Interview with Sibel SAY- Project Director at Istanbul Yarn Fair exhibition
• Please let us know more about the next edition of Istanbul Yarn Fair and the reasons for postponing it.
Following the earthquake disaster that hit Türkiye and affected 10 provinces, International Istanbul Yarn Fair scheduled to be held from February 16 to 18, 2023, at Tüyap Fair and Congress Center in Istanbul has been postponed to June 1 to 3, 2023. This Year, International Istanbul Yarn Fair will bring together more than 500 exhibitors with visitors. In addition to country pavilions of India, China, Uzbekistan and Belarus, leading companies from Türkiye will exhibit at the fair where foreign exhibitors from over 20 countries will participate.
As an innovation in this year’s fair, the trend space titled “the Adventure of Yarn” and themed recycling will be opened to the visits of exhibitors and visitors. The issue of sustainability will be underlined, in the space where the adventure of recycled yarns will be exhibited through samples obtained from exhibitor companies.
• Could you please share with us all events and exhibitions of Tüyap company in textile and apparel sector?
In addition to International Istanbul Yarn Fair organized every year by Tüyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc. at Tüyap Fair and Congress Center in Istanbul, Texpo Çukurova Textile and Ready-to-Wear Fair is organized by Tüyap Adana Fairs Organization Inc. at Tüyap Adana International Fair and Congress Center, under the roof of Tüyap Fair & Exhibition Group.
• What is the reason that Istanbul is a great place to organize textile and apparel fairs?
The ready-to-wear and textile sector that occupies an important place in the national economy also plays a significant role in manufacturing, export and employment. 61% of the companies operating in the sector are located in Istanbul, which constitutes 20% of Istanbul’s economy.
In many aspects, Istanbul is located almost at the heart of Türkiye. Description of Istanbul as the center of fashion and numerous reasons like the fact that highly significant companies for manufacturing are located in Istanbul, the commercial advantages offered to companies, position of the city that connects the European and Asian continents can be counted among the justifications for the organization of International Istanbul Yarn Fair in Istanbul.
• Please share with is a short report from last edition of Istanbul yarn fair.
International Istanbul Yarn Fair held in 2022 brought together 255 exhibitor companies from 15 countries and 10,282 professional visitors from 86 countries, İran, Italy, Morocco, Russia, France and China in particular. A 20% increase has been observed in the number of total visitors, both local and foreign, in comparison to the previous year’s fair.
21% of the fair visitor were decision-makers, 13% senior management, 33% managers and 33% experts. 32% of visitors stated that they purchased stuff during the fair, whereas 68% mentioned their plans to make purchases after the fair. The companies that took part in the fair increased their order rates by 81% during the fair. At the fair where exhibitors left satisfied by 89%, visitors were also satisfied by 94%.
• Why textile companies in the yarn sector should exhibit in this fair?
First of all, International Istanbul Yarn Fair stands out as the most comprehensive fair organized in Türkiye in this field. Leading local and foreign companies in yarn manufacturing, which is the raw material in ready-to-wear, textile and home textile sectors, prefer International Istanbul Yarn Fair to ensure that their products are accessed by the right buyers.
The fair steadily grows every year, regarding the number of both exhibitors and visitors, and gets better in quality. At the fair organized on a yearly basis, a large trade volume emerges as a result of the impact that the fair has now demonstrated itself and clarified its position in the sector and the exhibitors receive their share from this trade.
International Istanbul Yarn Fair has now become a center of prestige by a number of exhibitors and a fair that all companies who do not want to fall behind in competition want to participate. The Fair is a trading platform where all companies in the sector which are target-oriented and which desire to reach the right audience at a single location and be engaged in international cooperations.
• Give us more details about the range of products that are exhibit in this show.
Numerous product ranges including Cotton Yarns, Elastane Yarns, Wool Yarns, Acrylic Yarns, Viscose Yarns, Polyester Yarns, Silk Yarns, Nylon Yarns, Textured Yarns, Fancy Yarns, Organic Yarns, Polypropylene Yarns, Regenerated Yarns, Metallic Yarns, Technical Yarns, Hand-Knitting Yarns, Fibers, Bobbins, Spools and Reels are exhibited at the fair.
• Istanbul Yarn Fair welcomes too many international visitors, especially from the Middle East and North Africa. What do you think about textile and apparel sector in the mentioned region?
These regions that have recently risen among the world leaders in the textile and ready-to-wear sector are definitely crucial for the sector. They offer their products to world markets for affordable prices, by using high-quality materials. Türkiye acts as a bridge for doing business with these regions, which is a reason for preference of International Istanbul Yarn Fair by the visitors and exhibitors in these regions.
• Do you have any seminars and conferences organized during the Istanbul Yarn Fair?
We work on long-term and international conference programs for the future versions of the fair, however we do not have a conference program prepared for 2023. Additionally, we establish a trend space in the fair area this year, as the first leg of future conference plannings. Recycled yarn, which is not a new concept for the textile and ready-to-wear market, has become an even more significant subject, as brands attach increasingly more importance to reducing carbon footprint in recent years.
The adventure of yarn, from waste to final product, fictionalized by the marketing team of International Istanbul Yarn Fair will meet visitors at the exclusive fair area for recycled yarns to be established on the foyer. On that allocated space, stages of recycling will be presented for the examination of visitors, by using the sample products to be received from exhibitor companies.
• Sustainability and recycling is one of the most important subject these days in textile sector. What is Istanbul Yarn Fair’s policy in this respect?
As we mentioned in the previous question, sustainability and recycling are key factors to future of textile industry and more and more importance is attached to them each passing day. We also have companies displaying their products as regenerated yarns at our fair.
On the area where we will underline the issue of sustainability and which we will build with the recycled yarns and wastes of our exhibitors, we will particularly address this issue. Regarding the upcoming fairs, we have projects that we are planning to carry out specifically on this issue.
