HIGH POINT — Attendance and mood at the 2025 bi-annual Interwoven Textile Show seemed surprisingly normal despite the uncertainty accompanying potential tariff impact.
Carrie Dillon, managing director of the International Textile Alliance, said pre-registration numbers were in line with May 2024.
“Based on the struggles of the world, we were pleasantly surprised by attendance levels and certainly felt the energy and optimism, said Dillon. “The pavilion floor had a lot of great energy, and the exhibitors were happy. The education events were exceptionally well attended which is also a great sign.”
Talk of tariffs
While the most recent introductions and best-selling textiles were front and center in many showrooms and temporary spaces, the talk of tariffs remained the focus of conversation at the show, but in a more positive way than anticipated.
Nidhi Loyalka, president of Zensilk, manufactures in India but says the company is still impacted a bit by tariffs. “Our product is beautiful and speaks for itself, so although we have had to slightly increase prices, our customers are still buying,” she said.
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Sunbrella is a U.S. based, family-owned manufacturer but has a global footprint with plants in France and China. In 2022, the company opened a novelty yarn plant in Burlington, N.C., and has been a great source during the current tariff struggles.
Suzie Roberts, vice president of the company said that Sunbrella went global for its customers.
“We are partners with our international plants and built these plants to be close to them, and we want to be where our customers need us,” she said, adding that the company would get through tariff challenges with its customers. “We don’t just sell fabric; we partner with our customers.”
Senay Kilic, sales manager of Vanelli, a textile vendor on the pavilion floor of Interwoven, manufacturers in Turkey but believes tariffs can possibly be a positive. “We do more business in the United States because of the Chinese tariffs.”
Tayo Onadein, CEO of Tayo Originals, said the tariffs themselves do not affect the company, but rather its customers.
“I have a customer of seven years that typically spends $15,000 to $20,000 on samples at Interwoven, but this time he walked away with nothing. He said the tariffs kill his desire to spend money currently like he has always done. It is sad and is having a major impact on our industry.”
Onadein continued that he has been doing business with China since 2003 and feels that nobody can come close to the value that China offers.
“We are all in this together, but we must understand how to deal with the Chinese,” he said. “China wants to be respected, and I feel over time that there will be some sort of agreement. The United States and China need each other.”
Tayo added that, two weeks ago, everyone in China “going crazy” over the tariff numbers, but he knew it would come down. “It is just a game, the tariff will continue to go down.”
Product flow, sourcing
De Leo Textiles‘ Creative Director Katie Atwater Williams commented that the company primarily sourced from Turkey but was hopeful it could be a source for customers who want to source outside of China. She added that its new introductions for Interwoven were specifically meant to lift the spirits of the industry during this time.
Lance Keziah, CEO of Crypton, said tariffs were not a surprise. “We are very fortunate we have global manufacturing. We own a weaving mill in North Carolina but have plants in China and Brussels as well. We deliver product anywhere that our customers are doing business.”
He added that the company has been wise on how they flow product in. “We are not bringing in as much inventory, but we work very closely with our customers. We had a healthy supply of fabric in our North Carolina plant before this all happened.
“We have been very strategic,” he continued. “Every global uproar comes down. We have a lot of solutions and are nimble enough to supply people what they need.”
For Valdese Weavers, more than 85% of its business is manufactured in the United States. “Our primary focus has always been on our domestic, vertical manufacturing operation to leverage all of the benefits associated with producing and servicing our customers in the US,” said Patrick Shelton, senior vice president of sales.
“We will gauge what our customers’ appetite will be moving forward on products sourced from China as we continue to strengthen our relationships with our partners in other countries to continue to provide our customers with a well-rounded product assortment.”