Heimtextil, as one of the important meeting stops of global home textiles market, was organised by Messe Frankfurt on 9-12 January 2013. Despite global economic crisis of Europe, the fair continued growing and it was a feast where all product segments ranging from furniture fabrics, curtains, thermal prints, pillows to bedding, wallpapers, carpets, bathroom textile products were exhibited. After fairs organised in Europe have lost visitors continuously, it was expected that Heimtextil would also be affected by this negative atmosphere. However, Heimtextil held by Messe Frankfurt with a successful edition managed to increase the number of both its participants and visitors in its successive 3rd edition.
Meeting with the customers with the theme of “Existence” this year, the fair hosted 66.000 people from 128 countries. Developing itself constantly in terms of participants, Heimtextil fair included 2658 firms this year. Drawing a success graphics with both international participants and visitors, the fair is listed among the most important activities planned to develop a considerable business potential in terms of sustainability, new trends and contract business.
175 Turkish Firms Took Part
It is expressed that important suppliers of Europe took part in Heimtextil for launching their new products despite the decreasing tendency in the sales throughout Europe. Especially England, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Turkey increased the number of participants in the fair. While 333 German firms took part in the event, 175 Turkish firms showed up. Turkish brands hosted their clients with their high value added products and collections instead of price competition. The other superior participant countries with Germany were China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Italy, Spain, England, France and Portugal. Furthermore, it was explained that 87 % of the participants came from foreign countries. In terms of visitors, the rate of foreign visitors (apart from Germany) rose to 67 % from 65 % in 2012. In the questionnaire made within the framework of Heimtextil fair, participants and visitors expressed their satisfaction. While 79 % of the participants stated that they fulfilled their objectives in the questionnaire, this rate reached 94 % among visitors.
The Fair Witnessed Innovations
Many firms from England, Belgium and Italy which participated in the fair again exhibited their new products and designs in the segment of furniture fabrics and decoration fabrics in Hall 3.0, 3.1 amd 4.1. While Hall 3.1 hosted the wallpaper segment, Hall 4.2 hosted textile designs with the name of “Design Live”. Lastly, Hall 5.1 presented innovations in confidential and sun-protective products. Textile products related to sleeping and beddings, in particular, were exhibited in Hall 8 under the theme of Sleep Factory. In Hall 8, 9, 11, bathroom, bedding and table designs were exhibited as well as new season collections in the Premium segment.
The segment of smart fibers and yarns also drew great attention with 30 manufacturers from 15 countries. In these products which were popular for applications in contract furnitures, in particular, such features as durability, UV resistance, fire protection, climate control and anti-allergic structure stood out. Another evolving and attention-grabbing title of Heimtextil was “Contract Creations”. A guide named “Contract Guide” was published for this segment associated with the textile products used in contracting works.
At the first day of the fair, consumers could see the latest furniture trends. At its 9th year, Heimtextil organised a consumer campaign named “Heimtextil Goes City” and gathered more than 2000 consumers and house decoration lovers in Frankfurt city center. In the event based on the motto of “Satuday is Trend Day”, 25 interior decoration and bedding firms and many other firms offered their products and their trend-focused decoration views. The next Heimtextil International Home Textiles Fair will be helf in Frankfurt on 8-11 January 2014. Besides, Messe Frankfurt announced that it will expand its portfolio with Heimtextil India to be held in Bombay, India on June, 2014. With this activity, Messe Frankfurt will have increased its fair capacity to 40.
