Agents and showrooms

If you cannot make it to a trade show, no problem, most textile companies have local representative who may work with a showroom or independently. Call or email the companies to receive their list of agents (some even cite them on the website).

When you meet them bring a clear visual overview of your project to show them and be prepared to detail who your target market is so they understand the price point and end look. If you have similar fabrics swatches you are interested in bring them to show what you like.

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Agents are very knowledgeable, they are the experts in their field, you can have a look through the range but if you give them an idea of what you are looking for they will be able to suggest a variety of fabrics and guide you to what would best match your design idea and that they have in their portfolio.

Each fabric agent will offer a different range of fabrics, so you will need to work with a variety of agents to cover your various fabric needs.

For your visit with the agents the same recommendations as for trade shows apply; be professional, take notes after each visit to remember everything they show you and be prepared for the next visit.

If instead of working with your local agent you would rather visit the textile company directly this is not a problem at all. Textile companies are often clustered in the same areas, for example in Italy the area of Biella is specialized in woven high woolen fabrics, the area of Como is specialized in Jacquard and silks and the area of Prato is a little bit more encompassing but specialized in recycled wool.

If you decide to go to one of these areas it is definitely best to write to more than one textile company to make appointments, during your visit you will be able to see the current catalogue, the archive and maybe even the production site.

Textile companies in Italy usually have minimum order quantities (MOQ) of 300 in case of production and 50m in case of sampling (with a 40% surcharge).

Deliveries take about 70 days but lately given the supply chain difficulties it has gone up to 90/100 days.

Anything a textile company has in stock can usually be bought without MOQ) and this brings us to buying deadstock.