk Mills exports 65 percent of its hand-embroidered silks to Europe and the United States and lists fashion giants Christian Dior and Liz Claiborne among its clients.
Another TexWorld exhibitor, Ding Cai Ling, vice president of one of China's largest textile producers, Shandong Ruyi, stressed her firm's high-end approach.
"We focus on creativity and quality," she said.
The company's designer wool fabric exports have climbed 30 to 40 percent a year, snapped up by prestigious clients such as European fashion houses Hugo Boss and Armani.
With business booming, Shandong Ruyi plans to open factories in Biella, the cradle of Italian wool making, soon.
