Let's look at the last three Heimtextil events (including this one). In between we had the COVID-19 pandemic which saw people (for obvious reasons) spending more on athleisure, loungewear, etc. (A) Did the pandemic have a similar effect on interior/home textiles since people were spending more time at home? (B) Has this changed back to normal again? And, what's the new normal like?
In the German home textiles sector, for example, it was observed that private households invested in their interior textile furnishings during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in house, table and bed linen. Demand in other areas, such as contract business, declined during the pandemic. In the wallpaper sector, on the other hand, a catch-up effect was evident. While this was more in demand at the beginning of pandemic, the market is now saturated and a decline was seen in 2022. (Source: IFH industry information, as of December 2022). All in all, the industry had and still has to deal with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as labour shortages, raw material shortages, interrupted supply chains, increased energy costs or the effects of the war in Ukraine.
Overall, however, the industry has come through the pandemic well (source: IFH industry information, as of December 2022) and is looking positively to the future.
Heimtextil 2023. This edition explored four key routes to circularity: Make and Remake Continuous, From Earth, and Nature Engineered. But these are ideas. How do you translate that into how the show shapes up, and how exhibitors are able to dovetail their own offerings onto Heimtextil themes?
With Heimtextil Trends 23/24, we have shown what the future-oriented and sustainable textile furnishings of tomorrow could look like. Circular economy was in the spotlight this year. We have shown different approaches to circular economy on the basis of concrete products here and thus provided not only ideas and inspiration but also specific possible measures for sustainable developments. Products curated by the future agency FranklinTill from exhibitors at Heimtextil 2023 were part of the 'Trend Space'. Selected textiles submitted in advance were staged here and marked with the exhibitor’s name and stand number. Interested visitors could thus approach the exhibitors directly and learn about their specific offers.
The ‘Trend Space’ has shown, for example, how inorganic materials such as nylon, polyester, plastics or metals can be recycled and reused without any loss of quality. Exhibitors presented, for example, natural fibres such as hemp and flax or recycled products. The ‘Trend Space’ itself was designed in a completely sustainable way, in accordance with the Material Manifesto.
In the ‘Green Directory’, which lists exhibitors with sustainable products, visitors could target certified sustainable exhibitors. The ‘Green Village’ enabled visitors to exchange information with seal providers. For the first time, exhibitors who are holistically committed to sustainability were also presented there. The popular ‘Green Tours’ again took interested visitors to curated exhibitors to learn more about their sustainability strategy and their products. Heimtextil 2023 thus offered a holistic overview of sustainable solutions and promoted further development in this area with concrete offers.
