On Tuesday 7th January, the International Trade Fair for Home and Contract Textiles – also known as Heimtextil – opened in Frankfurt, Germany, celebrating its 50th anniversary with a focus on sustainability.
The fair first launched in 1971, beginning with just 697 exhibitors and has since grown into a leading event in the textiles industry – now attracting nearly 3,000 companies from 65 countries and regions.
Although the home and household textiles industry has seen sales falling in recent years due to the sluggish economy (according to research institute IFH Cologne), the sector has not ceased to explore measures to achieve sustainability.
This year’s Heimtextil boasted a brand new area – Future Materials Library – which showcased innovative and progressive choices of raw materials for textile.
In this new section, textiles made from materials such as pineapple leaf, seaweed, PET bottles and human hair were exhibited, attracting numerous visitors.
For the first time, the United Nations Office for Partnerships presented the worldwide Sustainable Development Goals at the trade fair, which invited industry participants to take part in an intensive dialogue.
One company – Deco Deco Design Fürus, whose OceanSafe brand as one of the pioneers in the field of recycling management, joined this year’s Green Directory – a list of over 200 sustainable producers attending the trade fair.
“Heimtextil 2020 was an exceptionally successful trade fair for us. The many discussions we have had here have made it very clear: our customers can now distinguish very clearly between greenwashing and cradle-to-cradle recycling”, commented Manuel Schweizer, CEO of Deco Design Fürus.
For more information, visit www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com.
