The most important fabric trends for Autumn.Winter 2024/25, lectures and discussions on the most relevant industry topics as well as plenty of networking opportunities: after three days, Germany's largest and most important fabric trade show, Munich Fabric Start, with over 1,100 collections on display, came to an end. The international and, compared to pre-covid times, restrained transcontinental travel behaviour of the fashion industry and the general changes in the market are also partly reflected at Munich Fabric Start– the fundamentally positive mood on the part of exhibitors and visitors at the trade show, which took place for the first time at an early July date, proved that the trade show location Munich is set for fabric sourcing.
The anniversary edition of the denim trade show Bluezone, which celebrated its 20th birthday this summer, the onestop sourcing platform The Source and the innovation hub Keyhouse closed their doors for this season after two days.
Sebastian Klinder, Managing Director – Munich Fabric Start, “Munich Fabric Start has once again proven itself to be the platform with the strengths it is known for: in a highly professional working environment, with reliable top quality of the international exhibitor portfolio and diverse opportunities for inspiration, information and networking, Munich Fabric Start as a one-stop destination offers almost everything needed to create collections bundled in one place. The fact that we are able to offer this qualitative continuity as a trade show in transformative times, in which much of the fashion business is being re-adjusted and put to the test, is honoured by our visitors, exhibitors and partners and confirms our conviction that Munich Fabric Start brings together the right people at the right place and on the right topics.”
Trends: What Novelties Autumn.Winter 24/25 will Bring?
Due to its much earlier summer date for the first time this year, Munich Fabric Start once again increased its relevance as a place for early trend research. The five exclusively developed, central aesthetic trends for the winter season 2024/2025 are united under the leitmotiv “each other” and were staged over a wide area in the foyers of the MOC: Highland Hybrids: a patchwork of nature, tradition and performance; Mystic Beings: the fantasy world of elves, heroes, monsters and robots; System Cringe: a movement that calls for action; Kinky Classics: provocatively extroverted with style and Past Forward, a retro-futuristic point of view.
“In the past, entire worlds of colours and materials were excluded from the outset for women because they were not compatible with our outdated ideas of the beautiful and weak gender. And it is precisely these colours and materials that women are now conquering. For the first time in the history of fashion, women are now wearing the colours of concrete, anthracite charcoal and mud and materials like bacon saddle leather, stiff raw denim and scratchy tweed," says Carl Tillessen, CEO of DMI, summarising the most striking shifts. The DMI Fashion Day, which took place the day before the show at the MOC, also celebrated a successful premiere, creating synergies for visitors and exhibitors alike.
Turkish Exhibitors of the Fair Left with Satisfaction
Eser Kaygusuz, Sales Leader – Yünsa, “The majority of our customers is looking for stretch fabrics, mostly a composition of wool, polyester and lycra, but also flannels for coatings and jackets. Even though the show focuses on the season Autumn.Winter 24/25 season, we could see a huge interest in bright colors, not only black, navy and grey. In this, we can also see a shift in the mentality.”
Müge Tunceren, Product Development Manager – Bossa, “Bluezone was good. We had a lot of customers. Big brands like MAC, Adriano Goldschmied, Gardeur and Angels were there as well as smaller brands. There was a strong interest in our fabrics with brown and regenerated cotton as well as Renewcell.”
Dr. Dilek Erik, Global Marketing Manager – Sharabati Denim, “We exhibit at Munich Fabric Start for a very long time already. This year, it is our first time in Hall 6, and we are very happy to be here, as the surroundings are fresh, spacious, and well-lit. As we are quite strong in the German market, we always schedule our appointments before the show and don't expect random visitors. Many of the big German brands were here, and we're pleased with how it went.“
Hard Facts & Figures
On a total of 42,500 square metres, Munich Fabric Start in Munich brought together the fashion and denim industry in eight areas – Additionals, Per4mance, ReSource, Fabrics, Design Studios, Bluezone, Keyhouse / Sustainable Innovations and The Source. Over 1,100 collections from around 900 international suppliers to the textile and apparel industry were presented by internationally renowned exhibitors such as Algaeing, Assyst, Cadica, Calik, CNC, Denim Authority, Isko, KBC, Kurabo, Liberty, Lisa, Naveena Denim, NDL, Orta, Royo, Saitex, Sharabati, Sorona, Takisade, Tessuti, WeNordic and Yünsa.
With a total of 10,800 visitors from 56 countries – most of them from Germany, Italy, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey as well as China, but also from Japan, New Zealand and the US – from relevant brands and retailers, including Adidas, Akris, Anna van Toor, Armedangels, Baldessarini, Betty Barclay, BMW, Brax, Calvin Klein, Calida, Cambio, Camel Active, Comma, Drykorn, Escada, Esprit, Gerry Weber, Holy Fashion Group, Hugo Boss, IB Company, Inditex, Katag, Lagerfeld, Living Crafts, Lodenfrey, Luisa Cerano, MAC Mode, Marc Cain, Marc O’Polo, Mey, More & More, Murkudis, Olsen, Olymp, Orsay, Otto, Oui, Peek & Cloppenburg, Puma, QVC, Riani, S. Oliver, Schumacher, Seidensticker, Strellson, Talbot Runhof, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Tailor and Uli Schneider among others, the number of visitors was slightly down overall in a competitive market environment.
Looking to the near future, Munich Fabric Start is now focusing on three important dates that have already been fixed: firstly, reVIEW Autumn.Winter 24/25 will take place for the first time at Motorworld on 13 and 14 September 2023 – and thus covers the previous time period of MFS and Bluezone – offering the industry a late ordering date in Munich as usual. Only ten weeks later, preVIEW will take place on 28 and 29 November 2023, offering a first opportunity to order the Spring/Summer collections for 2025. Finally, the industry will gather again for Munich Fabric Start and Bluezone from 23 to 25 January 2024.
