Performance Days, the leading international trade fair for functional textiles, has announced its presentations programme for the first day of the fair, which takes place from 20-21 April in Munich, Germany.

The 20 April starts off with the well-known Performance Days’ orators Ulrike Arlt with the overview of the Summer 2018 highlights and the Performance Color Kickoff by Nora Kühner.

Midday starts sportive with sports bras and continues with virtual prototyping and smart textiles. In the afternoon the programme heads onto the Fabric’s footprint in the ocean and HeiQ’s fluorine-free DWR. The literal highlight is Safe Reclections’ presentation on key factors for using reflectives.

Trend presentations

The Performance products – Kickoff Summer 2018, led by Ulrike Arlt, an independent journalist, will inform about the latest performance trends in functional fabrics for the sports garment business. Ms Ulrike Arlt will sum up all novelties for summer 2018, as well as giving an update of the winter 2017/18 collections. After her overview, the Performance Award and the Eco Performance Award winner have the opportunity to present their winning product to the audience.

The Performance Color – Kickoff Summer 2018, by Ms Nora Kühner, independent fashion and design consultant, will present sports dedicated insights on major influences, which will shape the colour mood of summer 2018. She will also provide an inspiring update for winter 2017/18. An overview of fabric textures, surfaces, finishes and graphics affecting the season completes the presentation.

Ms Fernanda Carvalho, Independent Marketing Consulting, FFB Functional Fabrics Bureaux, will present on the topic of The scientific secret for sports bras. The presentation will discuss key items that can help you to construct an ideal sports-bra using technological fabrics, cool trims, designed silhouette and trendy details. This knowledge is also useful for shirts that have integrated bra.

Technology presentations

New ways in product development: Virtual Prototyping, presented by Ms Karin Schiller, Senior Consultant Fashion, Lectra, will explore virtual prototyping and CAD (computer-aided design) systems.

Ms Annemarie van Hoof, Creative Director, 4-OPTIONS, will lead the Smart textiles from research to products presentation, which will discuss approaches to the design of smart textiles and ways to integrate the smart textiles into product design.

Key design factors for using reflectives presentation by Mr Chuck Gruber, President and CEO, Safe Reflections, Inc., will show, using a case study on a commercialized garment, how to optimize the use of reflective material in clothing designs. He will help to understand this material by sharing the five most important design considerations when using reflective material and how to efficiently incorporate reflective into your designs to increase visibility.

Sustainability presentations

Fabrics' footprint in the ocean, by Mr Lars Gutow, Marine Biologist, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, will give an overview of the pollution of the world’s oceans by anthropogenic litter. The audience will learn about the sources and the distribution of marine litter and its implications in the marine environment.

Mr Carlo Centonze, CEO, HeiQ Materials AG, will present the session entitled Fluorine-free DWR – Learning from nature. This presentation will provide an overview of the various fluorine-free technologies available for achieving durable water repellency today together with insights into how natural materials, and unique geometries and structures found in nature, are informing some of the emerging technologies for achieving fluorine-free durable water repellency performance in the future.

www.performancedays.com