Heimtextil 2014: impressive panorama of designer textiles and technical innovations

The trends: lively colours, shimmering lustre, Baroque inspirations

Digital printing opens up new design opportunities

Heimtextil, the world’s leading trade fair for home and contract textiles, presented an impressive panorama of textile design in Frankfurt am Main. From 8 to 11 January 2014, 2.718 exhibitors from all over the world showed the latest colour, pattern, material and technology trends. “With its unique spectrum of products, Heimtextil gave the international sector a comprehensive overview of the latest trends and innovations. Product designers and visitors interested in trends were able to gain lots of inspiration for the new furnishing season”, says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt.

Overall, the trend to more colour was obvious with expressive tones, such as petrol, fuchsia, lime, honey, turquoise and royal blue to be seen at the fair. Often, these shades are combined with white, crème or grey to avoid making a loud impression. In the case of finer fabrics, the colours are frequently tone-in-tone while a mixture of matt and lustrous yarns gives many fabrics an interesting look. New at Heimtextil was a trend towards patterns with a contrasting dark background in anthracite, mocha or black.

Attractive designs for every taste

They top the hit list of decorative elements for fabrics: flowers and blossoms of every kind and size, from a scattering of tiny little flowers to big picturesque blossoms à la Andy Warhol. Animal motifs are still to be found on many decorative fabrics and pillow cases. Delicate creatures, such as butterflies, beetles and dragonflies, are conquering the world of home textiles against competition from imaginative Baroque designs, such as arabesques or médaillons, and classic border decorations, many of them slightly modified or blurred, but all in generally modern, contemporary shades. More and more products have relief-like, structured surfaces, from fine rep to cloqué fabrics. Many of the decorative fabrics at Heimtextil were offered together with transparent fabrics in matching colours and patterns. Praiseworthy newcomers are decorative black-out fabrics that are also available for crèches and kindergartens and, of course, comply with the latest safety regulations.

Stylishly covered armchairs and sofas

The cover fabrics presented at the fair were distinguished by great variety. Particularly numerous were collections with matching small patterns, which are suitable for combining as suites or using for decorative cushions. A large part of the fabrics have relief-like surfaces (ribs, rhombuses, carrés, circles, floral decorations), which lend character to monochrome fabrics. Gaining ground are artificial- leather fabrics for upholstery or wall coverings. They are smooth, monochrome and represent artificial-leather imitations or have fashionable, embossed decorative elements. Also gaining in popularity at the fair are decoratively patterned, weather resistant outdoor fabrics for the terrace, balcony or garden.

Wall coverings: making walls more attractive

This year’s Heimtextil saw a continuation of the triumphal advance by wall coverings. Derided as old fashioned just a few years ago, they have developed into a trendy and extremely desirable design element. And this is hardly surprising because consumers have seen that wall coverings enable them to make significant atmospheric changes to a room with relatively little effort. The spectrum of patterns at the fair was bigger than ever before. They range from fine craquelé motifs, via extraordinarily imaginative geometrical designs and modernised classical motifs, to ethnic art, from wallpaper with enchanting, blurred colourways to big, bright mural-like decors. Incidentally, golden times are coming for walls: many patterns shimmer in gentle shades of gold, silver or copper, which give the wallpaper an aristocratic touch or tongue-in-cheek palace appeal. More and more designs have slight or pronounced relief structures and they give the wall a sophisticated plasticity. Frequently, nature is the prototype – in the form of blossoms, vines, bark, stones, wood or crocodile leather. Additionally, some manufacturers use natural yarns on the surface of the product. Water hyacinths and banana leaves were also to be seen. Some Heimtextil exhibitors also offered wall paint to match some of the wall coverings.

Almost too good to walk on

Cosy high-pile carpets were as popular as ever at this year’s Heimtextil. In this segment, the colour spectrum was dominated by soft, subdued shades. In contrast, carpets with tufts made of strong wick yarn are very colourful. Still en vogue are carpets with a ‘used look’. They are woven in such a way that they appear to show signs of use. Among the modern patterns, the leading positions are held by geometric motifs, such as stripes, checks, diamonds, waves and borders, while carpets with pictographic images were also to be found.

Huge spectrum of poles, tracks and trimmings

Curtain poles were to be seen from the elegant side at Heimtextil 2014. They are mainly made of stainless steel, chrome or painted metal and, as a rule, have well-designed end pieces and brackets. For people with an opulent taste, there are even ends with Swarovski crystals. However, excessively sumptuous products are on the retreat. An increasing number of poles have an internal track for runners and are available with ceiling brackets because, in many modern buildings, there is no room for wall mountings above the window. More rustic poles come in brilliant colours, diameters of up to 55 mm and large blooms as end pieces. Attractive pelmets are offered together with curtain rails. Some of the rails can also be used as picture rails – many can also be fitted in bay windows. Trimmings in many different shades – including modern, monochrome models – can be matched harmoniously with the curtain material used.

Practical and attractive: roller blinds, venetian blinds, vertical and panel blinds

Blinds and sun-protection decorations are tailor made by Heimtextil exhibitors for consumers’ windows. Today, these products come in an infinite variety of fabrics, colours and patterns – from diaphanous voile, via patterned decorative fabrics, to thick black-out material. Modern folding roller blinds are sold in widths and heights of up to 350 cm. Instead of a separate electric motor, a roller blind can be furled or unfurled by remote control via a battery-powered mechanism in the roller. Because they are also suitable for difficult windows, pleated roller blinds are a hit among tailor-made window decorations. Particularly popular are pleated blinds with honeycomb- like chambers. They form an air buffer, which significantly reduces heat loss in the winter and protects against heat and UV radiation in the summer. Demand is growing for double roller blinds with two rolls of fabric, one behind the other, and alternately light-proof and translucent panels. They permit the view in (or out) and the amount of light passing through to be varied exactly as required. The classic venetian blind is nowadays no less modern with slats in different widths, innumerable colours, painted or made of wood, bamboo or plastic. But whether roller or venetian: many of the blinds shown at Heimtextil 2014 can be run up or down without a bothersome cord simply by touching the lower track. If the blinds do have cords, recent child-protection regulations forbid dangling loops. Instead, the cords must be held tightly or come away if subjected to a load of six kilograms or more. Today, there is no doubt about the suitability of vertical and panel blinds for the home thanks to the wide range of decorative colours and patterns now available.

Digital printing: technology with a future

An increasing proportion of fabric and wallpaper patterns are produced using digital printing technology, which is particularly suitable for big pattern repeats, realistic reproduction, rapid implementation and both big and small quantities. Photos, sketches or even the corporate design can be used as the design master. As was to be seen at Heimtextil, printed home textiles have now developed into an important area of growth for the textile industry whereby the focus of digital-printing companies is on curtains, drapes and bed and table linen. For this work, manufacturers can choose from a growing range of new technologies, processes and production methods. The digital printing machines to be seen at the fair permit not only a new spectrum of textile designs with almost millions of different shades possible. Other advantages of the equipment, which is already changing the European apparel sector, include flexibility, speed and production customisation. Today, new collections with individual designs can be produced and delivered within two weeks.

Decorative fabrics for the bathroom

Bathroom textiles were also more colour conscious at Heimtextil 2014 than in the previous year. In the terry-goods segment, shades such as China red, meadow green, ultramarine and gold bring the colour spectrum to life. Also popular are tranquil tones, such as old rose, pistachio green and mauve. There has been a significant increase in the number of collections with more masculine colours, such as light grey, stone grey, anthracite, night blue and black. Hand towels have pronounced structures, are decorated with narrow solid- stripes, as well as with check, ivy and border designs. Matching bathroom textiles are also available, e.g., soft and cosy bath mats with pile of up to 45 mm. Increasingly to be seen in the collections are bathrobes in matching colours. Indeed, some manufacturers even offer toothbrush tumblers, soap dishes, small waste bins and shower curtains in the colours and / or patterns as their terry products.

Flowers in bed

What applies to decorative fabrics also holds good for bed linen: floral motifs are ‘in’. Duvet and pillow covers are strewn with petals, romantic flowers and bouquets. Or large, brightly coloured flowers with long stems lay across the fabric. Alongside them are stripes of all kinds – from colourful fusions for the ‘young bed’ to elegant, tone- in-tone satin stripes. Classic and traditional motifs, such as paisley, ikat and modernised Baroque ornaments, are en vogue again. Cheerful, eye-catching motifs from the animal world include swallows and butterflies. New is the combination of two sets of bed-linen with completely different yet matching designs. Monochrome bed linen is to be found in a variety of qualities, from the finest piqué to robustly structures cloqué, with hemstitch decoration, Oxford edging, with braiding or cording and buttons in contrasting colours. Striking in the case of covers is the widespread use of knitted fabrics and tone-in- tone patterns.

Sprucing up the dining table

Gone are the times when the dining table was set primarily with practical utensils and only made to look fine on high days and holidays. Today, table linen for everyday use is also distinguished by attractive, homelike designs. Floral splendour is in evidence in this segment, too, as are decorations comprising big circles or intricate line decorations, in many cases on semi-transparent fabrics – the more elegant, the quieter the shades. To match the table cloths, runners, placemats and napkins, there are pillow cases, aprons and even panel curtains – with the same pattern or monochrome. Alongside this range are numerous designs in country-house style and – for the more elegant household – luxurious table cloths, placemats and napkins in wonderful plain fabrics. In this segment, linen is the successful climber of the season. Kitchen towels are characterised by less elaborate, less kitschy designs. Thus, tea towels with classic white & blue and white and red checks, as well as the ‘Grubentuch’, a traditional German miner’s towel, made their comebacks at Heimtextil 2014. From Asia, there were attractive accessories for the well-set dining table including napkins and jam- jar covers with hand-embroidered fruit and vegetable motifs.

The next Heimtextil in Frankfurt am Main will be held from 14 to 17 January 2015.