Fibre2Fashion November Issue'17 | Page 94

ADVERTORIAL Tough to grow fabric business online Taiwan-based Premiere Fashion offers a variety of customised finishes with stable quality. Doris Lo, Manger & Michael Lin, GM, Premiere Fashion talk to Fibre2Fashion about market trend and the company’s strategy for online expansion. How does your supply chain network work? What regions of the world are parts of your supply chain? Our supply chain is only in Taiwan and we have 65 factories. We have 10 yarn factories and 20 knit factories to make different knitted fabrics like jersey, jacquard, fleece and construction fabrics. We also manufacture at 27 finished factories, including those for printing and lamination. We have a team of five quality control (QC) experts who visit these factories every day. Each factory has its own QC supervisor. Michael Lin GM Do you source materials from outside Taiwan? We import a special, rayon-type yarn from Japan. Generally, we produce in Taiwan but there are specific materials that we import from Japan and chemicals from Europe. Normally, we buy specialty products and chemicals from Taiwan and the Taiwanese agent buys from Europe or the United States, but our p oint of contact is in Taiwan. Which brands and retailers are you currently associated with? Our main customers are only leading big brands. We do not sell to small buyers. Is your company taking certain initiatives for sustainable and eco-friendly textile production? We are one of Bluesign partners and Bluesign panel checks every procedure and every chemical for sustainability. Our fabric is eco-friendly. Who are your competitors in the international market? There are many competitors in Japan, Korea and China. They make functional fabrics. Eclat is a competitor in Taiwan. They make yoga fabric. Their fabric is very similar to ours. Do you forecast any change in the next five years? Of course, there will be changes. Today you can see that some main items are popular but next year they will not be so popular. We discuss about new developments in the sales meetings. Products will change year after year. Where do you see your product segment growing in the local and international markets? Maybe the market would expand in the coming years. We have many new collections coming up with German brands. We also plan to sync the print