Textile Insight

Jake McDonough, Dr. Helena Cheminet, Ryan Zakszeski of Arkema. eVent's one-piece upper bootie eliminates need for paneling. Poron's Embrace product allows footwear to forgo a sock liner. MatMarket's PLEX is a 3-layer customizable performance foam. FOOTWEAR | NW MATERIALS SHOW Celebrating a Unique Focus 16 • Textile Insight ~ March/April 2018 textileinsight.com Growth, Innovation and Performance Defines Portland Event. By Amy Crawford ith almost 300 exhibitors and upward of 800 attendees, the buzz was the size of the show itself at the NW Materials Show last month in Portland, OR. This year, MADE @ The NW Materials Show, in the dedicated Materials and Design Experience Area, brought together designers, creatives, and services, complementing the materials brands. Trend agency PeclersParis added forecasting to the on-site mix, spurring conversation with its seminar on socio-cultural trends and creative concepts. For brands like Schoeller Textil and Nilit, the push toward apparel materials at the show is positive. "It's an ideal opportunity to explore ideas and collections," said Fawn Knadler, west- ern regional sales manager, Schoeller Textil USA. "Trend forecasting is huge, and it will be interesting to see what happens in the future with having Peclars onsite." The unique focus of the Materials Show allows brands to have meaningful conversations in meetings and appoint- ments, and many vendors drive home the importance of the event for networking, follow-up and discovery. "There are a lot more young professionals in attendance," said Alex Cox, sales engineer, Rogers Corporation. "It's the next generation of the industry, and it's great to get face time with them and established customers." Top 5 News and Notes 1. Bigger and Better Brands of all sizes were in attendance to discover and connect with vendors. "This show is very well-supported," said Mike Sheehan of Sheehan Sales. "It's nice to see brand support, and attendees being open to new things." For vendors, it's the quality of appointments and walk-up conversations. "Attending this show is 100 percent worth it," said Thomas Bartley Jr., global accounts manager, Texon International Group. "You may not be here, but your competitors are–you can't not show up." 2. New Faces, New Fabrics In addition to new face fabrics with better hand feel and flex in its DVstorm, DValpine, and DVexpedition lines, eVent's new one-piece upper bootie eliminates the need for paneling. Sympatex expands on its line of recycled textiles, looking to offer recycled cotton or wool face fabrics to meet customer demand. Nilit Fibers' Sensil unveiled new colors, combinations, and patterns in fine W Nilit exec Molly Kremidas explains what makes the new White Diamond fabric sparkle. Watch the video at trendinsightmag.com TREND INSIGHT

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