The decorated apparel industry’s leading event in the Southwest set to return to Dallas in 2026
A new location, another successful Impressions Expo. Despite the move from Fort Worth to Dallas, Texas (due to the extensive renovations taking place in the former’s convention center) it seems exhibitors and attendees had little trouble making the switch.
The result—plenty of sales leads, and goods and services on offer, and plenty of food for thought for those visiting the show floor or attending the show’s complementary educational conference sessions.
A group of attendees learns about some of the latest and greatest embroidery tech at the Melco booth in Dallas. Photo courtesy of Impressions Expo
Indeed, in spite of the still uncertain nature of both the U.S. and global economies it was clear throughout Impressions Expo Dallas, which took place Oct. 1-4 (and included 118 exhibitors occupying an impressive 24,300-square-feet of show space), those in attendance aren’t about to give up either on their business or the industry as a whole.
Over at the Star Quoter booth, for example, where the company was touting its fully automated pricing services and software, one company rep described the event as best show they’ve ever had with the greatest number of leads.
Similarly, the direct-to-film (DTF) experts over at the Ninja Transfers booth were thrilled with what they described as lots of engagement and a great show overall, with an outstanding 200 leads on Day 1 alone.
The Role of AI as Part of the Decorated Apparel Industry
Exhibitors, attendees and the industry as a whole also continued to look ahead, as was evident in everything from the latest DTF services and equipment to the newest online business management and embroidery tech and the every-increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) to the industry.
The role of technology was a big part of the 2025 Dallas Impressions Expo educational conference series. Photo courtesy of Impressions Exp0
The latter in particular was seemingly on the minds of all concerned, as was evident in the many Shop Talk and educational conferences sessions dedicated to the subject. Interesting, the emphasis is no longer just on the use of generative AI to help out/streamline the design process to the use in everything from social media to various different types of market research and production management planning.
Hard to believe it’s only been over the course of the past year or so that AI has even been a “thing.” It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds.
Speaking of the future, next up is Impressions’ flagship event set to take place Jan. 21-24 in Long Beach, California, a true gathering of the custom decorated apparel industry with exhibitors from across the world displaying their latest offerings. Then of course, there’s next year’s Dallas Impressions Expo, scheduled to take place Oct. 21-24. Save the dates for both events now. You’re not going to want to miss them.
Better still, register now for Impressions Expo Long Beach and you can do so free of charge by clicking here and entering the promo code LONGBEACH25. See you there!
