Based around technology and materials, the event has over 160 exhibitors from 26 countries. It will feature manufacturers of textile technology as diverse as manmade fibre production through to garment assembly and finishing, alongside material producers for apparel, sportswear, personal protective equipment (PPE) through to smart fabrics.

With over 10,500 visitors from 50+ countries, the Innovate Textile & Apparel virtual trade show allows attendees to explore two virtual halls with separate but with interlinking themes: technology and materials. The Technology Hall will showcase technological innovations, textile machinery and software, whereas the Materials Hall will display innovations in fibres, yarns, fabrics and apparel.

Exhibitor’s virtual booths will contain everything from videos of machines operating to fabric technical specifications, and booth visitors can make appointments or use a chat option to communicate with exhibitors. The platform will allow for lead generation and visitor insight.

Mark Jarvis, Managing Director, WTiN, says: “The cancellation of live exhibitions this year presents an opportunity to test the effectiveness of a virtual trade show. Visitors need to engage with the exhibitors, and exhibitors need to generate new sales opportunities. The efforts of our exhibitors to provide great content on their booth and to promote Innovate Textile & Apparel has been vital; now we all look forward to welcoming visitors from around the world over the next 15 days.”

As well as a conference and a multitude of seminars, the event will also host daily roundtable discussions with key industry figures across wide ranging topics from biodegradable materials, PPE, and sustainable finishing to reshoring, localised manufacturing and the digitalisation of the textile & apparel value chain.