New York — The sixteenth annual International Fashion Fabric Exhibition and Conference (IFFE) at the Jacob K. Javits Center featured more than 650 exhibitors and attracted 12,500 visitors, according to its press release. While the show is geared to the apparel industry, some home furnishings exhibitors reported success at the show. ''Apparel swings right into decorative,'' said Evans Kiorpes, buyer for Everfast, Inc.

Nicholas Savoye, a sales executive for Regal Fabrics Inc., said that weight and color determine whether home furnishings products are marketable to the apparel industry. ''If it's medium weight and colored enough for apparel, they'll buy it,'' he said. ''The accessory market and top-of-bed people have been coming by, as have been tabletop and vest customers.''

Fabricut Export Sales Manager, Michael C. Dolina noted some crossover of his company's product. ''We're selling home furnishings to apparel, pillow and top-of-bed people,'' he said. ''We've done mostly sampling, but we've also gotten a lot of leads which we hope will turn into orders in about six months.'' F&FI