China Alternatives and Sustainable Suppliers Reign Supreme at Sourcing at Magic
Kate Nishimura
5 min read
The Sourcing at Magic trade show often serves as a litmus test for the industry’s attitudes about where—and how—to produce apparel, accessories and footwear. This week’s show in Las Vegas was no different.
Bringing together more than 1,250 exhibitors featuring fabrics, trims, printing services, fashion technology, footwear and apparel manufacturing from 29 different countries and regions, this week’s event underscored supply chain diversification and sustainability as top priorities for the fashion sector.
The 21-year-old trade show has placed a premium on ecological solutions, featuring a record 35 exhibitors in its dedicated sustainability section in August—a 200-percent increase from when the program first started three years ago, according to Sourcing at Magic at MMGNET vice president of Andreu David.
Suppliers featured in the quadrant of the massive hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center are verified by Hey Social Good, a social impact analytics firm that assesses and verifies businesses’ efforts surrounding social impact and sustainability.
This year, companies like Better Packaging Co., which develops bio-based and recycled packaging solutions to replace conventional plastic poly bags and mailers, was among the verified exhibitors, along with Los Angeles-based California Textile Group, a circular knit textile maker that uses organic cotton, hemp, linen, bamboo, Tencel, and inventive additives like copper and mint for antimicrobial and odor-resistance.
The Social Good Lounge also hosted half a dozen sessions on issues like ESG regulations, next-generation biomaterials and designing with traceability and transparency in mind.
According to David and Hey Social Good founder and CEO Cindy J. Lin, the sustainability section has become a first stop for many buyers entering the show—a fact that has only served to drive up interest from exhibitors.
“I wasn’t really sure what impact this would make, but today, she has so many exhibitors coming up to her and asking how they can become verified,” David said. “And the buyer interest—for the factories and suppliers, it’s all about the lead generation and the business. Am I getting orders?”
“We have so many retention companies that come back because they believe in this concept”—the concept of showcasing sustainability as a selling point—and the show serves as a dedicated platform, he added.
Along with a pursuit of suppliers that employ preferred materials and processes, brands are also increasingly looking to diversify away from China.
“I would say that, from the buyer feedback that we’re getting, and the interest and inquiries, there is more interest in balance,” David said. Some brands that source from the country are interested in broadening their horizons, but others are looking to make a complete shift. China has lost its edge when it comes to cost and speed to market, leaving a void that other players are all too eager to fill.
Nearshore locales in Mexico, South America and Central America, along with other Asian sourcing hubs like Vietnam, are among the recipients of new business.
According to David, a particular triumph for the show was hosting three suppliers from Brazil—a country that hasn’t been represented in several show cycles. Fabric mill Rosset specializes in performance materials for athletic apparel and swimwear, while Sawary Jeans engineers body-sculpting denim, and Estrela Aviamentos, a trims manufacturer, trades in elastics and has worked with brands like Gap. The country’s makers are known for specialty materials with performance qualities.
A number of suppliers from countries with developing textile and apparel sectors rely on sponsorship or aide from their countries’ governments and trade associations to make show participation possible. The Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association, known as ABIT, sponsored its suppliers, while government agency ProColombia financed the participation of six of its industry’s exhibitors, which specialized in products like cotton basics and uniforms.
Notably absent from the show floor were the dozens of Africa-based suppliers that showed up in February. David said that while the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) sponsored more than 60 suppliers from across the continent to attend the last show, the organization used that funding to back suppliers from a different industry this time around.
A contingent of apparel manufacturers is due to return in February with USAID ATI’s help. Six companies from Ghana attended the show this week independently.
“To be honest, because of the challenges globally, the geopolitical climate, it’s really tough right now,” David said. “You’ve got so much going on, so much turmoil,” and that’s impacted many countries’ and regions’ abilities to travel and exhibit. The show saw a decline in participation from the same period last year, when it drew about 1,600 exhibitors.
Chinese vendors maintained a majority stake in the show of about 80 percent, however—and more could have attended with government sponsorship. “We definitely saw a shift in that support due to geopolitics, where they now prefer to support their own” domestic trade shows and expos, as well as events in other Asian markets or in Europe, David said.
The development is a microcosmic reflection of the growing tension between the U.S. and China, which is now being exacerbated by the dynamics of a presidential election where neither candidate wants to look soft on China trade relations. Former President Donald Trump has said he’ll double down on the punitive duties he levied during his tenure, raising tariffs on China-made goods to 60 percent if reelected. Even if there’s no bite behind the bluster, the rhetoric has some American brands running scared.
With daunting campaign promises as a backdrop, David said brands across the board are actively beefing up their sourcing portfolios. “I think there’s some operating in fear and wanting to make sure that they’re covered, that they’re ready for that,” he said.
