Intertextile Shanghai 2027 and CHIC: textile and fashion shows in China

Two shows dominate the Chinese textile calendar for foreign buyers. Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics brings together suppliers of fabrics, yarns and garment accessories: it is the entry point for anyone looking for a raw material or a specific fabric before launching a garment. CHIC, China International Fashion Fair, sits further downstream: finished garments, brands and garment manufacturers, often held on the same dates and in the same exhibition complex as Intertextile Shanghai, which allows both to be visited on a single trip.

Textiles and apparel also feature in more general-purpose shows: phase 3 of the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, devotes several days to textiles, leather goods and footwear, with a different badge and logic from Intertextile or CHIC, covered in our article on how the Canton Fair works. A buyer sourcing fabric, finished garments and accessories all at once may benefit from combining a specialized March show with a Canton Fair session later in the year.

The autumn 2026 edition ran from August 25 to 27, 2026 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, with more than 3,500 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions and more than 100,000 visitors, according to figures published by the organizer. The spring 2027 edition is set for March 10, 11 and 12, 2027, at the same venue: visitor pre-registration is open on Messe Frankfurt's official portal for the show.

The show covers apparel fabrics for spring-summer and autumn-winter collections, yarns, garment accessories and a share of technical textiles. The spring 2026 edition, comparable in size to the one expected in 2027, occupied seven halls across more than 190,000 square meters, with more than 3,000 exhibitors and more than 96,000 visitors from 119 countries and regions, according to figures published by the organizer for that edition.

The spring 2027 edition of CHIC is announced for March 10 to 12, 2027 in Shanghai, under the theme "THE WAY", centered on the intersection of cultural depth, technological advancement and sustainability in the fashion industry. These dates are reported by the trade press; the show's official website did not yet detail them at the time of writing, so they remain to be confirmed on chiconline.com.cn or chicfair.com before booking a trip.

CHIC covers finished apparel and fashion accessories, with an area dedicated to contemporary Chinese style and a growing international presence: the Italian delegation, present with fourteen companies at the autumn 2026 edition mainly in women's ready-to-wear, has announced it will expand its participation, and a streetwear brand based in the United Arab Emirates has confirmed its return for the March 2027 edition. As a size benchmark, the spring 2026 edition brought together 1,291 exhibitors and 106,101 visitors across 117,200 square meters, according to figures published by the organizer.

For Intertextile Shanghai, registration is done online, on the show's official portal, before the trip: it secures entry and avoids the queue on opening day. The exact registration fee is not detailed on the pages reviewed: check it on the official portal before booking flights and hotel, as rates may vary by visitor category.

For CHIC, the process also goes through online visitor registration, with an individual or group option depending on the show's official website. In both cases, a business card and proof of professional activity are generally required at registration or at the entrance: prepare these documents before departure rather than at the counter.

A textile show makes introductions, it guarantees nothing: verification begins after the trip. The first step is to confirm the legal existence of the company met, its Chinese registration number, and the consistency between its stated business and the fabrics or garments shown at the booth. This check immediately rules out middlemen who present themselves as manufacturers without the real capacity to be one.

Next comes the sample: request a physical reference of the fabric or garment discussed at the booth, with its exact composition and tolerances, before any volume commitment. For a significant order, a factory visit or a pre-shipment inspection on the first production run remains the best safeguard, especially in a sector where the quality of a fabric is judged as much by feel as by a figure on a technical data sheet.

This calendar brings together dates confirmed and dates still announced by the organizers at the time of writing, without mixing the two categories.

Sorva is a brokerage and trading house between Europe and China, with a Chinese-speaking team based in Guangzhou. Before a trip to Intertextile Shanghai or CHIC, our team frames the fabric or garment specification and shortlists the exhibitors relevant to your product category. After the show, we verify the company met, arrange the shipment and inspection of a reference sample, then follow production through to the pre-shipment inspection.

In most cases you pay no fees: you open a file, we negotiate the goods for you and take a commission on their ex-works value. A full supplier search or an in-depth verification can also be ordered separately, without a trip to China.