Trends 23/24 at January’s Heimtextil in Frankfurt will focus on material cycles and sustainability strategies for textiles – and use the analogue fair platform to promote exchange, present new products and bring experts together.
all images are credited to FranklinTill unless stated otherwise
Particularly when it comes to textiles, direct experience with all the senses is a necessity. How does a fabric behave in the light, how does it fall and what are its haptic properties? After a number of pandemic-related postponements, a one-off Summer Special was held in June 2022, but in 2023, Heimtextil will move back to its customary spot in January and, from 10 to 13 January, will once again open the Frankfurt fair year. The ‘Textiles Matter’ theme underlines the importance of textiles for the furnishing and contract furnishing sectors, and highlights the innovation spurt that has taken place in recent years. Precisely because textiles rely on a variety of raw materials in their manufacture, sustainable and future-oriented design and production methods, as well as the circular economy, are increasingly important.
There are already signs of great interest in Heimtextil – from both an exhibitor and visitor point of view. Over 2,400 exhibitors from 55 countries have already registered and an equally international audience is expected at the most important trend platform for home and contract textiles, interior design and trends. The Textile theme world connects interior architects, architects and designers, addresses the needs of hotels, the contract sector and the furnishing industry, and ranges from fabrics to carpets and wallpapers. Hardly any other material is so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. Heimtextil provides a unique opportunity to keep track of trends and developments, innovations and tendencies, offers plenty of space for networking and provides information with an extensive complementary program.
image © Messe Frankfurt Exhibition / Pietro Sutera
An important event module is the specialist program Interior.Architecture.Hospitality, which features lectures and guided tours on all four days of the fair. A new feature is the combination of TALKS & TOURS, where selected experts offer a guided tour on specific themes. One of them is Dorothee Maier, one of the founders of the Munich interior design studio Meierei, who asks herself the question ‘Why not life-long?’
At Heimtextil 2023, the brand new edition of the Interior.Architecture.Hospitality LIBRARY, the materials library for functional textiles, can be experienced live
Her focus is on the good ageing of high-quality materials. Maier contrasts longevity with recycling and throwaway culture. She shows fabrics with the potential to become life companions – and also presents those in the second life cycle. Natalie Pichler from Austrian design studio Offora also deals with a sensible use of materials. Her tour is entitled ‘Little, less, best’ and reports on how textiles in particular can be used as space-creating elements in a material- and energy-saving way.
