The International Trade Fair for Sustainable Textiles, Innatex, whose 51st edition ended on Monday evening, drew a positive balance: With 1,523 professionals who visited the fair on the three days of the event, the number of visitors is approaching the level before the pandemic. For the organizers, this is a sign that the situation is normalizing.
“We have already noticed promising signals in advance. After the quiet years, some exhibitors had announced a full appointment calendar again for the first time. The social media also reflected a clearly relaxed mood with higher reach and happy comments. Nevertheless, we had to reckon with everything after the last extreme years. We are all the more pleased about the result,” comments Innatex project manager Alexander Heatl in a statement.
Topics are in tune with the times
In a panel discussion entitled “Sustainable fashion as a success factor in retail – how to start?”, representatives of retail and research spoke about strategies for entering the sustainable sector, sales arguments, credibility and developments.
“In the long term, the impact of sustainability on the consumer side is significantly measurable. However, this is currently being overshadowed by the economic situation. The inflation associated with the crises, rising energy costs and rising prices in all sectors mean that consumers are currently particularly price-sensitive and more cautious when it comes to consumption,” summarizes Boris Hedde, Managing Director of the Institute for Retail Research in Cologne.
“The declining willingness to buy across society is affecting the growth rates in the sustainable segment. Therefore, the industry is now even more called upon to show that sustainable business models are not only intended for a niche target group, but also have a positive effect on society as a whole,” adds Hedde.
Topics such as greenwashing, materials, circular fashion and the supply chain law were also discussed: “As part of the ‘Lounge Talks’, we were able to bring together representatives of standard providers, start-ups, associations and visionary brands on stage and use their expertise for topics , which is currently occupying the industry,” says Mirjam Smend, founder of Greenstyle Munich and co-editor of the magazine Pureviu. She also noticed that the topic of circularity clearly aroused interest: “By that I mean collections where the end of the life cycle is already taken into account during the design process.”
She calls another trend the “revival of natural materials” such as products made from 100 percent hemp, linen, organic cotton and other plant-based fibers. When it comes to colors and patterns for the 2023/24 autumn and winter season, earthy colors such as rusty brown and mustard yellow as well as imaginative patterns are on the horizon.