Sources: aicep Portugal Global

On the 7th and 8th of October, Alfândega do Porto received the 58th edition of Modtissimo, after a February edition in digital format. This physical edition of Modtissimo received a record number of exhibitors, corridors crowded with visitors and a considerable number of journalists and foreign buyers which signals the return to the presential format of the textile trade fair and shows evidence of the sector’s upturn.

Debuting in this edition was the guest country concept made in partnership with Advantage Austria. “It is the first time that we have a guest country, a proposal that came from Austria itself, and which is already being reflected in the number of Austrian buyers, which is 10 times larger than usually”, states Manuel Serrão, the Director of the Fair.

The number of foreign buyers exceeded all expectations, with special highlight to German, Austriac, Spanish, Swiss and French. “We had a huge, huge demand, registering a higher affluence of people than before the pandemic. We realize that people come with a strong will to make business”, explains Matilde Costa, in charge of managing foreign buyers and ads “AICEP’s help in identifying some guests was essential”.

The Portuguese textile sector continues on the path to sustainability and proof of this was iTechStyle Green Circle showcase, which was the biggest ever. 44 items were presented – 42 coordinates and 2 bags – developed by 33 Portuguese companies: nine manufacturing companies, five home-textile companies and 30 companies in the fabrics and materials’ areas. All the items were selected according to demanding sustainability and circularity criteria.

As usually, the textile trade fair was stage to the selection of finalists for the next edition of iTechStyle Awards in its four cathegories – fabrics, products, sustainability and accessorize. A.Sampaio, with two nominations, RDD Tintex, B. Mum, Onwork, Pafil, Women’s Empowerment, Inovafil, Becri, FSM, Lipaco, Envicorte and  Louropel are the new 14 finalists who will join  the ones selected in February.

All in all there were more than 400 collections were presented at MODTISSIMO, where innovation, sustainability and design revealed the quality of national textiles throughout the value chain.

The next edition will be in February 2022.