The Heimtextil Trend Preview which was presented from the Flemings Hotel Riverside in Frankfurt on Thursday September 1^st, outlined future-oriented design concepts for the textile furnishing sector.

Ahead of the next Heimtextil trade fair which will take place from January 10-13 2023, Marta Giralt Dunjó of UK futures research agency FranklinTill, explained that the show’s Trend Space would focus very much on circularity, under the banner of ‘Textiles Matter’.

“Considering the state of environmental emergency we are currently living through, the textile industry has a responsibility to examine its processes, and change for the better,” she said. “That is why for this edition of the Heimtextil Trends we are taking a materials first approach, and focusing on the sourcing, design and sustainability of materials. Textiles Matter will showcase the potential of circularity and celebrate design initiatives that are beautiful, relevant and sustainable.”

In the technical cycle, she explained, inorganic materials, such as nylon, polyester, plastic and metal can be recycled with no loss of quality, while in the biological cycle, organic materials, such as mycelium and bast fibres, can be returned to nature at the end of their useful life. Both options form the basis of the four trend themes – ‘Make and Remake’, ‘Continuous’, ‘From Earth’ and ‘Nature Engineered’.

Make and Remake

The emphhasis of Make and Remake will be on how pre-used materials, deadstock and remnant textiles can be given a new lease of life with by shifting to the aesthetics of repair and taking the form of a specific design element of the recycled product. Bright and joyful colours and techniques such as overprinting, overdyeing, bricolage, collage and patchwork result in new and creative products and layered colour patterns and graphics lead to bold designs.

Continuous

The focus of the Continuous trend will be on closed-loop systems in which materials are recycled into new, waste-free products again and again. Thanks to technically advanced reclamation processes, the materials retain their original quality and aesthetic. Practicality, essentialism and longevity determine the design of Continuous products.

From Earth

This theme will explore the natural world and harmony with the nature of organic materials. Natural colours communicate warmth and softness while imperfect textures, signs of wear and irregularities stress ecological and earth-born aesthetics. Earthen and botanic shades, natural variation and tactile richness dominate the From Earth segment. Unrefined and raw surfaces, unbleached textiles and natural dyes celebrate materials in their original states.

Nature Engineered

The Nature Engineered collection will feature mechanically processed organic materials, such as bast fibres, hemp, linen and nettles. Cutting-edge techniques process natural textiles into sophisticated and smart products. Combined with shades of beige and brown, clean lines and shapes are the distinguishing features of this theme.

Challenges

“We are delighted to offer a foretaste of and a guide to tomorrow’s textile furnishings which reveals opportunities and solutions for the sector on its way into a sustainable future,” said Olaf Schmidt, vice president of textiles and textile technologies at Messe Frankfurt. “The textile industry currently faces a lot of challenges in terms of the rising prices of energy and raw materials, along with the disruption of supply chains and bottlenecks in production. In addition, there are rising transportation costs involved in moving textiles from Asia to the USA and Europe calling for a rethinking of the supply chain of what has been a highly globalised industry for many years. Hemitextil 2023 will be the ideal platform for discussing how changes have to be made in order for companies to remain competitive.”

The biggest challenge to achieving a circular textile industry is scale, Marta Giralt Dunjó added.

“The massive disruption to the gloablised system currently taking place could well be an opportunity for establishing local systems that regenerate local economies.”

www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com