Organisers of home and contract textile show Heimtextil 2023, which housed 2,400 exhibitors from 129 nations and attracted 44,000 visitors from 10 to 13 January says the show has set the course for a successful trade fair year.
Over the four days, the Frankfurt-based show saw visitors stream in from across the globe to attend numerous workshops, tours, lectures and networking formats, and experience wholly integrated sustainability.
The show demonstrated concentrated intercontinental strength. The top ten exhibiting countries were China, India, Turkey, Pakistan, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France and Great Britain, while the top visitor countries included Germany, Italy, Turkey, the US, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Pakistan, India and Greece.
Buyers in attendance took advantage of the opportunity to participate in the global market for home and contract textiles and to gain a bundled overview of global textile innovations – from fibres, yarns, upholstery and decorative fabrics, functional textiles, outdoor fabrics, artificial leather and wallpapers to bed and bathroom textiles, mattresses, sleep systems, curtains and decorative cushions.
“Heimtextil made a powerful return to January and set all the signs for success as a barometer for the trade fair business year – with an outstanding degree of internationalisation of 129 participating nations,” member of the executive board of Messe Frankfurt Detlef Braun said.
Compared to 2020, the leading trade fair for home and contract textiles is said to have achieved an increase in the degree of internationalisation – in terms of exhibitors to 94 per cent and in terms of visitors to 82 per cent. There was growth on the exhibitor side compared to the pre-pandemic edition from Turkey and Pakistan. In 2023, there were also more buyers from Italy, Turkey, Spain and especially Greece.
“The outstanding internationality proves that times of geopolitical challenges, Heimtextil is the most important place-to-be for the global home textiles industry – both for new business contacts and market opportunities as well as for the redefinition of supply chains and important cooperations to overcome production bottlenecks,” Braun said.
New contacts and successful orders: trade show participants achieved their goals
Personal encounters were at the heart of Heimtextil 2023 and were celebrated in full exhibition halls. This was also reflected in the active ordering of the visitors.
According to representative surveys, 80 per cent of exhibitors had already achieved their trade show goals by the third day. Satisfaction with visitor quality was also very high: 72 per cent of visitors were top decision-makers.
In addition to the diverse range of high-quality volume business from Asian exhibitor nations, the focus was also on European design and retail volumes – a mix that resulted in particularly high visitor satisfaction: 92 per cent of buyers achieved their trade show goals.
And yet there is movement! Sustainable transformation in the textile industry
Innovative material developments from natural raw materials such as mushrooms, plant fibres or recycled waste products provide impulses for the future of home textiles. This was clearly demonstrated by the “Future Materials Library” at Heimtextil, but also applies to the present.
The majority of the global textile industry has long since set out on the path to sustainably redesigning manufacturing processes and forming strong partnerships and measures for transparent supply chains. To this end, Heimtextil exhibitors offered products, solutions or suggestions at many booths.
The opportunity for personal exchange, inspiration and more know-how was offered by an extensive and multifaceted supporting program. This included guided tours at the trade show, high-profile lectures, events and special themed areas.
With trade fair visitors’ significantly increased demand for sustainable products and solutions, the need for more transparency is also growing. This was evident, for example, in the Green Village in Hall 12.0, where interested visitors met label providers, certifiers and companies that have made an integral commitment to sustainability.
In the Green Lectures on the stage of the Green Village, certifiers, industry experts and NGOs spoke about solutions, best practices and challenges around sustainability in the contract business. The Green Tours led interested trade visitors to selected exhibitors and their sustainable product solutions.
Interior.Architecture.Hospitality specialist program impressed with innovative strength
An outstanding visitor magnet was the new Interior.Architecture.Hospitality Library. Interior designers and architects experienced curated innovative exhibitor materials up close. In guided tours, the curators of the Library explained to the international hospitality experts the innovative strength, the impressive design and the functional properties of the textiles such as “flame-retardant”, “sound-absorbing”, “light-resistant”, “antimicrobial” and “water-repellent”.
A filigree and at the same time flame retardant curtain, fabrics with antibacterial effect made entirely of recycled polyester yarns or light and flowing fabrics for sound insulation represented the enormous potential and the wide functional range.
The Interior.Architecture.Hospitality Directory gave visitors an optimal overview of the numerous international exhibitors with solutions for the contract sector and allowed them to target them.
Future-oriented topics, such as textile trends in hotel design or the sustainable use of high-quality materials, were discussed by experts and trade fair participants in the numerous formats of the specialist program, including the popular Interior.Architecture.Hospitality Tours or Lectures.
Area for fibres and yarns: Heimtextil responds to the growing market
In the new area for fibres and yarns, Heimtextil also met the growing demand for textile materials for preliminary stages. For the first time, visitors found a global range of fibres and yarns for decorative and upholstery fabrics compactly arranged in Hall 4.0. This was supplemented by exhibitors with outdoor fabrics as well as imitation leather.
Up to date on the subject of sleep
For the bedding trade and retailers, Heimtextil 2023 offered an extended supporting program. In addition to the established Heimtextil Conference “Sleep & More”, Sleep Tours were offered for the first time and were very well received. Sleep coach and preventologist Markus Kamps guided interested visitors to selected exhibitors and provided exciting insights into the topic of “healthy sleep”. Among other things, the Sleep Tours took visitors to a sustainable mattress made from marine waste or a CO2-neutral fiber that is used in bedding, among other things.
At the Heimtextil Conference “Sleep & More”, experts from research, industry and design spoke about the science of sleep, sustainable trends and challenges facing the retail trade.
Exhibitors took advantage of the high internationality of Heimtextil visitors to open up new markets and strengthen their export business.
Image: Heimtextil Trend Space | Photo Messe Frankfurt / Pietro Sutera
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