California Apparel News

Show producer DG Expo unveiled its latest edition of the New York Fabric Show Jan. 20–21 at The Metropolitan Pavilion located in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The trade show saw buyers from boutique brands in addition to large players including DKNY, Calvin Klein, Chico’s, Disney and NBCUniversal.

“This show was launched in 2012 as a low-minimum sourcing show, primarily for designer brands. What we quickly learned was that everybody needs small quantities sometimes,” Susan Power, producer of the show, said in a statement. “Visitors to our show include some of the most prominent names in our industry. We see many well-known designers on a regular basis. Our exhibitors also welcome startups, realizing that they are potentially future customers!”

Offering fabrics to meet multiple categories including men’s, women’s, children’s, career and uniform, Los Angeles–based Robert Kaufman saw requests for its flannel yarn dyes, corduroy collection and ponte knits.

“The DG Expo show was good; over the two days we had more than 80 customers, which is a nice, robust turnout,” said Ron Kaufman, who manages sales for the manufacturing division at his family’s nearly 80-year-old company. “We had a lot of our regular customers and a fair contingent of new customers.”

Mentioning that the show is ideal for the small-to-mid-sized company, Kaufman noticed trends in animal-skin prints, tropicals and florals and also mentioned a growing interest in digital printing from emerging brands.

“We’re a big print house. We’re starting to offer digital printing on every substrate, and that is a big draw for custom printing with low minimums both in Los Angeles and overseas,” he said. “That generates a lot of interest from startups who are looking to enter the market with their own proprietary things.”

He also mentioned a few lingering challenges regarding price points, but Kaufman works with his customers to offer the best quality at the most affordable cost.

“Obviously the tariffs have impacted some of our fabrics,” he said. “We try to absorb as much as we can, but there are some things that have to be passed on.”

In this current climate, Kaufman sees an opportunity to connect with the customers who don’t require inventory at the level of a large corporation while exhibiting at a show such as DG Expo’s events.

“We have customers that supply major retailers and a lot of boutiques. [The show] offers a wide range of fabrics. Suppliers are flexible and cater to their needs,” Kaufman said. “Regardless of the size of the company, a lot of people don’t want to be saddled with too much inventory now. Flexibility is a bigger part of this market, even for bigger companies.”

In addition to the January New York show, the Fabric Show will return to the area in July. A new edition of the event will launch in Atlanta during June.