15 Product Highlights from Heimtextil 2020
Those seeking textiles, wallcoverings, or industry innovations in
these fields once again flocked to Frankfurt this month for Heimtextil, the furnishings industry’s first trade show of the season—this year celebrating its 50th anniversary. The 2020 edition of the world’s largest trade fair for home and contract textiles, held January 7-10, drew nearly 70,000 visitors to Frankfurt am Main with some 3,000 exhibitors and fresh new programming. The annual Trend Space is always a big hit, but a new material library drew a lot of buzz. Throughout the fair, sustainability was a hot topic. From a literal jungle of animal motifs to yarn made of pineapple and carpet made of ocean trash, here are 15 of our favorite finds.
1. Mare from Paulig Teppiche
Both unsightly and detrimental to marine life, plastic trash overwhelms our oceans. Handmade melange carpet Mare from Paulig Teppiche is woven from Econyl, a certified yarn made from reclaimed plastic taken from sea garbage.
2. Goldance by Jane Jiang for Archroll
The polyester-viscose Goldance textile by in-house designer Jane Jiang for Archroll draws its rich earth textures and tones from the Native American culture. Both trees and monochromatic designs can be seen in dappled copper textures.
3. Multi-Local at Trend Space
To present the Multi-Local category of this year’s Trend Space, Anne Marie Commandeur, founder of Dutch firm Stijlinstituut Amsterdam upholstered totems of stacked geometric forms. Dozens of patterns emerging from diverse cultures clad the totems’ sides.
4. Bliatnpracht by Organoid Natural Surfaces
Wild flowers, rose petals, Alpine hay, hop cones, and pine needles: These are just some of the natural materials mixed with an ecological binding agent and then pressed together to create a thin layer by Organoid Natural Surfaces. The company’s new wallpaper collection Bliatnpracht is available in white eco-fleece.
5. Rushdie from Crypton
A multi-toned tweed available in 12 colorways is the latest addition to offerings by Crypton, which recently expanded its distribution to Europe. Like all of the manufacturer’s performance-based fabric, Rushdie repels and resists both oil and water-based stains.
6. Wool: Re-Crafted by Nathalie Spencer
On view in the Trend Space in Heimtextil’s freshly launched material library, Wool: Re-Crafted by Nathalie Spencer is made of pineapple. A vegan alternative to wool, it’s produced from discarded pineapple leaves sourced from London markets and juice bars.
7. Sea Me by Nienke Hoogvliet
Sourcing its materials from the ocean, the Sea Me rug by Nienke Hoogvliet was also on view in the Trend Space in Heimtextil’s material library. Woven from sea algae yarn, it’s knotted by hand into a reclaimed fishing net.
8. Tribe from Prestigious Textiles
The animal motif is going strong, and manufacturers continue to jump on the all-creatures-large-and-small bandwagon. Case in point, the Tribe collection of fabrics from Prestigious Textiles, where giraffes, zebras, and snakes all make a wild entrance.
9. Paradise from Pattern Lab
Animals are once again in the spotlight in the Paradise collection of fabrics from Pattern Lab, a professional-level surface design project by master’s students at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Finland. Striped Entomology by Mithila Mohan (center) is crawling with bugs, while a more subtle wildlife tribute comes from Animalistic by Noora Typpö (left) and Find the Tiger by Anastasia Poljatschenko (right).
10. Midsummer Fern from Graham & Brown
Paper wallpaper Midsummer Fern from Graham & Brown presents four examples of the botanical species in its repeating motif—recalling a lush forest floor. The large-scale print is available in four colorways.
11. Network from Jab Brand Gardisette
Ideal as a subtle room divider, the semi-transparent fabric Network from Gardisette, a brand under the Jab umbrella, is woven in a honeycomb pattern from a lightweight 100 percent polyester mesh.
12. Follies from Masureel brand Khrôma
Channeling the roaring twenties and its Art Deco movement, wallpaper Follies from Masureel brand Khrôma was showcased in the Heimtextil Trend Space. To imitate the refined stencil-based Pochoir technique of the time, the manufacturer uses a high-tech production method.
13. The Karin Sajo Paris Collection by Karin Sajo for Grandeco
Sea and earth converge in a palette of chocolate brown, ochres, and green for La Rivera, a mural wallpaper included in the Karin Sajo Paris collection by Karin Sajo for Grandeco. Hailing from the fashion world with stints at Studio Dior and Jean-Paul Gaultier, Sajo is a new collaborator for the manufacturer.
14. Bricklane from Rasch
A London street known for its eclectic mix of immigrant communities sparked Bricklane, a non-woven collection of 38 wallpapers and 11 digital panels from Rasch. The example here pairs a bold slate gray with a gold stripe.
15. Caspian from Style Library Brand Sanderson
Drawing from the rich history of the Silk Road and the romance of remote places and new trading opportunities, Caspian is a new collection from Sanderson, a Style Library Brand. Each pattern in the portfolio is available on printed cotton, silk fabric with warp printing, or hand-printed paper.
Read more: Heimtextil Trend Report: Existential Crisis is Resolved in 2020 Textile Forecast
