New York the venue for curated cotton-sourcing event
Exhibition organiser Messe Frankfurt has announced a new cotton event, Prefab. It will launch in New York at the start of 2027.
Working with Supima, Messe Frankfurt will set the event up as a carefully curated meeting place between fabric mills specialising in fabric made from US-grown Pima cotton and senior designers, fabric directors, product developers and sourcing decision-makers from premium and luxury brands.
Supima is the association that represents producers and manufacturers of extra-long staple Pima cotton grown in the US on around 300 family farms in the west and south-west of the country. Supima is also a brand name, standing for Superior Pima that mills specialising in working with the fibre can apply to the fabrics they make from it.
The inaugural edition of Prefab will take place at the Altman Building in Manhattan, in the heart of New York City’s Garment District, on January 19 and 20.
Messe Frankfurt said it would select around 40 mills as exhibitors and that Prefab would offer a “uniform, design-led presentation [that] gives each mill equal visibility and supports focused discussion, comparison and relationship-building”.
Presenting the idea, Messe Frankfurt’s vice-president for fashion and apparel, Jennifer Bacon, said: “New York is one of the world’s most important fashion markets and the right place for a deliberately selective format. Prefab brings outstanding Supima member mills together with the people making material decisions for leading brands.”
