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The new global realities in textiles

Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, January 25, 2004

Well, it sure is a crazy world out there.

There were lots of things at Heimtextil in Germany earlier this month that raised an eyebrow or two. But the biggest eyebrow raiser was the comment by a seasoned fabric observer when he referred to Chinese fabric producers at the show as either "high end" or "mass market." The former were housed in Hall 6.3, the latter in Hall 10.0.

Ironic as it may seem, there are different strata in the Chinese home furnishings textile community, whether Americans can see it or not. "High end," incidentally, hasn't a thing to do with our definition of the term. It really means "not the lowest priced."

In fact, the 800-pound gorilla that is China stirred the Heimtex marketplace with prices that seemed to be bottomless.

There is growing concern in the fabric arena, particularly about the quality/price equation. It's mostly centered on Chinese goods, but it stretches across a whole host of countries producing home furnishings fabrics.

One of those concerns is performance, especially in fabrics for upholstered furniture. While there are fairly stringent standards in the United States for fabrics used in upholstery, from sun fastness to seam slippage to abrasion resistance, it seems there are shortcuts being taken by mills that don't understand the standards.

Then there's the challenge of product development. Conversations with some Americans doing business in a number of countries indicate that design at the mills is mostly non-existent. The customer essentially brings the design to be produced, with no guarantee it will remain theirs.

The next few years — quotas or no — will be critical as the global market adjusts to these new conditions.

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