With a total of 117 participating nations, around 63,000 visitors and 2300 exhibitors, international textile fairs Techtextil, Texprocess and Heimtextil (a one-off summer special) were relaunched at Messe Frankfurt last week.
Across all three events, Italy, France, Turkey, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Pakistan and the US formed the top visitor nations.
"The world meets again in Frankfurt. International encounters and stimulating new business returned immediately after the pandemic-related break – the textile trade fair business is back and shows its global strength. We and our global Texpertise Network, with 60 events worldwide covering the textile value chain, are looking positively to the future. At the same time, against the backdrop of global challenges, we will continue to expand our international partnerships, such as with the Conscious Fashion & Lifestyle Network in co-operation with the UN Office for Partnerships," says Detlef Braun, a member of Messe Frankfurt's executive board.
Despite ongoing travel restrictions, all three shows maintained their pre-pandemic level of internationality in terms of both exhibitors and visitors.
"The textile industry remains a high-growth market that needs face-to-face interaction. In these times of massive supply chain disruptions, we have provided the markets with our unique crossover at the most important international marketplace for product innovations along almost the entire textile value chain at exactly the right time," says Olaf Schmidt, VP textiles and textile technologies, Messe Frankfurt.
Due to the cancellation of the regular Heimtextil in January, the international trade fair was held this year as a one-time Summer Special, parallel to Techtextil & Texprocess.
The Heimtextil Summer Special was trend-setting with its clear focus on sustainability. A wide range of products - from fibres made from PET bottles and fair trade natural materials to textile products with QR codes for tracking the entire production process - enabled visitors to experience the megatrend of sustainability. Linen in combination with other natural fibres such as hemp and wool, as well as bedlinen made of cotton coated with cork, were also part of the green global product portfolio.
Fresh impulses were provided by the Heimtextil Trends for the industry. The Trend Space put the spotlight on unusual approaches to avoiding waste and economic imbalances. Other crowd-pleasers were the Green Village, as well as the Heimtextil Conference 'Sleep & More' on the topic of sleep and the sustainable hotel industry.
Heimtextil will next take place from 10-13th January 2023.
