The 50th INNATEX closed its doors on July 31st with a better result than many participants had expected. The order and audience numbers were still below the values that were considered the standard before Corona, but the curves are rising again and the atmosphere was as exuberant as was known from the international trade fair for natural textiles until 2019. A large number of labels and institutions report increasing reach. All of this underscores the increasing relevance of sustainability in fashion.
“We have not visited any trade fairs in the last two and a half years so as not to endanger our health, that of our team and our customers,” say Laura and Uli Ott from Marlowe nature from the buyer’s point of view to meet like-minded people again, to research the new products and, of course, to order them. It’s just something different to be able to directly compare collections from different suppliers at a trade fair. In addition to labels that we’ve had for a long time, we’ve also ordered new ones.”
The pandemic and other problems are creating planning uncertainties: there were many current topics and challenges that were discussed at the lounge talks in the community area and in the exhibition hall. These include forthcoming EU measures such as the Product Environmental Footprint, as Heike Hess from the International Association of Natural Textiles (IVN) and patron of INNATEX knows.
“Another aspect is the bottleneck situation in procurement,” says Hess. “This is due to disrupted supply chains, among other things due to Corona climate change and the international political crisis caused by the war. The shortage of smaller, consistent natural textiles is getting worse because large corporations jump on the sustainability bandwagon and have priority with their order quantities. We are currently discussing solutions for the resulting planning uncertainty, including strategic network building, securing organic fibers and opening up new markets through global cultivation projects.”
The return to natural fibers – preferably organically certified: The trend themes of the green fashion industry at INNATEX included the circular economy of natural fibers such as linen and hemp, pastel colors and transparency along the supply chains. The online platform Retraced, which has been awarded the German Sustainability Prize, offers blockchain-based solutions for tracking down to the resource. Axel Kolonko represented the startup as one of seven experts in the first community area and reported great interest.
Other participants who provided insider knowledge in the special area were Sabine Kaldonek from Femnet eV Juliane Ziegler from the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) Rosa Buchacher from Fairtrade Germany Heike Hess from IVN Susanne Dienst-Lang and René Lang from the Network of German Fashion and Textile Designers VDMD as well as Mirjam Smend (Greenstyle Munich) and Heike Littger who jointly publish the magazine Pureviu. On Saturday evening, the MUVEO GmbH team rang in the anniversary party with moving words from Jens Frey (Managing Director of MUVEO), Alexander Heatl (Project Manager INNATEX), Tiffany Clark (Project Manager INNATEX) and the President of the International Association of Natural Textiles (IVN) Franziska Kunze. Between live acts and finger food, the atmosphere reached its peak.
AlexanderWärmel Project Manager of INNATEX sums it up: “Pandemic Procurement Inflation rising energy prices – it is simply not possible to predict what the sustainable fashion industry and other sectors can expect in the next few months, you have to be honest. But this 50th INNATEX gives us confidence that green fashion is back on the road to success.”
The next INNATEX will take place from January 21 to 23, 2023.