Frankfurt textile shows relaunch with 2,300 exhibitors
Frankfurt’s global textile trade fairs, Techtextil and Texprocess, opened their doors for the first time since the covid pandemic on June 21. A ‘Summer Special’ edition of home textiles event Heimtextil opened its doors at the same time.
Organiser, Messe Frankfurt, said around 2,300 exhibitors from 63 countries had travelled to Germany to show new products and ideas, and to meet customers face to face. Member of the Messe Frankfurt executive board, Detlef Braun, said: “There could not be a better time for the re-launch of the textile trade fair trio.”
The opening press conference included a panel discussion, with Lucie Brigham, chief of office of the UN Office for Partnerships and co-founder of the Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network, taking part.
She was joined by Matthew Drinkwater, head of innovation agency at the London College of Fashion, by Elgar Straub, managing director of the VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies Association, and by Olaf Schmidt, vice-president textiles events at Messe Frankfurt.
Mr Straub said he believed textile technology providers who make up his organisation’s membership could be “the enablers of solutions to today’s biggest challenges: sustainability, flexibility, and regionalisation”.
For his part, Matthew Drinkwater said digital technology, including 3D fabric simulation, machine learning, zero-waste cutting and blockchain can help the industry achieve greater supply chain transparency. He added that recent developments in digital technology were helping to redefine design processes and paving the way for innovation. And he said better tracking and more sustainable use of resources along the supply chain would be an important part of this.
He later told sportstextiles that the students he works with view sustainability as an integral part of the fashion industry they want to work in. “They have grown up with an acceptance that making clothes in a circular way is the only option,” he explained. “We have had a research centre, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, at the London College of Fashion for 15 years now and the students take it for granted that this is the way it will be.”
