A wealth of new textiles will be available in the coming years. This was revealed by the forum TextileTrends, which took place in Berlin in mid- February.
Around 150 national and international textile experts spent two days discussing the opportunities and demands of the textile industry. Focal topics were technical and functional textiles.
The textile industry will experience an upturn in the coming year, says Professor Roshan Shishoo, Swedish textile consultant and Chairman of the event.
He claims that this lies in the increasing demand for technical and functional fabrics: ?hey have to be anti-static, water-repellent or breathable,?explains Shishoo in hisdissertation. At the same time, he explains, new technologies which work with nano and micro particles simplify the production of such textiles.
Regarding a future with such challenges, Shishoo warns that: ?urope has to make an effort to live up against the strong Asian market. European textile companies can only beat the competition through flexible production processes, strong technical know-how and by concentrating on the added value of their products.?
He also says that the industry has to keep its sights on the customer: ?he market is changing, and thus the needs: for one thing the population is getting older and requires for more comfort where clothes are concerned. But they also want more leisure time and, particularly, they want to spend this time actively."
