Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition 2026 will run from 11–13 March next at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre, returning as a fashion-forward spring platform. Organisers emphasise expanded sustainability and performance content through a much larger Econogy Hub, and hands-on innovation via the upgraded Innovation & Digital Solutions Zone, aiming to connect buyers with AI-related technologies and eco-focused suppliers across market-relevant forums and displays.
- The Econogy Hub’s expansion underscores the organisers’ commitment to sustainable sourcing and collaborative innovation through open design, seminars and displays that connect visitors with responsible suppliers.
- The Innovation & Digital Solutions Zone and seminars will feature cutting-edge textile technologies driven by digital transformation, with exhibitors such as AiDLab, HKRITA and Shima Seiki demonstrating practical applications.
- Co-organised with sector bodies, the fair aligns with concurrent textile trade events within the NECC ecosystem to reinforce market relevance and connectivity.
SETTING THE STAGE: The Spring Edition 2026 returns to Shanghai, reaffirming its global stature as a fashion-forward sourcing platform. The show carries an enhanced focus on sustainability, performance materials and innovation, with organisers aiming to strengthen the city's position as Asia’s hub for textile collaboration and market exchange.
- The event integrates with concurrent fairs to create a comprehensive upstream-to-downstream sourcing environment within the NECC.
- The Spring 2026 edition marks continuity for the fair series after strong attendance in the 2025 autumn cycle, signalling steadily returning buyer confidence.
- The fair’s agenda mirrors global realignment toward responsible materials and digital efficiency, underscoring sustainability as its unifying theme.
BLUEPRINT FOR CIRCULAR GROWTH: The Spring 2026 edition will showcase a 60 per cent expansion of the Econogy Hub, a space dedicated to sustainable sourcing, circular design and low-impact innovation. Organisers have redesigned the zone with an open layout for better visitor flow, complemented by knowledge-sharing areas and displays that help visitors identify responsible suppliers and track emerging environmental standards shaping global textile production.
- Econogy Hub’s footprint has increased by over 60 per cent compared with the 2025 Autumn edition, underscoring rising exhibitor and buyer engagement in sustainability topics.
- New seminar stages and curated showcases will demonstrate practical decarbonisation tools and material innovations linked to traceable performance fabrics.
- The Econogy Finder will assist visitors in locating sustainable suppliers and initiatives within the expanded zone, aligning trade participation with measurable sustainability benchmarks.
FUNCTION MEETS FASHION: As sustainability becomes an embedded business driver, Intertextile Shanghai’s functional and trend-focused zones are set to return with broader participation. The Functional Lab and Trend Forum will present performance-oriented textiles and design forecasts, providing buyers and brands with direct insight into the season’s market-ready developments. This integration reinforces the fair’s role as a cross-sector bridge linking innovation, fashion and manufacturing.
- The Functional Lab will highlight textile innovations across sportswear, outdoor and technical apparel segments that blend durability with circular-ready fibres.
- Trend Forum curations will interpret global colour and fabric themes, guiding designers toward sustainable aesthetics grounded in performance and comfort.
- Organisers expect increased engagement from overseas visitors, reflecting Shanghai’s steady return as a preferred sourcing destination within Asia’s post-recovery textile circuit.
SHANGHAI’S NEXT CHAPTER: The organisers are positioning Intertextile Shanghai Spring 2026 as the anchor event in a cluster of co-located fairs that span the entire textile value chain. Held alongside Yarn Expo Spring, Intertextile Home Textiles Spring, CHIC and PH Value, the showcase will strengthen Shanghai’s role as Asia’s integrated sourcing hub and signal renewed collaboration between material innovators, manufacturers and fashion labels.
- The combined platform will allow cross-traffic among exhibitors and visitors, promoting supply-chain transparency and faster product-development cycles.
- Organisers expect the alignment of multiple fairs to reinforce business confidence and deliver measurable commercial outcomes for participating suppliers.
- With sustainability and digitalisation now core to every zone, the 2026 edition aims to establish a template for future hybrid-innovation events across the region.
WHAT THEY SAID
Intertextile Apparel has proved time and again to be unmissable, and our fairgoers regularly echo that sentiment. As the industry undergoes a period of change, the fair’s breadth, scale, business connections and focus on ‘what’s next’ are more important than ever. The upcoming Spring Edition will leverage our renewed focus and carry forward the positive momentum of our 2025 shows, where we witnessed solid results in key exhibitor and buyer categories. With fashion as a cornerstone of the fair, we will continue to place a greater emphasis on AI and innovation, while growing our sustainable and performance-related offerings.
—Wilmet Shea
General Manager
Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd
