Marriage of print and fashion at Gartex 2018

In its third year, Gartex 2018, the comprehensive show dedicated to garmenting and textile manufacturing solutions and technologies, organised by Mex Exhibitions, represented its full forced and signalled towards the rise of Indian apparel industry. Over the last couple of years, textile printing has emerged as a legitimate printing segment. Gartex 2018 was a validation to this fact. At the same time, the show highlighted how garment printing is just a small part of the massive and diverse industry, which is growing leaps and bounds.

24 Aug 2018 | By Dibyajyoti Sarma

Over 150 companies showcased around 300 brands at the show held on 18-21 August 2018 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, giving industry stakeholders an insight into the new trends and business opportunities.

According to the organisers, Gartex India 2018 is designed to be a trendsetter for the industry player to showcase new technology, state-of-the-art equipment, materials and services. The show wanted to accelerate technological advances in the Indian textile and garments industry through the showcase of high-quality, high-speed and competitively-priced products.

It also provided a unique platform for international and national suppliers and trade visitors to expand their business opportunities in the garment and textile industry in India through networking and engaging in investment opportunities during the show.     

This year, the show was divided into segments — Digitex (focusing on digital textile printing technology); Denim Show (bringing together the denim supply chain under one roof); Embroidery Zone (highlighting innovations in embroidery sector); Fabric and Accessories Pavilion (focusing on embellishments and fabrics) and Garmenting and apparel (showcasing technological developments in the garment & apparel manufacturing sector).

Interestingly, the show witnessed a surge of visitors from small towns and emerging manufacturing centres like Ludhiana, Saharanpur, Surat, Kolkata, Kerala, besides a flow of students from various institutes. Of the few exporters who did visit the fair, the general feedback was, that there is business in the market for those players who were committed to the trade, but sadly not everyone wanted to make the effort. It was pointed out by many of the exhibitors that the slow phase in business had helped companies to put focus on R&D, so the industry was seeing many innovations, whether in fabric or technology.

Among the technology, printing was the obvious focus, with digital printing being the highlight. Mouvent held a special press conference to introduce their printing technology to the Indian market. Many of the small garment manufacturers with 20-40 machines were at the event to seek out options to expand and explore new areas of business.

In a sense, digital printing was the centrepiece of the show, but almost all of them were sublimation printers. However, one of the country’s biggest manufacturers of garment printing machinery, Colorjet, showcased its model Vastrajet, a direct to fabric printing machines. Another direct to fabric machine was Tanya Enterprises’ model TE-1600.

Entry level sublimation printers were a major attraction among the visitors. Ahmedabad- based Mehta CAD CAM Systems and Gurgaon-based FIT Technology were the ones that launched their sublimation printers for the first time at the event.