FROM PORTUGAL MOVES ONWARDS AND UPWARDS AT ISPO MUNICH

Associação Selectiva Moda organises the largest ever national participation in the world's largest sports articles fair. 25 Portuguese companies will exhibit in Munich the best that Portugal produces in this segment, from 24 to 27 January. They will exhibit in halls B3, B5, C3 and C4. These companies are: A.Sampaio - Botton - DKT - Faria da Costa - Fiorima - Fitexar - Fitor - Fiúza - Heliotêxtil - Inc Brand - Joaps Malhas - Linolito - Lipaco - LMA - Lurdes Sampaio - Myleggs - Nordstorm Apparel - P&R Têxteis - Playway - Sakproject - Sidónios Intímo - Slow Image - Sonicarla Europa - Têxtil Ribeiro & Verstraete - Tintex.

CITEVE will be demonstrating LeafXPRO, a protection textile for bicycles that allows use even in adverse weather conditions. «This product was developed by the “onlymagic-innovation" company, with the technological support of the Technology & engineering team of CITEVE and validation by the centre's laboratories», explains Braz Costa, general manager of Citeve. CITEVE will also display its technological services and solutions, especially aimed at developing products for sports and simulation tests and trials for their use: objective analysis of thermal comfort (thermal dummy), zero leaks in rain (rain dummy) and fire protection (fire dummy).

The MyLeggscompression brand, the expert in the care of sports legs, participates at ISPO MUNICH for the first time. «We want to exhibit at ISPO to publicise, show and promote our products in this area for physical activity and promote the internationalisation of the brand. We will exhibit our range of products, such as: technical compression leggings, knee-highs, short socks and sleeves. All products improve energy, performance, protection and recovery of the athlete», explains Isabel Martelo.

Botton, a pioneering Portuguese brand in fitness clothing, will premiere at ISPO MUNICH. «With a fashion designer exclusively working for the brand, the collections include modern and irreverent articles. At ISPO we will also launch the new collection of Botton, with trim in reflective material and in partnership with an award-winning manufacturer of Portuguese knitwear, also present at the fair. Botton is exhibiting at ISPO in order to present the brand to the international sports market and, via this, it aims to increase its market share», states Alexandra Bacelar.

Fitness and running clothes for ladies and men in technical fabrics and prints, are the highlights of the Stress Out brand, once again exhibiting at the fair. «We want to drum up new customers for our Stress Out brand or as a private label», states Eduarda Pereira, director of the company.

Back in Munich is the specialist in the production of polyamide and polyester synthetic fibres, Fitor. The highlight of the many products it will exhibit goes to the high performance fibres for this sector, fibres with functional features such as antibacterial, blood stimulation, moisturizing, freshness, heating, elasticity, among others. «The choice of this fair is related to the type of customers and target markets of our company. We are a leader in the production of synthetic polyester and polyamide fibres for the sports sector, as well as one of the largest Portuguese exporters in this sector. We sell our products throughout Europe and therefore, since this fair is Europe-orientated, it is of great strategic importance for the company» indicates António Pereira, CEO of the company. 

«See our customers and consolidate our presence in this sector as a supplier of solutions for sports goods manufacturers» are the main objectives of Lipaco. Sewing thread elastic lines with special treatments, moisture resistant, antibacterial, camouflaged, targeted sports and leisure articles, are the featured products. «Sport is an activity that society in general has increasingly paid more attention to. It makes every sense for companies to look at it as a potential business in all its forms. This is the right fair to see trends, accompany the customers who participate, as well as those who are visiting, and to publicise our products in this area», explains Jorge Pereira, the company's CEO. 

Joaps Malhas is appearing for the second time. It exhibits knitted fabrics with technical and functional characteristics that include the fact that they are breathable, antibacterial and quick drying. «We are focused on innovation in knitted fabrics for sport and techno-fashion and this fair, therefore, is in line with our project», says Carla Araújo.

«Finding new customers and the identification of opportunities for the development of new products» are the goals of Heliotextil, an habitual presence at this fair, according to Vânia Fazenda, customer manager of the company. Its main new product is a range of customisable technical transfers for hot application, including: Helio VR (industrial wash resistant), Helio VR FR (flame resistant), HELIO SS (with elasticity), HELIO CP (resin finishes), HELIO PLUS (low temperature application) and HELIO REF (reflective).

PlayWay presents at this edition of ISPO MUNICH a range of stand-apart products. It will have garments with unrippable holes, a property that is not widely found in seamless garments. «The German market is, in a comprehensive manner, a reliable and disciplined market, of adjustable dimension to Playway’s capacity. We want this participation to take advantage of the proximity effect, evaluating in a sustained manner entry into this market», says Maria Gonçalves.

In its fourth appearance, although this is the first time with the support of Associação Selectiva Moda «the goal of A. Fiúza&Irmão is to strengthen partnerships with current clients and consolidate growth with new customers in the technical sports segment», indicates Pedro Fiúza, the company's manager. The highlight of this edition goes to new developments in compression stockings and functional threads. «ISPO is a reference in the sports area and the investment of our company in this segment has made participation in this event essential», he adds.

This is the first time Tintex Textiles exhibits a collection at the fair. The collection contains hybrid knitted fabrics - knitted fabrics in colours and qualities of a casual spirit functional for active sports. The mixes with merino wool are of note, as well as the unexpected mixes, for example with Kashmir. The constructions and notes are also surprising – aerial and fragile ribs, ultra-soft, even velvety to the touch. Special reference for the laminated or pasted items, sometimes with membranes, which play with the dualities of colour, aspect - matt/bright, texture - ultra flat and compact vs. structured and/or bulky, as well as those formed at high frequency, in three-dimensional knitted fabrics (3D feeling). «Tintex has long been recognised for being an innovative company. It has recently made investments in state-of-the-art technology and equipment that allow the diversification of the products supplied, in particular in the field of functional and technical textiles. These are an expression of the strategic priority that the company grants these markets - active sportswear, at leisure, well being, sports & street – while keeping its range of ready to wear fashion products - with added value either by technology or by design», explains Dolores Gouveia, designer of the company. «Considering the results of our application for the ISPO Textrends Forum, as well as the interest that brands of the segments have already shown in our products and collections, we expect this to be a successful participation. We expect to increase contact with new potential customers that will be the vehicle for the company to achieve the growth objectives set by management in the medium term, both in terms of sales and value, for the technical/functional textiles segment and for the new technologies installed», he adds.

The Portuguese participation in ISPO Textrends Forum is to be highlighted, where six Portuguese companies have progressed to assessment by the jury of ISPO MUNICH, consisting of three groups of international experts (journalists, designers and independent professionals). The Portuguese achieved a total of 34 samples in exhibition, 2 as “Best Product”, 9 in the “TOP 10” and 23 in the “SELECTION” group, which were submitted by A. Sampaio - Joaps - LMA - Lurdes Sampaio - Sidónios Íntimo - Tintex.

The participation of the portuguese companies in one more ISPO MUNICH edition is an initiative promoted by the Selectiva Moda Association, co-financed by the EU Structural and Investment Funds as part of the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020 and COMPETE 2020. The FROM PORTUGAL project is made up of approximately 81 international activities which take place in the second half of 2015 and in 2016, covering the entire textile and fashion industry and spread over four continents, with a total investment of over 13 million euros.