“Naturally Connecting the World” PR Campaign in China Generates Excitement About U.S. Cotton

CCI China Recruits Two New International Brands as COTTON USA Licensees

Working with Shanghai Yihua Garment Company, which specializes in manufacturing children’s wear, ELLE and Levi’s Kids have joined CCI’s growing stable of high-quality brands available in China. Yihua runs a network of over 2,100 retail outlets across China featuring primarily cotton-rich garments. A special line of ELLE and Levi’s Kids COTTON USA jeans will carry the COTTON USA Mark hangtag at retail across China.

COTTON USA “Naturally Connecting the World” Event Concludes in Jingyuan

Approximately 120 people, including 60 journalists, attended the PR event celebrating CCI's important role connecting the global cotton textile supply chain. CCI China & Hong Kong's "Naturally Connecting the World" campaign follows its "Natural World" and "Naturally in Love" campaigns from the past two years. CCI displayed a globe covered with cotton cloth from each country to illustrate the theme of "Naturally Connecting the World." A video took viewers on a "COTTON USA Journey" from U.S. cotton fields to Chinese textile factories, and finally to retail stores.

COTTON USA Holds Gathering for Cotton Textile Supply Chain in Hong Kong

CCI's event in Hong Kong gave those in the cotton textile supply chain an opportunity to share experiences and information during these challenging times for our industry when cotton prices show no sign of cooling off. CCI China & Hong Kong have spent an increasing amount of time developing the Chinese market for mill and brand licensees. A number of COTTON USA licensees in Hong Kong have either moved their operations to China or have closed down spinning mills. Hong Kong, nevertheless, remains an important hub for textile companies, retailers, sourcing offices and brands. Nearly 50 people attended, representing all segments of the cotton industry. Guests commented that this type of networking platform provided by CCI is invaluable, and led to new contacts resulting in sales of bales of U.S. cotton.

COTTON USA “Naturally in Love” PR Campaign in China and Hong Kong Receives Award

COTTON USA Buyers Tour to China Fast-Tracks the Sourcing Process

The COTTON USA Supply Chain Marketing (SCM) Program hosted its fifth Buyers Tour to China in June, the largest apparel buyers' tour recorded in the history of the SCM Program. The event enabled buyers representing 25 brands and retailers, including Benetton, Debenhams, Max Mara, M&S, Polo Ralph Lauren and Quiksilver, to conveniently explore the advantages of sourcing U.S. cotton-rich garments from a wide range of selected suppliers. This year's tour differed from previous years, as suppliers from other parts of Asia with strong textile economies such as Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam were also invited, a move that was well received among the attendees. The week opened with an extensive briefing session that included introductions to CCI and new Cotton Incorporated product developments. The briefing session continued with a one-and-a-half day trade show and two days of factory visits in Hangzhou and Guangzhou where the buyers were able to inspect a number of selected companies' manufacturing facilities, and view U.S. cotton-rich woven fabrics and garments.

COTTON USA “Naturally in Love” Campaign Successfully Concludes in Beijing

CCI China held a fashion wedding party for the winning couple of a COTTON USA online video competition, culminating a series of COTTON USA "Naturally in Love" themed promotional events over the past eight months. CCI's "Naturally in Love" PR campaign promoted fashionable, natural U.S. cotton to Chinese consumers. The wedding, presented by fashion icon and COTTON USA ambassador Miss Xu Xiyuan (Da S), featured an exquisite all-cotton wedding dress designed by CCI, Da S and Alex Wang. The event also served to display the latest COTTON USA licensee ranges, including special COTTON USA honeymoon pieces designed with a modern art perspective. In addition, eight COTTON USA licensees organized a fashion show to honor the newlyweds. Models wore outfits by COTTON USA licensees Lotto, Ivy House, JNBY, Dazzle, Casablanca-Home, Croquis, Vigoss USA Jeans, Nautica and Dinosaur. The entire show illustrated the comfort, multi-functionality and fashion of cotton. Approximately 136 media representatives and 70 guests, including representatives from China's cotton industry and Beijing's ATO, attended this event. The COTTON USA "Naturally in Love" campaign began in 2009 as a follow-up to the 2008 COTTON USA promotion "For Nature, Therefore the Future."

COTTON USA Key Account “Lotto” Launches Fashion Show in Beijing

Third COTTON USA Cotton School Held in China

More than 150 guests from the U.S. and China attended the third COTTON USA Cotton School in Haikou, China, on April 22-23. The School gathered leading mills and manufacturers in China's textile and apparel industry to explore the U.S. cotton market perspectives in China. Representatives of the U.S. Embassy's Agricultural Affairs Offices in Beijing and Guangzhou also participated. Similar to the previous two China Cotton Schools in 2006 and 2008, this year's School invited experts from the U.S. and the region to deliver presentations on a wide variety of topics on U.S. cotton. Topics included the U.S. cotton classification system, cotton flow and processing, futures and option markets, the U.S. retail market and the global cotton supply chain. Featured speakers represented ACSA, AMCOT, USDA, Supima, Cotton Incorporated, the National Cotton Council and CCI.

COTTON USA “Naturally in Love” Fashion Show in Beijing Highlights U.S. Cotton

More than 300 guests attended the COTTON USA fashion show, which connected people from the cotton industries of the U.S. and China with famous fashion, home textile, sports and children’s wear brands. Nine COTTON USA licensee brands participated in the event: Lotto, Casablanca-Home, K-Swiss, Ivy House, Dazzle, Croquis, JNBY, Nautica and Dinosaur. A highlight of the event was the announcement of the winner for the “Naturally in Love” online video competition, six-year-old Zhang Ruxin. She will star in an upcoming television commercial alongside COTTON USA brand ambassador Da S. This event signified the completion of the first phase of CCI’s year-long “Naturally in Love” campaign, designed to raise awareness of COTTON USA and its registered licensees, while bringing consumers together through a shared love of U.S. cotton and a natural lifestyle. The focus of the first phase was an online video competition, and phase two will include a second consumer-interactive online video contest. 

CCI Exhibits With COTTON USA Licensees at Intertextile Home Show in Shanghai

CCI China and Hong Kong joined forces with two key accounts in the home textile field, Dinosaur and Casablanca, to create a comprehensive U.S. cotton booth at the Intertextile Home trade show in Shanghai. This partnership resulted in one of the most successful trade shows CCI has organized in China. This year the trade show attracted more buyers than the previous year, with an estimated circulation of 35,000 attendees, as well as an increase in the number of exhibitors to over 900 participants. The U.S. cotton booth at Intertextile was the largest to date – six times larger than last year’s booth – but cost-effective as CCI divided the space into three areas, exhibiting for the first time in China with licensees. The CCI area featured U.S. cotton products by Dinosaur, Esprit, Marie Claire, Casablanca, Elle Deco, Casa Calvin, Loftex, North Home, Sunvim, Hongliu and Natural Home. CCI received more than 150 inquiries on how to become COTTON USA licensees. COTTON USA key account Dinosaur generated about 30 new inquiries and Casablanca around 40 regarding their licensing program, which in turn will assist our licensees in generating more business and using more U.S. cotton for their products.
 

CCI Participates in Intertextile Apparel Shanghai Trade Show

In spite of the global economic downturn, this year the trade show attracted more buyers than the previous year with an estimated circulation of about 54,000 attendees, as well as an increase in the number of exhibitors to 2,500 participants. CCI and Cotton Incorporated staged the largest booth to date and exhibited with COTTON USA licensees Central Textiles and Saint Year Holdings Ltd. The combination of denim fabrics by Central Fabrics and high-count woven fabrics by Saint Year Holding Ltd. provided visitors with a good understanding of how high quality products made with U.S. cotton are versatile and fashionable. The expansive U.S. cotton booth featured COTTON USA programs, U.S. cotton-rich products from 20 COTTON USA licensees and a Supima section. Cotton Incorporated featured its Storm Denim, TransDRY and Wicking Windows technologies, as well as sample fabrics produced by licensee suppliers. The booth attracted more than 4,500 people, with around 2,000 face-to-face contacts, and increased inquiries about joining the COTTON USA licensing program. 

COTTON USA “Natural World” Campaign Concludes in China

(Video) Click this link to view: COTTON USA"Natural World" Campaign Finale Event on May 21, 2009 in Beijing

CCI China & Hong Kong designed its latest COTTON USA campaign to tell cotton’s “natural story” in light of the United Nations General Assembly naming 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibers. Activities included fashion shows with COTTON USA licensees, U.S. cotton collections designed by celebrities, art exhibitions, print and interactive outdoor advertising, a consumer video competition and in-store promotions. Estimated consumer impressions through the outdoor advertising alone exceeds 400 million. At the finale in Beijing, CCI launched a limited edition collection of U.S. cotton pieces co-designed by COTTON USA brand ambassador Big S and six COTTON USA licensees. Proceeds from the sale of these designs will be donated to the Chinese Environmental Protection Foundation. Media representatives from China and Hong Kong who witnessed the launch hailed it as a breakthrough in the fashion field for gathering so many brands to share the same interest in protecting our “natural world.”

COTTON USA Buyers Tour to China Leads to Increased U.S. Cotton Sales

2009 (Winter) International buyers established trading relationships—and purchased $1 million in U.S. cotton-rich fabric and apparel—with U.S. cotton’s customers in China during the 4th COTTON USA Buyers Tour. Initial orders of U.S. cotton-rich products purchased during the tour represented the equivalent of about 200 bales of U.S. cotton, and repeat orders are expected. The weeklong event in Shanghai attracted a record-breaking number of participants, including Asian, European, and U.S. brands and retailers with a combined annual turnover of $282 billion. All participants reported meeting new suppliers, and 70 percent of buyers said that the tour improved their relationships with current suppliers. Post-event surveys reveal that 95 percent of participants said the knowledge and contacts acquired during the tour would result in new sales of U.S. cotton-rich products. China is the largest importer of U.S. cotton fiber, despite recent downturns in the market, as well as the world’s largest cotton consumer at the mill level.

U.S. Cotton Industry Hosts Special Trade Missions from Vietnam and China

2009 (Winter) Delegations of textile representatives from both China and Vietnam met with key U.S. industry officials across the U.S. Cotton Belt during 2008 COTTON USA Special Trade Missions. Participants represented companies that annually consume around 3.5 million bales of cotton, with U.S. cotton component equaling approximately 1.5 million bales. The CCI-sponsored tours included stops at major cotton growing, research and trading centers across the U.S. The Chinese STM participants spoke highly of the positive interactions with the U.S. industry and stated their intentions to increase imports of U.S. cotton in the near future. Members of the Vietnam STM noted increased investment in the Vietnamese textile industry, and the U.S. cotton industry foresees expanding opportunity to supply Vietnam’s fiber needs as trade relations grow between the two countries.