India remains 2nd largest participant
By R. Natarajan, Managing Editor & Publisher
The success of Heimtextil 2015, the world’s largest textile fair, clearly indicates the growing demand for the clothing industry the world over. Though there has been a drop in the number of participants from certain regions, the Asian countries continued to dominate, with their major presence in the show. While China topped the list of exhibitors with 513 companies as compared to 512 in 2014, India came next with 390 exhibitors as compared to 373 in 2014. All this testifies to Indian companies’ focus on textile and clothing exports. Almost all the major textile players in India, including the Birlas, Reliance, S.Kumars, Welspun, Trident, etc., showcased their latest innovations which attracted the buyers. Also, the emerging players from Karur demonstrated their high-value products at the show.
The four-day Heimtextil 2015 in Frankfurt am Main closed its doors on January 17 after recording an increase of around three per cent in the number of visitors over the previous year. More than 68,000 trade visitors (2014: 66,265) were delighted with the high quality of the products and their designs, and kept exhibitors busy throughout the fair. The 2,759 exhibitors from 68 countries (2014: 2,714 from 62 countries) were no less delighted with the orders placed by buyers. The further increase in the level of internationality – from 87 to 88 per cent on the exhibitor side and from 67 to 68 per cent on the visitor side – also ranks as a success factor for the trade fair.
“This has been the most successful Heimtextil for many years and means we have not only extended our lead as the world’s most important event for home and contract textiles but can also confirm the positive outlook for the economic climate. The significant increase in the number of affluent buyers once again demonstrates the high power of attraction exercised by our exhibitors and their products”, said a very pleased Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt.
At the beginning of the new furnishing season, this year’s Heimtextil was able to boast the fifth increase running in the number of exhibitors and thus send positive signals to the sector. The fact that Heimtextil is an important opening event, especially for buyers, was underscored by Patric Gehlhaus, Category Manager, Galeria Kaufhof/Metro Group, who said: “Heimtextil is characterised by the large number of national and international companies taking part, and the high quality of the products on show. We not only make good use of the fair for trend scouting and finding innovations but also place orders. At present, much revolves around the subjects of sustainably and customer well-being. However, holistic home concepts and implementation at the point of sale are also focal points. Ethno design and pastel shades are set to be a major trend for our stores this year.”
There was evidently a high level of satisfaction among international exhibitors. The good figures were also confirmed by the very positive results of both the visitor and exhibitor polls. Almost 95 per cent of the visitors achieved their goals for the fair (up two per cent compared to 2014), which underscores the high standard of exhibitors at Heimtextil.
The fair was also given a very good rating by exhibitors: 77 per cent of respondents (2014: 77 per cent) said they were extremely satisfied with the fair. This was confirmed by Alessandra Ferretti, Export Manager of Italy’s Jannelli & Volpi: “It has been a great fair. The visitors included all the right people, and we registered more definitive business contacts than anywhere else. The echo from all parts of the world has been fantastic, especially to our new Armani collection.”
There were particularly large increases in the number of European visitors from Great Britain, Italy and Spain. From the Arabian Peninsula, more visitors were from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. More visitors also came to Frankfurt from overseas nations, such as Japan and the US. As expected, there was a decline in the visitor numbers from the Ukraine and Russia.
New ‘Theme Park’ trend area, a great attraction
The new ‘Theme Park’ in Hall 4.0 proved to be a popular highlight – in the heart of the fair: “A clear and good trend show”, said Soizic Gilibert, proprietor and designer of Cosmic Zoo design studio from France. “I was able to gain valuable inspiration from the installations. Particularly interesting for me were the ethnic themes and the wide range of exhibitor fabrics.”
In addition to the main parts such as the ‘Material Gallery’ and the ‘Colour Pavilion’, particular interest was shown in the themed installations, such as the seven-metre high foot spa for the ‘hospitality’ segment and a digital textile printer in the ‘Technology Lab’. Using virtual-reality glasses for the retail sector also offered some new perspectives by showing ways in which retailers can present textiles virtually and thus create a symbiosis between online and offline sales.
