By David Gill
Heimtextil, the world’s gathering place for new textiles products, will take place this month in a more positive atmosphere than last year’s show.
Attendance at the show is expected to be about the same as at the 2009 Heimtextil.
“We are starting the new year with confidence,” said Detlef Braun, member of the board of management of Messe Frankfurt, the show’s owner and manager. “With new collection-related developments, designs and trends, we are looking forward to the future with optimism.”
Heimtextil is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 13 through Saturday, Jan. 16, and will take place under the theme, “Take a Walk on the Style Side.” Among the special features of this year’s show will be young designers, the hotel business, the role of bedding in promoting wellness, organic innovations and the contract business.
Braun said the increased focus of Heimtextil and its global position could help the show emerge from the “year of crisis” stronger than before. “Particularly in a highly globalized market, which is constantly shifting, we offer our textile brands a chance to always be a step ahead,” he said. “We know the international market and are able to adapt to the specific needs of our exhibitors and visitors.”
He also said Heimtextil’s showcases, lecture areas, trend spotlights and young-talent sponsorship projects should provide an added appeal to visitors of this year’s show. “We will once again be offering the opportunity (for exhibitors) to participate in a shared stand,” he said. “For example, in Hall 8.0 a shared mattress stand, on which exhibitors from Austria, Germany and America, will be showing their products, is in a prominent location.”
While Messe Frankfurt is optimistic about this month’s Heimtextil, Braun admitted that the show manager is cautious about the overall outlook. “In the textile industry,” he said, “signs of an improvement are still very muted and differ considerably from country to country and from industry to industry. While, from Asia, the signals are that the economic crisis has been largely overcome, in many parts of Europe and America, the prognosis for 2010 is more cautious.” Given this, Heimtextil enters the new decade with its long-standing focus on being the be-all for new products from global textiles manufacturers.
“Based on product groups, exhibitors in the bed, bath, dining and wallcoverings/decorating fabrics segments are particularly active,” Braun said. “Overall, every textile-related interior-design application area is widely represented.”
