Back on track: Heimtextil 2023 experiences strong international demand

During the one-time Heimtextil Summer Special that just ended, the industry's great need for personal encounters, tactile impressions and creative input became apparent. This time, there are only a good six months until the next Heimtextil, from January 10 to 13, 2023. The leading international trade fair for home and contract textiles thus finally takes place again at its usual date and will be the first event of the year to kick off the next season.

Demand from exhibitors is strong and once again covers the entire spectrum of global suppliers of home and contract textiles. Over 2,200 international exhibitors have registered for the event. This corresponds to around three quarters of the number of exhibitors at the pre-pandemic Heimtextil 2020. Only the Chinese suppliers are still struggling with planning uncertainties. The internationality of the event is also remains high.

The industry participants are courageously meeting the major challenges and are using Heimtextil to further internationalize their clientele: "To reach major international buyers, Heimtextil is absolutely the right decision," emphasized Stefan Laxen and Matthias Ammon, Managing Partners, HJL GmbH & Co. KG. "For us, the quality of the visitors is relevant, not the quantity. There is no point in just bemoaning the current challenges, such as price increases and supply chain problems, and ranting about them. The question everyone needs to ask themselves is: where do we want to go? What do we want to achieve? It's better to think big and internationally than to bemoan dwindling national retailers."

It was already clear after the last Heimtextil Summer Special that the industry is meeting the current market challenges with a great desire for inspiration and new approaches to solutions, as well as the creation of new customer* relationships all over the world. Heimtextil 2023 provides the perfect range of relevant market players and complements the benefits for buyers with an extensive supporting program.

Highlights at Heimtextil 2023

Thematically, the overarching theme of sustainability will also be clearly visible at Heimtextil 2023. With the exhibitor guide, "Green Directory" as well as the "Green Village", that offers a platform for discussion with the seal providers, Heimtextil offers important points of orientation in the jungle of the many sustainable offers. The popular trade fair tours "Green Tours" will also once again take interested visitors to curated exhibitors to learn more about their sustainability strategy and their products. Last but not least, the impressive "Future Materials Library" will be presented again as part of the Trend Space at Heimtextil 2023. The international collection of material innovations in the interior sector is curated by the future agency FranklinTill, which is also responsible for the conception of the Trend Space at Heimtextil 2023.

A new feature is that the Trend Space will be presented in Hall 9.0. There, the spectacular design and trend area will stage the Heimtextil Trends 2023/24, which will be developed beforehand by the international design agencies stijlinstituut amsterdam (Netherlands), FranklinTill (Great Britain) and SPOTT Design & Business (Denmark). With the "Material Manifesto", the responsible trend office FranklinTill commits itself to a design of the area that is as sustainable as possible with predominantly recycled materials and elements as well as a strict waste avoidance strategy.

Interior.Architecture.Hospitality, the specialist program for interior designers, architects and hospitality experts, will once again take place at Heimtextil 2023 on a large scale and in the usual high quality. The program includes the Interior.Architecture.Hospitality LECTURES, in which renowned architects and well-known hotel experts will present their work and discuss current industry topics such as sustainability, as well as the Interior.Architecture.Hospitality TOURS, which will take participants to curated highlights and innovative textile solutions from the contract sector. The Contract Guide will once again list all the suppliers of contract textiles. In addition, the identification of the respective trade show booths ensures an effective trade show visit for the target group.

Another highlight is the Interior.Architecture.Hospitality LIBRARY. Launched in 2020, it is a material library for functional textiles. The library can also be found online at www.textile-library.de. A brand new edition will be published for Heimtextil 2023. The jury of the library will be expanded to include application experts or interior designers. Exhibitors with products for use in the property can submit them for the respective property, which will be selected by a panel of experts. The concrete naming and labeling of these 15 functional properties ensures an even more precise highlighting of the objects on offer in 2023.

DecoTeam, the community of interests of German home textile suppliers, is offering a far reaching event program as part of Heimtextil 2023. The focus will be on the topic of online marketing, with keynote speeches by Monika Winden and a subsequent YouTube workshop. A panel discussion with interesting discussion partners will also provide exciting insights into the topics of sustainability and social media marketing.

With the Heimtextil Conference Sleep & More, visitors* in 2023 will again be offered a top-notch lecture program for the areas of health, sustainability and the hotel industry. Over the course of four days, experts will speak about the latest findings, developments and trends in the field of healthy sleep from various perspectives of the industry.

With the "New & Next" program for young talents, young talents and start-up companies are given the opportunity to present themselves in the environment of the international industry. The fresh ideas and products of the New & Next exhibitors make a valuable contribution to the multi-faceted Heimtextil spectrum.

Heimtextil will take place from 10 to 13 January 2023.