Record Attendance & Strong Business Highlight 2008 Material World & Technology Solutions

Miami Beach, FL - Record attendance and strong business marked the tenth edition of Material World Miami Beach, held April 8-10, 2008. An official event of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), the April edition at the Miami Beach Convention Center generated a double digit percentage increase in attendance along with strong business leads for participating exhibitors and provided executives from apparel companies, retailers, and importers with a full range of fabric, trim, technology and sourcing resources, as well as a full-scale educational program.

"We are thrilled. Our exhibitors, particularly in the fabric and sourcing sectors have given us great feedback on their success at this edition of Material World," said Tim von Gal, executive vice president, Urban Expositions. "The traditionally strong regional participation coupled with an expanded global presence really attracted a larger attending audience. With so much discussion about the economy over the past few months, it was very refreshing to see such busy aisles and to hear about so much business being placed at the show."

"Once again Material World brought together buyers and sellers, and experts and industry entrepreneurs for a week of business and learning," adds Kevin M. Burke, president & CEO, American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). "AAFA is pleased that attendance continues to grow and looks forward to the next Material World Miami Beach, April 21-23, 2009."

Material World and Technology Solutions featured 400 booths showcasing the latest introductions and innovations from every element of the sewn products industry, including materials, fabrics, systems, transportation equipment and software.

Material World and Technology Solutions exhibitors were pleased with the quality of attendees as well as the new business leads generated at the show. "The buyer traffic has been excellent," said Jerry Miller, president, United Knitting. "We've seen a good cross section of buyers and we even had a surprise visit from a customer that we worked with several years ago, who came into the booth and expressed interest in working together again."

Amber Kirkman, marketing manager, Sunrise Technologies adds, "This is the first time where I feel that the majority of the leads we generated at a show will turn out to be good quality when we conduct our follow up."

In addition to the variety of products, attendees also had the chance to attend a wide range of educational programs touching on trade, sourcing, trends, technology and other important issues. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Textiles & Apparel presented Americas Textile & Apparel Competitiveness Forum - Realizing the Benefits of Western Hemisphere Trade. The event included a special appearance by Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez (pictured below on the left), who delivered the opening remarks to more than 150 textile and apparel executives from the U.S. and Latin America. In addition, AAFA President & CEO Kevin M. Burke (pictured below on the right) also addressed audience members and outlined six policy initiatives necessary to ensure the region's industry is predictable, integrated and competitive – such as keeping the ports open 24 hours a day and integrating free trade agreements. Following Burke's address, were two rousing panel presentations: the Supply Chain, Sourcing and Logistics panel, which included top industry executives from Crowley Maritime, Vanity Fair Corporation, Toys R US, and the American Apparel & Producers Network; while the Manufacturers Panel included representatives from Canaintex (Mexico), National Spinning, Hilos y Telas (Guatemala), and InExModa (Colombia).

The following day, AAFA opened the show with its headliner event, The Politics of Trade with top executives from Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, The Duberstein Group, Luen Thai USA, Prime Tanning, Inc., and Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. Moderated by AAFA president and CEO Kevin M. Burke, panel members revealed some of the key issues keeping CEOs awake at night including compliance issues, the political debate on free trade, global inflation and the pressure it creates on inventory as well as what affects gas prices have on consumer spending, which in turn, impacts retail sales. Other AAFA programs included: Supplier Relationship Management: Profiting through Improved Supplier Collaboration and Fabric Developments that Give "US" an Edge.

Other programs included trend presentations by Cotton Incorporated, Promostyl and Stylesight, as well as a full range of vendor sponsored sessions from Technology Solutions providers like TradeCard, Just One Place, New Generation Computing, PTC, Lawson, Business Management Systems and many others.

Attendees also had the opportunity to get an inside look at the colors, fabrics, trims and textures expected to make a big splash in Spring/Summer 2009 by walking through the Trend Pavilion featured on the show floor. Created and conceived by Material World Creative Director Kevin Knaus, with information from Material World trend partner, Stylesight and color forecasts developed by official color partner, Pantone, Inc.; the Trend Pavilion (pictured left) gave attendees a chance to touch, feel and plan their buying process with fabrics, garments and trimming samples coded with exhibitors' names and booth numbers.

The 2008 edition of Material World also expanded its global footprint with increased exhibitor participation with booths and pavilions from a number of countries and regions, including Korea, China, Taiwan, Pakistan, India, Colombia, Haiti, Dominican Republic (pictured right), Costa Rica and others.

SOURCE: American Apparel & Footwear Association