Medellin-based Inexmoda – the trade association for Colombia’s textile and fashion industry – announced December 5 that the 30th annual “Colombiatex” trade show will bring-together some 550 companies, 125 exhibitors and about 15,800 buyers from 60 countries.

The show -- running January 23-25, 2018, at Medellin’s Plaza Mayor convention center – will feature displays and demonstrations of textile manufacturing, novel materials, chemicals, new technologies, emerging fashion trends and business analysis.

Medellin’s Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) will offer 17 expert presentations at the adjacent Teatro Metropolitano, while the main Plaza Mayor will host another 15 workshops on business models, communications, brand marketing, technologies and sustainable practices, according to Inexmoda.

The Medellín metro area (including Bello, Marinilla, Don Matias and Santa Rosa de Osos) is home to 38% of Colombia’s national textile production, specializing in cotton, polyester mixtures, specialty wools, flat panels and stitching, the trade group noted.

Key markets for Medellin textile products include the USA, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Brasil and Costa Rica. (The formerly robust export market to Venezuela has collapsed in recent years thanks to that country’s disastrous “socialist” economic policies).

“Colombiatex has established itself as a reference space for the Latin American market, in addition to presenting a very good image for the sector,” said Ana Marcela García, chief executive at Artextil, exhibiting at Colombiatex for 25 years now. “It is the perfect opportunity to generate synergies that strengthen us as a world-class sector,” she added.

On a similar note, Enka-Colombia president Álvaro Hincapié Vélez noted that his company has participated in every Colombiatex fair since its launch in 1987.

“The history of Enka can be described as a story of transformation in which we’ve succeeded in making [materials] recyling a sustainable business,” Hincapie explained.

“Today, more than 45% of our products are derived from recycled materials -- and in this edition of Colombiatex we’re launching our new ‘EKO’ filaments made from recycled PET [polyethylene terephthalate] plastic bottles,” he said.

This year’s special invitee is Brazil, sponsored by ABIT, Apex-Brasil, Abimaq and Assintecal. The new free-trade agreement between Colombia and Brazil “enables Colombian clothing and textiles to enter Brazil without tariffs,” Inexmoda noted.

For Colombiatex 2018, a new section will be dedicated to high-tech graphic arts in clothing manufacture, the trade group added.