Increase in exhibitors and visitors boosts Heimtextil

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Heimtextil in Frankfurt am Main, the leading international trade fair for home and contract textiles, will finish today with a clear increase in the number of exhibitors and visitors. Over 69,000 trade visitors (2015: 67,861) and 2,866 exhibitors (2015: 2,723) from across the world travelled to Frankfurt from 12-15 January to start the economically promising 2016 business and trade fair year together.

Heimtextil in Frankfurt is by far the most international event of its kind. 'From northern Europe to South Africa, from America to Asia: visitors to Heimtextil come from across the world and all of them want to see what the latest trends in the textile market are', summarises Paola Ribera of the décor and furniture supplier Texathenea from Spain. As was the case last year, 68 per cent of trade visitors came from abroad. There was an increased number of visitors from Italy, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Japan and South Korea in particular at Heimtextil 2016.

However, it is not just the visitors, but also the exhibitors that form a microcosm of a global industry. 89 per cent of exhibitors (2015: 88 per cent) come from abroad. This year's Heimtextil saw a growth in exhibitors from Europe, in particular Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, as well as international exhibitors from many other countries, including Brazil and the USA.

Décor and upholstery materials – a convincing concept
In terms of products, Heimtextil was able to considerably expand its portfolio in various segments. For the fast-growing segment of décor and upholstery materials, hall 4.0 was even equipped with a new, additional hall level, where primarily high-quality exhibitors from Italy showcased their wares.

Digital printing – innovation and trend
Textile digital printing with all the market leaders such as Epson, Hewlett Packard, Kornit, Mimaki and Zimmer was also considerably expanded in comparison to last year. 'We're happy that Messe Frankfurt has recognised digital printing as a trend and made it a fixed component of its textile trade fairs', praises Oliver Lüdtke, Director, Marketing EMEA at Kornit Digital Europe. 'Heimtextil has been a fixed date in our trade fair calendar for three years now. This is where we tap into new markets, meet important decision-makers and consolidate our long-standing customer relationships'. At Hewlett Packard they are proud to have laid the foundation stone for a growing trend segment together with Heimtextil. 'Hewlett Packard has been exhibiting at Heimtextil for five years. With our offer of large format prints for the textile market, we were a pioneer at Heimtextil back then. Today, suppliers of digital printing solutions almost fill an entire hall. A trend has emerged from what used to be a product that required a lot of explanation', says Ana de Cospedal, Hewlett Packard EMEA Marketing Manager Large Format Printing Process.

Mattresses: target group reached
The product group "bed" with bed linen, bedding, covers, decorative pillows and mattresses was also expanded. The increase in mattress manufacturers in particular, such as Rössle & Wanner and f.a.n. Frankenstolz, who were both exhibiting at Heimtextil again after several years' absence, was warmly received by trade visitors.

Premium suppliers appeal with high-quality concepts
Many exhibitors in the premium sector for bed, bath and table in hall 11 were also positive about the new schedule and cited the increasing quality of this segment’s offer. ‘We welcome the new schedule’, says Cornelia Loos, CCO at Ezzenza, emphasising that ‘the environment in all the halls is of particularly high quality in comparison to last year. Everyone has made considerably more effort, which means hall 11.0 no longer has any run-of-the-mill stand concepts anymore. We want to inspire our customers with overall concepts and this is something that is perceived and valued by our customers. All in all, we are satisfied and the ambience was excellent’.

Jessica Schwarz, Nena, Guido Maria Kretschmer, Barbara Becker
The glamour factor was once again a major element in 2016. Actress and hotel owner Jessica Schwarz was an honorary guest at the opening press conference on Tuesday, informing the public that she intends to expand her hotel in the Odenwald town of Michelstadt. On Thursday she took the opportunity to go on a purchasing tour through the halls for this very purpose. ‘At Heimtextil, you can find materials and designs from various countries, see them right away, touch them and be inspired by them. Coming here is an absolute must for fans of interior design and interior designers’, states Jessica Schwarz.

Also present on Tuesday was musician and artist Nena, who presented her new wallpaper collection at the Marburger Tapetenfabrik stand and rocked the house in the evening in front of an audience of invited guests. Ullrich Eitel, CEO of Marburger Tapetenfabrik, was inspired: ‘The collection by Nena was the main focus of our trade fair presence. And Nena herself was of course the absolute highlight. Heimtextil offered the perfect platform for this. We could experience Nena because the affinity to wallpaper was there. We’ve put Nena’s signature on the wallpaper. The Nena collection was very well received by our customers and we had the perfect start to 2016 here. The fringe event with Nena, i.e. the presentation at our stand, the interview and, last but not least, the concert in the evening, provided the perfect way to round off our presence. Nena garnered the full support of and inspired enthusiasm in our guests’. On Wednesday, it was star designer Guido Maria Kretschmer’s turn to be honoured in the Frankfurt trade fair halls. At the P+S International stand, he presented his wallpaper collection “Fashion for Walls” and was pleased about being there: ‘For me, Heimtextil is an excellent trade fair because it’s all about interiors and materials. It’s great to see the world coming together here and people bringing new looks and how everything is organised’. The celebrity guests’ visits were completed on Thursday by regular trade fair visitor Barbara Becker at Kleine Wolke.

Celebrity guests were without doubt one draw of the trade fair. Another highlight was once again the “Theme Park” where trade visitors could see bold designs and hot trends. This spectacular trend area at Heimtextil, which was given its own hall for the first time this year, proved to be a magnet for all those seeking inspiration and an overview of global trends. The Theme Park explored and depicted these trends in a vivid way in the form of a Trendtable created by six internationally renowned design studios. The theme of the 2016 Theme Park was “Well-Being 4.0”. The American agency WGSN was responsible for implementing the trends at the trade fair and creating the Trendbook.

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