From the Sector

The international home textiles industry has enjoyed a promising start at Heimtextil in Frankfurt am Main, which finished Friday, 11 January. The challenging economic situation and uncertainty in the retail sector were countered by a positive and confident mood at the world’s leading trade fair.

3025 exhibitors from 65 countries* took the international trade fair for home and contract textiles to a 15-year high: ‘Exhibitors and visitors accepted the new trade fair concept with great enthusiasm and confirmed the trade fair’s position as the world’s most important meeting place for the industry. The quality of the decision-makers impressed the exhibitors, as did the number of new business contacts from 156 countries, especially international ones – thus enabling Heimtextil to set a new benchmark’, says Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. ‘Around 67,500 visitors* ensured that there was a busy atmosphere in the halls, despite a slight decline due to various reasons, such as difficult travel conditions on account of the storms in the alpine region and airport strikes in Germany’. [*For comparison, 2018: 2,975 exhibitors from 64 countries; 68,584 visitors from 135 countries, FKM-tested)]

3025 exhibitors from 65 countries* took the international trade fair for home and contract textiles to a 15-year high: ‘Exhibitors and visitors accepted the new trade fair concept with great enthusiasm and confirmed the trade fair’s position as the world’s most important meeting place for the industry. The quality of the decision-makers impressed the exhibitors, as did the number of new business contacts from 156 countries, especially international ones – thus enabling Heimtextil to set a new benchmark’, says Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt. ‘Around 67,500 visitors* ensured that there was a busy atmosphere in the halls, despite a slight decline due to various reasons, such as difficult travel conditions on account of the storms in the alpine region and airport strikes in Germany’.

One topic that occupied both exhibitors and visitors was the current and future economic situation. A further challenge is the increasingly evident changes that are happening in trade. Increasing revenues and revenue shares in online retailing stand in the way of the efforts made by the stationary retail trade to maintain their inner-city businesses. ‘The small business specialist trade, but also department stores and multibrand stores, and thus the heart of our visitor target groups, are under pressure from the constantly increasing levels of e-commerce. With Heimtextil and our consumer goods fairs in general, we offer these retailers in particular clear perspectives and diverse inspiration in an ambiguous world’, continues Braun.

Heimtextil made it easier for its visitors to access valuable inspiration and business momentum thanks to an optimised trade fair concept and the associated new hall structure. ‘The new concept brought more visitors to the stand’, was the feedback from Andreas Klenk, Managing Director of Saum & Viebahn from Kulmbach in Franconia about hall 8.0 which offered textiles editeurs and manufacturers of curtain and sun protection systems a common platform for the first time. ‘It was the right decision to merge the different segments. We had high quality discussions with respect to both export and domestic business, and are satisfied with the trade fair’.

As part of the new concept, Heimtextil expanded its unique product range across the entire exhibition site and also included the new hall 12, which has been an additional architectural highlight on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds since September.

Top international companies from the Bed & Bath Fashion segment presented their wares here. For the company Curt Bauer from Aue in Saxony, the première of the new hall was a successful one. ‘We're very enthusiastic about the new hall 12. The product range there was very well received. We are very satisfied with the quality of visitors to our stand. In addition to a good frequency of German visitors, we are particularly pleased about growth from China and Russia’, says Managing Director Michael Bauer.

Natural materials, PET and ocean plastics 
Heimtextil set a standard in terms of sustainability: after the first global climate protection agreement for the textile industry was signed by 40 leading fashion companies, organisations and associations at the World Climate Conference in Katowice last December, the focus in Frankfurt was also on environmental progress in the textile industry. Numerous exhibitors presented progressive solutions, for example in the recycling of PET bottles and ocean plastic as well as in the use of certified natural materials. ‘Sustainability was the theme for us at this year’s Heimtextil. Major media players visited us and the 'Green Tour’ guided tour stopped by. We presented many things, including our first vegan duvet and fair silk products, all 100 per cent produced in Austria’, says Denise Hartmann, Marketing Manager at Hefel Textil. The topics of water consumption in the textile industry and microplastics also increasingly came to the fore. The exhibitor directory ‘Green Directory’ alone contained around 150 progressive companies listing sustainably produced textiles. The offer was supplemented by its own lecture series as well as theme-specific tours, which provided valuable impetus and
underpinned the pioneering green position of the trade fair.

Sleep becomes new lifestyle theme
Heimtextil also focused on sleep as one of the upcoming lifestyle trends. While a balanced diet and sufficient exercise are now a natural part of a healthy lifestyle, restorative sleep is still neglected* although it is one of the most important building blocks for long-term physical and mental well-being. At Heimtextil, a number of new products and aspects came to the fore that help people become sensitised to and analyse their sleep behaviour and promote healthy sleep. Around the redesigned hall 11.0 and in the adjoining lecture area ‘Sleep! The Future Forum’, representatives from the national and international bed industry enjoyed attractive product presentations and superb speeches on the topics of sustainability, hospitality, sport and digital.

In addition to the renowned trend show, the trade fair also focused on contract business, particularly in the hotel and hospitality sector, as well as decorative and upholstery fabrics, digital printing solutions and wallpapers.

The next Heimtextil in Frankfurt am Main – its 50th edition – will take place from 7 to 10 January 2020.

*According to a forsa investigation commissioned by the Techniker Krankenkasse

•     Explore a whole new world of trims

This summer, join Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA as we highlight The Art of Customization: Findings, Trims & Accessories in our SPOTLIGHT area located in Apparel Sourcing USA. Featured exhibitors will showcase a wide variety of ornamental fabrics, edgings and more.

In addition, the show will offer multiple make–and–take classes. Meet Jana Platina Phipps, New York City's embellishment expert known as the "Trim Queen", who will host a workshop reviewing the origins of passementerie and a how–to on creating your own tassels, pom–poms and decorative knots. NYC's CraftJam will also make their debut participating in Resource Row, offering attendees hands–on lessons in learning how to make embroidery wall art and patches.

• Amazon, EasySize, Evo Pricing and Lectra explored diverse uses for customer data during a round table event organized by the ESCP Europe - Lectra ‘Fashion & Technology’ Chair Paris

Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials, the French business school ESCP Europe and their joint ‘Fashion & Technology’ Chair examined the multiple ways the fashion industry’s ecosystem can use customer data, during a recent round table event at the start of the fifth Fashion Tech Week in Paris.

Elise Beuriot, senior category leader, EU Luggage, Amazon, Olivier Dancot, VP of data, Lectra, Fabrizio Fantini, founder and CEO, Evo Pricing, and Gulnaz Khusainova, founder and CEO, Easysize, agreed straight away on one key point: the analysis of customer data lends itself to limitless applications along the entire fashion value chain. Its impact is immense, whether in terms of customer satisfaction, competitiveness, revenues or waste limitation.

As early as the design phase, a wealth of data offers many sources of inspiration for stylists. For teams in charge of collections, “complex models allow the analysis of data like online traffic and purchase history in order to design and offer the products that consumers expect, which is a priority for a company obsessed by the customer, like Amazon,” stated Elise Beuriot. For sales, “decisions based on data trigger millions of orders. The impact on the inventory is enormous,” she added.

“Fashion is an industry where unsold items generate a lot of waste. Algorithms and big data analysis can reduce left-overs by anticipating demand several weeks ahead in order to optimize the price and replenishment,” observed Fabrizio Fantini. “Fashion companies who exploit data to inform their decisions become more efficient. They are better armed to protect their margins, but can also sell for less, and potentially reach a larger number of consumers.”

Other IT models aggregate customer data in real time ‘to determine, among hundreds of factors, those which have the biggest influence on buying decisions. Value doesn’t necessarily lie in the volume of data but in the depth of the analyses,’ claimed Gulnaz Khusainova. Easysize is careful that collected data is anonymous, she underlined, because ‘consumers need to keep control of their data, and know how it is used’.
For editors of software dedicated to fashion businesses, and suppliers of cutting machines designed for the clothing industry, “analyzing usage data from our solutions enables the offer to evolve, making each step in the value chain more efficient and perfectly adapted to the needs of the brands, retailers and manufacturers. What is at stake is better quality products, placed on the market as quickly as possible and at a reduced cost,” explained Olivier Dancot.

“It is easy to collect data, but difficult to extract actionable information. Everything hinges on data analysis,” concluded Céline Abecassis-Moedas, professor and co-scientific director of the ‘Fashion & Technology’ Chair and moderator of the round table. “Due to its emotional dimension—from the stylist’s inspiration to the consumer’s desire to buy—fashion is not an industry like others. However, all the components that make up its ecosystem can truly benefit from the judicious exploitation of customer data. Examples discussed this evening illustrate the diversity of what is possible.

Fashion forecaster MintModa and Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, announce a new strategic partnership leveraging the respective strengths of both companies in color creativity. Combining Archroma’s scientific color expertise with MintModa’s clear, narrative-driven color forecasts provides fashion and design-related industries with an actionable and trend-right color resource.
Launched last year, Color Atlas by Archroma offers 4320 new shades, extending their custom color business with a readily available, time-efficient color management system. MintModa’s ColoRevolution offers highly-curated color analysis and direction on its cloud-based subscription trend service. Because color plays a starring role in the visual language of social media, carefully chosen palettes are essential for capturing a new generation of connected consumers.

“People today are constantly exposed to a barrage of vibrant media on multiple devices. The customer is now visually sophisticated, a voracious consumer of ever-changing images depicting highly-styled products, places and people,” states MintModa founder and creative director Sharon Graubard. “The emotional draw of color, hardwired into humans, becomes an ever-more powerful marketing tool.”
“The Color Atlas by Archroma represents a true labor of love,” said Chris Hipps, Global Director, Archroma Color Management. “The idea is to offer our customers options they never dreamed of. We resonate with MintModa’s progressive, focused approach. In fact, we met because they were searching for a specific shade of blue and couldn’t find it elsewhere. This level of color curation dovetails with our passionate drive and relentless commitment towards excellence.”

 Patagonia’s Clean Color Collection is a new capsule collection that Patagonia has just released in the last days of April. The products in the collection have been colored with dyes made from natural sources, including, along with other supply sources, EarthColors by Archroma, a range of dyes synthesized from agricultural waste.
Many of Patagonia’s synthetic dyes use less water, energy and CO2 when compared with conventional processes, however Patagonia is always looking for ways to do less environmental harm. The company, who already collaborates with Archroma for the Patagonia Denim collection based on Archroma’s Advanced Denim, therefore contacted Archroma to have a closer look at Archroma’s EarthColors dyes. The selected EarthColors dyes are the gorgeous Palmetto Green and Citrus Brown colors made respectively from non-edible palmetto green parts and bitter orange peels left over from agriculture industry or pharmaceutical extraction.

EarthColors is a line of plant-based dyes, sourced from up to 100 percent renewable resources. The colors change and fade over time, which is part of what makes these dyes unique.
“We are so proud that, once again, Patagonia has chosen Archroma’s eco-advanced dyeing technologies for their newest sustainable clothing endeavor,” comments Paul Cowell, Head of Brand Marketing in Archroma’s Brand & Performance Textile Specialties business. “We at Archroma are committed to challenge the status quo in the deep belief that we can make our industry sustainable. Because it’s our nature! Trail blazers like Patagonia bring us invaluable support in accelerating sustainable concepts in the textile value chain. Together we are showing the apparel industry the way to go, one collection at a time.”