With 2,658 exhibitors from 62 countries and growth for the third year running, Heimtextil 2013 represented not only a successful start to the new furnishing season but also to the new trade-fair year. Around 66,000 visitors from 128 countries came to the trade fair in Frankfurt.

 

“Heimtextil has once again underscored its preeminent position as the world’s leading trade fair for home and contract textiles”, said Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. “The fair also succeeded in maintaining the number of visitors at an almost constant level despite the difficult economic climate prevailing at present.”

 

The fair was rated a success by both exhibitors and visitors: the great majority of exhibitors (79 percent) and almost all visitors (94 percent) achieved their goals, a result almost identical to that of the previous year (79 and 93 percent respectively).

 

“The echo was excellent. Although the number of visitors to our stand did not increase, all the most important people – the decision makers – were there. This makes the fair even more professional and we wasted no time with unimportant discussions”, confirmed Ricardo Lemos, Member of the Board of Directors of António de Almeida & Filhos, a member company of Grupo More Textile, one of the foremost textile companies in Portugal. “The level of interest was very high, especially from the USA. Representatives of the major department stores came. For us, Heimtextil is the leading fair and we invest a lot of money in our presentation. Heimtextil is the platform on which we present our latest products.”

 

Besides the USA and Canada, more visitors than last year also came from the Russian Federation, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe (France, Benelux, Switzerland), East Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania), China and Taiwan. The biggest visitor nations after Germany are Italy, China, Turkey, Great Britain, the USA, France, Spain, the Russian Federation and Poland. Thus, the proportion of visitors from outside Germany amounted to 67 percent (2012: 65 percent).

 

Thanks to its high degree of internationality, Heimtextil could be defined as one of the perfect presentation platforms, especially for export-oriented companies. “We have been able to gain a foothold in new markets for our wall-covering collections, which we launched three years ago”, reported Mark Kennedy, Export Sales Manager of Britain’s renowned textile editeurs Clarke & Clarke. “As one of the world’s biggest textile shows, Heimtextil represents an outstanding platform for making new customer contacts and cultivating existing ones. We were back again here for the first time in six years and will certainly be taking part again next year.”

 

In addition to its sales potential, the trade fair for home and contract textiles was also a guide to future design trends with the spectacular Trend Show proving to be an extremely busy and popular highlight.

 

Pedro Hernando, Buying Department Director of El Corte Inglés, Europe’s biggest department-store chain, was thrilled with what he saw: “We came to Frankfurt with a team of 20 people. Here, unlike any other fair, we find a broad spectrum of products and a high concentration of important manufacturers, which forms the basis for our orders. Our designers are primarily interested in the Heimtextil Trends Show, which is an important source of inspiration and offers an overview of the latest design developments.”

 

The most important trend to emerge involved products that are created by a process of ‘up-cycling’ from waste materials: several companies showcased carpets produced from textile residues. And the competition for young talents, held for the first time, the “Young Creations Award: Up cycling” also picked up on the topic and introduced some market-ready product ideas. A large number of the sustainable textile products, moreover, also bore witness to the continuously increasing popularity of textiles produced in ecologically acceptable and socially just conditions. 128 exhibitors qualified to be listed in the ‘Green Directory’, the index of sustainable home and interior textiles – more companies than ever before.

 

Consumers could also see the latest furnishing trends during the fair. For the ninth year running, the ‘Heimtextil goes City’ consumer campaign attracted well over 2,000 customers and home-textile aficionados to downtown Frankfurt. Under the motto ‘Saturday is Trend Day’, 25 interior decorators, bed dealers and public institutions showed highlights from the fair and trend-oriented decoration ideas.

 

At the end of Heimtextil 2013, the management of Messe Frankfurt announced an addition to their international portfolio of textile fairs: “From June 2014, we will offer the market an additional business platform: Heimtextil India in New Delhi. Thus, we will further increase our position as the world’s leading organiser of textile fairs”, said Detlef Braun. “The Indian textile market has always been an international pioneer and is currently the second biggest in the world. With the support of the Indian government and on the basis of the constant growth in domestic demand, the Indian market for home textile continues to expand. Thus, the prerequisites of our master plan for taking the next step have been fulfilled.”

 

With the new event in India, Messe Frankfurt will expand its worldwide portfolio of fairs for the textile sector to over 40 and thus bring the worldwide industry for home and contract textiles even closer together.

 

According to the organizing committee, the next Heimtextil, International Trade Fair for Home and Contract Textiles, will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 8 to 11 January 2014.