Heimtextil 2024, the industry’s most important global event for interior textiles, interior design, and interior trends, was held from 9 to 12 January 2024. Bringing together exhibitors and trade visitors worldwide, Heimtextil sets the stage for the upcoming season by showcasing new products, trends, and innovative ideas. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the key highlights and trends from Heimtextil 2024.
International Trade Fair for Home and Contract Textiles
Heimtextil is an internationally unique platform for home and contract textiles and textile design. Showcasing the trends of the season, textile sustainability, and the world’s largest range of home textiles, the trade fair offers product and information offerings for interior design, hospitality, and the megatrend sleep.
Record Year for Messe Frankfurt
Heimtextil 2024 marked a record year for Messe Frankfurt, with 46,000 buyers from around 130 nations participating in the global textile market. Despite challenges such as nationwide rail strikes, the event recorded a significant increase in both exhibitor numbers and visitor satisfaction.
Increased Internationality and Visitor Quality
Heimtextil 2024 saw a rise in international exhibitors to 95% and an increase in visitor satisfaction to an average of 93%. The quality of visitors also improved, with a higher percentage of top decision-makers among buyers.
Heimtextil 2024 Highlights: INNOVATIONS
Innovation in Materials
- Loopamid Jacket: Zara introduces a jacket made from loopamid, utilising 100% textile waste from garments through collaboration with manufacturing companies.
- Napapijri Circular Series: Jackets designed with simplicity, using Nylon 6 polymer for fabric, filling, and trimmings to promote circularity.
- A.M.Silk: Biodegradable AMSilk Fibre made with biotechnology, petroleum-free, premium quality with bacteriostatic properties, and cruelty-free production.
- Noosa: Corn-based fibre: Bio-renewable material made from corn, Noocycle technology, breathable, bacteriostatic, hypoallergenic, suitable for various products.
- Flocus: Kapok textile materials offer a sustainable alternative with economic benefits and a positive impact on communities.
- Desserto & Deserttex: Cactus-based biomaterials providing sustainable alternatives to leather for fashion and automotive industries.
- Neolast by Celanese: Elastomeric fibre enabling recycling of performance stretch fabrics for circular manufacturing.
- Balena & Vivobarefoot: BioCirⓇflex, fully compostable thermoplastic elastomer replacing fossil fuel-based materials for consumer goods.
- Pinatex & Pina from Pineapple: Pineapple leaf fibre-based materials require no additional environmental resources to produce.
- PolyPlant® by Fibrepartner & Cirlo: Innovative fibre resembling polyester but made from sustainable sources, free from fossil fuels.
- Oleatex from Olives waste: Olive-based next-gen material using waste from the olive industry for manufacturing.
- New Fibres: Plant-based compostable materials including lotus flower fabric and milk fabric.
Innovation in Colorants
- Dyerecycle Technology: selectively extracts dyes from waste fibres and transfers them to new fabric.
- Colorifix: minimises environmental impact by replacing dyeing chemistry with biology.
- Archroma Earth Colours: creates colours from fabric waste.
- Officina-39 Dyes from Textile Waste: Recycrom™ readytodye is a sustainable range using at least 65% textile waste.
- Algae-based Pigment: Living Ink transforms waste microalgae into a bio-based carbon black for various materials.
- Microbial pigments by KBCols Sciences: use naturally occurring coloured microbes to extract different natural colours for textiles and other applications.
Innovation in Process & Design
- Innovation in Dyeing with Supercritical CO2: Utilising supercritical carbon dioxide to dye textile materials, offering a more environmentally friendly and efficient dyeing process.
- Additive for Microplastic Reduction with PrimaLoft® Bio™: An additive technology that enables polyester and fabric fibres to biodegrade, reducing microplastics in landfills and oceans, promoting sustainability in textile production.
- CICLO for Micro-fiber Pollution Reduction: CICLO fibres, yarns, and textiles have shown effective biodegradation in different environments, offering a solution to reduce microfiber pollution from textiles that are not biodegradable.
- Resortecs Circular Design Idea: Garments stitched with Smart Stitch™ and disassembled with Smart Disassembly™, allowing industrial-scale disassembly and fabric recovery, promoting circularity in fashion design.
Circularity initiatives
- Block Texx Recycling – Australia: Developed a process called “separation of fabric technology” to handle hybrid fabrics, turning cotton to cellulose and polyester to flake for industrial uses.
- New Retex – Denmark 2020: Introduces NewRetex YARNS® made from recycling fibres sourced from worn-out clothes with full traceability from waste to yarns.
- T-REX Project – 2022 Amsterdam EU Funded: Creates a harmonised EU blueprint for closed-loop sorting and recycling of household textile waste across the value chain.
- Recycling Technology – The Green Machine: Can separate blended textiles at scale without quality loss, aiding in efficient recycling methods.
- AI – Fabric Genie (UK): Provides personalised fabric design services by generating unique designs matching customer descriptions or uploaded images.
- CTI Fashion Initiative: Aim to reduce the fashion industry’s climate impact, creating economic opportunities through circular approaches with harmonised standards and best practices.
- CTI V4.0 – Circular Transition Indicators: Offers a framework for evaluating a business’s circular performance, empowering companies to drive progress toward sustainability goals.
- The European Green Deal: Transforming the EU into a resource-efficient economy with no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, focusing on economic growth detached from resource use.
New Sensitivity in Home Textiles
Heimtextil Trends 24/25 are characterised by a new approach to textiles, emphasising the importance of sensitivity in decision-making and product development. The concept of New Sensitivity encourages us to consider the impact of our choices on the environment, society, and technology. It promotes a more conscious and responsible approach to textile production, creating a more sustainable and interconnected world of textiles.
Plant-Based Textiles
Plant-based textiles are gaining popularity due to their sustainable advantages and natural origins. These textiles are derived from plant sources, such as cactus, jute, seaweed, banana, olive, persimmon, and hemp. Plant-based textiles can be categorised into two groups: those made from plant crops and those made from plant by-products. By utilising natural fibres, plant-based textiles can easily integrate back into existing ecosystems, promoting circularity and sustainability in the textile industry.
Bio-Engineered Textiles
Bio-engineered textiles represent a fusion of nature and technology, revolutionising the way textiles are produced. These textiles can be fully bio-engineered, incorporating nature-inspired strategies like proteins and carbohydrates from corn, grass, and cane sugar. Alternatively, they can be bio-enhancing biodegrading textiles, which utilise biodegradable fibres to enhance the decomposability of conventional textiles like polyester. Bio-engineered textiles offer innovative solutions for sustainable textile production, bridging the gap between technology and nature.
Technological Textiles
Technology plays a crucial role in transforming textiles through upcycling, recycling, textile construction, and design. By developing advanced technologies for recycling textile waste, innovative construction techniques, and sustainable textile design thinking, the industry can reduce waste and energy consumption. Technological textiles promote efficiency, durability, and sustainability by leveraging innovative technologies to address critical issues in textile production.
Conclusion
Heimtextil 2024 was a groundbreaking event that highlighted the latest trends, innovations, and sustainable practices in the interior textiles industry. With a record-breaking number of exhibitors and visitors, the trade fair set new standards for a sustainable and AI-driven textile industry. As Heimtextil continues to lead the way in shaping the future of interior design, industry professionals can look forward to more inspiring events in the years to come.
