Heimtextil 2019 Seeks Utopia through Design

The textile and contract furnishing fair Heimtextil, Frankfurt, kickstarts 2019 by looking forwards toward a new Utopia. The fair starts the year with a bang in its reimagine concept in which exhibitors are curated into groups and product segments which have attracted over 3000 exhibitors to display their wares and ideas. Sections include Window & Interior Decoration, Healthy Sleep, House of Textile: living rooms in 2025 and Bed & Bath Fashion.

“Based on discussions with exhibitors and also visitor surveys, we have developed a new Heimtextil concept. From the perspective of buyers, in particular, we are repositioning Heimtextil and the way we group themes and product segments to better suit target groups. In this way, synergies for buyers can be optimally exploited”, says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt.

A key area of the fair, for which it has become renowned is its glimpse into trends coming up in the textile and contract furnishings market. This year, the Heimtextil paired up with FranklinTill (UK), Stijlinstituut Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and Spott Trends and Business (Denmark) to develop ‘Towards Utopia’ a trend space for 2019/2020.

The forecast revolves around the increasingly complex and difficult world in which we live in the possibility that design can give of escaping it. Their five sub-themes are: Pursue Play which seems to be a throwback to the radical Italian design group Memphis; Seek Sanctuary which revolves around creating visual calmness to counteract over-stimulation; Go Off-Grid which seeks a reconnection with nature; Escape Reality who’s shiny pastel tones and textures are inspired by digital utopia; and Embrace Indulgence which looks to movements such as Art Deco and indulges in a nostalgia for a different world.

See all this and more at Heimtextil 2019, held in Frankfurt am Main from January 8-11