GERMANY
German and European manufacturers of sewing and garment technology and machines for processing technical textiles have a positive outlook ahead of the Texprocess trade fair, which opens its doors in Frankfurt for the fourth time on 9 – 12 May 2017.

The international trade fair for processing textile and flexible materials, Texprocess will take place simultaneously with Techtextil, the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and non-woven fabrics.

Speaking at a press conference this month, Elgar Straub, managing director of VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies said that 2016 was another successful year for the sector. “Sales of German manufacturers of sewing and garment technology increased by 15.9% in real terms from January to October, compared to last year. Likewise, incoming orders increased by 2.8%.”

All sectors are represented at the fair, including manufacturers of sewing and garment technology, shoe and leather technology, laundry and textile cleaning technology as well as machines for processing technical textiles.

Important trends this year are digital printing (the direct printing on garments, shoes and technical textiles) and the enhancement of functional textiles and smart textiles, which includes the integration of electronic and sensorial functions in textiles (garment, technical textiles, home textiles and medical textiles).

Due to worldwide rising standards for resource protection, efficiency increase and corporate social responsibility, sustainability remains an important issue for garment production and for processing technical textiles.