It’s 9:42 a.m 5 Feb 2025. The doors of Lyon’s CTCO trade fair have just opened, and there’s a quiet hum before the storm. In the distance, a stitching machine rumbles to life. Nearby, a technician peels fresh stickers off a thermal printer. The halls are lined with booths from Roly to Reseau Subli — and somewhere between them, our Konfiwear team is weaving through the crowd, not behind a stand, but in the heart of the action.
Unlike most exhibitors, Konfiwear didn’t come to CTCO 2025 to hand out brochures or smile behind branded counters. We came to listen. To meet the manufacturers, printers, and agencies who live and breathe apparel customization. And what we heard confirmed it: the industry is ready for a smarter way to do custom — and Konfiwear is already delivering it.
The Shift: What Manufacturers Are Really Looking For
Let’s talk straight. CTCO and its twin event C!Print aren’t just about swag or seasonal colorways. They’re the pulse check of an industry under pressure: tighter margins, more personalization, faster turnarounds.
In 2024 alone, the European promotional products market grew by 6.3% year-over-year, hitting €16.4B in value
Source: European Promotional Products Association (EPPA)But manufacturers are stuck juggling legacy software, back-and-forth emails, and time-consuming approval cycles. That’s where Konfiwear steps in — not as a gimmicky visualizer, but as a full-stack platform built for the real needs of apparel makers and promo specialists.
Meet the Problem-Solver: Konfiwear Customizer
The Konfiwear Customizer is our answer to what we saw at CTCO: endless booths showcasing beautiful products, but few tools that help streamline how those products actually get made.
Imagine this: your customer wants a batch of 200 team jerseys, each with different names and numbers. With Konfiwear, you drop in your 3D model, lock the logo zones, and activate Team Builder. Your client personalizes everything in-browser — from fonts and fabrics to sizes — while you get print-ready files instantly, no follow-up needed.
This isn’t just good UX. This is time saved, waste reduced, and errors eliminated.
Reseau Subli: A Conversation That Stuck
One of the most meaningful conversations we had was at the Reseau Subli stand — a key player in the sublimation printing space in France. Their biggest hurdle? Scaling personalization without sacrificing control or turnaround time. Our live demo of the Konfiwear Customizer sparked a flurry of questions:
- Can we control design zones?
- Can customers see it in AR?
- Can we use our existing 3D models?
We left that conversation energized — and with a shared vision: making high-quality, scalable customization not just possible, but effortless.
What You Didn’t See on the CTCO Website
Most wrap-ups talk about how many brands attended (over 340 exhibitors this year, for the record). But few highlight the disconnect between what's on show and what's under the hood.
Sure, embroidery machines and transfer printers are impressive — but none of that matters if your design approval process is clunky.
Konfiwear doesn’t just show off end products. We streamline the journey to those products. Our clients aren’t just fashion brands. They’re factories, B2B suppliers, and print agencies looking for an edge.
We give it to them with:
- Instant quote generation tied to design specs
- Layer-based logic to protect key branding zones
- Full control over color dependencies
- Mobile-first AR previews for fast client sign-off
What’s Next?
While we didn’t have a stand this time, we left Lyon with something far more valuable: real-world insights, real client needs, and a renewed mission to build tools that actually solve problems.
From the hum of embroidery needles to sticker printers whirring out samples, this year’s CTCO was buzzing with creativity. But behind every flashy stand is a team trying to work smarter, not harder.
So we have to ask — what’s holding your customization process back?
Next year, we’re exhibiting.
You’ll find us at CTCO Lyon 2026 with live demos, real-time customizers, and
everything your team needs to turn apparel ideas into production-ready
reality.
Come see Konfiwear in action — and let's build the future of
customization together.
