Heimtextil at 50


Heimtextil, the international trade fair for home and contract textiles, took place in Frankfurt earlier in the year, celebrating its 50th anniversary


2020’s edition of Heimtextil marked an important anniversary for the international textile trade fair: celebrating 50 years in which it has become the world’s largest, growing from 238 sq m of space to 76,000 sq m, and from six product groups to 14. It was, though, according to its own report a quiet one, with the event citing the slightly earlier date and changing international concerns about sustainability as potential reasons why.

Image Credit:Maurice Aeschimann / CAAC – The Pigozzi CollectionImage Credit:Maurice Aeschimann / CAAC – The Pigozzi Collection

Image Credit: Ronald SmitsImage Credit: Ronald Smits

The event’s report suggested that now is a time for quality over quantity. Facing up to the climate crisis, sustainability is, of course, high on agendas today. In response, 2020’s Trend Space at the fair developed a material manifesto – practicing what it preached by ensuring it too was being sustainable meant the presentation was developed with ‘intelligent material choices’. This didn’t mean compromising on impact, with bold graphics and inflatable structures creating an exciting backdrop for the presentation of textile trends.

Image Credit:Michelle and Chris Gerard / Courtesy Of Friedman BendaImage Credit:Michelle and Chris Gerard / Courtesy Of Friedman Benda

Contributing to the trend council this year were project lead Stijlinstituut Amsterdam, London-based studio Franklin Till, and Danish agency SPOTT Trends & Business. The trends had a general theme of ‘Where I belong’, which addressed ‘layered identities’ via five trends for 2020/21, as the council explained: ‘“Maximum Glam” turns the glamorous life tech-savvy; “Pure Spiritual” finds balance in nature and mysticism; “Active Urban” values utilitarian, adaptable solutions, whereas “Heritage Lux” celebrates rich historical legacies; and “Multi-Local” embraces global cultural influences.’

The event has been going strong for 50 years.  Image Credit: Jens Liebchen The event has been going strong for 50 years.  Image Credit: Jens Liebchen

This year’s Trend Council in discussion.  Image Credit: Pietro SuteraThis year’s Trend Council in discussion.  Image Credit: Pietro Sutera

The event included a ‘content-driven’ schedule, with an enlarged lecture series and events programme. The theme for the lecture series was ‘Diversity’, which was broken down into the subcategories of ‘Libraries as places of knowledge and social interaction’, ‘Changing nature of urban dwellings’ and ‘Space to live and socialise long-term.’

Leaving on a forward-thinking note, the theme of the final day’s lecture was ‘Talents: stimuli and perspectives for the developers of tomorrow’.

Exhibitors at the show included Coverdec.One.  Image Credit: Thomas FedraExhibitors at the show included Coverdec.One.  Image Credit: Thomas Fedra

 








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