As the world’s leading trade fair for textiles, Heimtextil, held annually in Frankfurt, stands at the forefront of innovation, merging the expansive world of textiles with the meticulous realms of architecture and design. Heimtextil 2025 heralded a vibrant start to the New Year for the global textile industry, drawing more than 3,000 exhibitors from 65 countries, and reinforcing its standing as the leading trade fair for home and contract textiles.
“We don’t expect 2025 to be without its challenges but we are optimistic,” said Detlef Braun, member of the executive board at Messe Frankfurt. “Companies are looking for stability and also going through a transformation process as the market changes and sustainability assumes more significance. Exhibitions, however, are now back in the game after a period of some turbulence, and despite what the digital world is making possible, there is still no substitute for face-to-face meetings.”

With more than 50,000 attendees, the fair cemented its status as a pivotal gathering for many designers and industry professionals. The event’s consistent growth and dynamic array of offerings highlighted its central role in navigating the complexities of contemporary market demands, from economic pressures to ecological concerns.
Heimtextil 2025 showcased a kaleidoscope of global talent and trends, with exhibitors from textile powerhouses such as China, India, Turkey and Germany. This diversity offers architects and designers unique insights into textile applications from various cultural and technological perspectives, fostering a rich exchange of ideas. With a 10% increase in participation over the previous year, Heimtextil underscores the growing interest in textile innovation amid evolving market demands.
Forefront of Trends: Sustainability Meets Technology
The introduction of “Heimtextil Trends 25/26,” curated by Milan-based design platform Alcova, marked a highlight of the event. Designed by Space Caviar with a visual identity by Studio Vedèt, the “Future Continuous” exhibition invited the public to rethink trends themselves as isolated phenomena, that changed with each season. Rather, they are seen as cyclical, as the product of ancient practices, being revived and enmeshed with forward-thinking technologies.

Photo courtesy Piergiorgio Sorgetti @piergiorgiosorgetti
The installation was meant as a space for reflection and as a lens through which to view the evolving world of textiles, and it was presented as a continuous archive that unfolded on a long curving table, presenting a selection of the fair’s most interesting textiles, where each sample textile became a part of the larger story, intertwining traditional practices and cutting-edge innovations.
A series of samples were also seen swinging through the space, hanging from a textile conveyor belt, which were also repeated on the long table where they were labeled and identified so that the visitor could visit the companies that sparked their interest afterwards. The exhibition was divided into three main trends — labeled “Naturally Uneven,” “Radically Restructured,” and “Regenerative” — which mirrored the contemporary push towards sustainability, longevity and ethical production in architecture and design. These themes are not only timely but are pivotal as the industry grapples with ecological concerns and a shift towards more conscientious consumption practices and the textiles on display are an inspiration for American contract textile companies to see the innovations that are happening globally today.

Naturally Uneven
Celebrating the beauty of imperfection, the “Naturally Uneven” section highlighted natural materials like linen, hemp, jute and wool, which are prized for their organic structures and the unique stories they tell through their natural grains and imperfections. This theme emphasized a return to nature, with a color palette that included soft grays, unbleached fibers and the gentle “Rose of Permanence.” Colors are natural, unbleached, with undyed tones, resulting in naturally-faded colors such as gray, off-white, beige and browns.
Examples here include: Libeco (Belgium), who is known for its linen, and presented 100% hemp textiles, Starbellatex (Portugal), a 100% cotton, showcased a dying technique that mimics natural weathering and aging, and A Grupe (Lithuania), presented a 100% linen with a crumpled surface.

Radically Restructured
This theme showcased the intersection of advanced technologies and sustainable design, using recycled materials to set new benchmarks in textile production. This section was characterized by a play of contrasts — between heavy and light, transparent and opaque — and a bold color scheme featuring shades like “End of Petrol” and “New Green Deal.” Here, colors were predominantly muted, with industrial tones such as blue-gray, gray and vibrant lime green. Examples here included: Gebrüder Munzert (Germany), an innovative polyester made from 98% recycled post-consumer material; BDM (India), a partially-recycled polyester with a restrained ornament-free pattern imitating naturally occurring surfaces; and Ateja (Indonesia), an entirely biodegradable fabric using Ciclo yarn, which embeds countless biodegradable points in the plastic matrix that act as nutrient sources for naturally occurring microbes, making the entire fabric biodegradable.
Regenerative
Focusing on renewal and circularity, “Regenerative” offered insights into the use of mixed fibers, including natural, recycled and bio-based options. This theme underscored the importance of handcrafted elements and sustainability, with colors like “Regenerative Azure” and “Repairable Green” enhancing its visual impact. The color palette represented the sky, forest and earth, symbolizing warmth and nourishment.

Examples include: Danzo (Veneto, Italy), which was made of 100% sheep’s wool, an example of a regenerative material with an interesting pattern; Antonio Salgado (Portugal), composed of 90% cotton and 10% pineapple fiber, made from extracted pineapple leaves; and Monteiro (Portugal), a textile composed of 72% plant-based material, using waste from olive and sugar production, a growing indication of how the textile industry is increasingly tapping into industrial waste streams, a trend that is gaining traction in the market.
The “Future Continuous” installation also included a robotic installation, programmed by Andrea Anner and Thibault Brevet of AATB, which reflected the design teams research around human/machine interactions. It predicted a time in the near future where robotic and industrial automation would exist outside the realm of the factory floors, and could be used to to present fabrics in an artistic fashion to an interested public.
Patricia Urquiola’s Immersive Installation: Among-Us
Probable the standout installation of Heimtextil 2025 was Patricia Urquiola’s “among-us” installation. This immersive project illustrated the seamless integration of textiles into architectural spaces, demonstrating their potential to create interactive and convivial environments. Urquiola’s collaboration with partners like Kettal and Moroso brought this vision to life, offering attendees a glimpse into the future of integrated, textile-based design. The convivial space encouraged interaction and showcased the hybrid potential of textiles across various scales — from product design to unique, one-off pieces.

At a press launch, Urquiola described the textile installation as the result of many different avenues of research that touched on fantasy, style and our relationships with technologies like AI and craftsmanship. Furthermore, it looked at traditional approaches to techniques in textiles such as tapestry and weaving and how they could be intermixed with contemporary approaches like AI. The end result is a double-layered space that has a kind of digital presence, illustrated by a grid-like structure that was applied to the surface of the floor. Urquoila pointed out that in today’s world we are physically present in a space but at the same time we are in a digital world whether when we’re in front of our computer or on our smart phones, and often we are dealing with different realities: the present and the future; the digital and the real. From all this, Urquiola presented objects designed by her studio that experimented with different forms of research, including:
Gruuvelot for Moroso by Urquoila
Gruuvelot is an evolution of Gruuve, the system designed by Urquiola for Moroso in 2023. This new version presents a bolder and more dynamic design, characterized by rounded profiles that extend seamlessly to the floor and are enhanced by organic, parasitic forms. The textile covering Gruuvelot incorporates Polimex, a sustainable fabric produced using innovative water-based printing methods, which reduce water consumption by 90% and greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to traditional production processes.
Insula for Kettal by Urquoila
Modular in design, this piece consists of an orthogonal aluminum base, with very smooth lines that create the softest, most comfortable seat cushion. The seats come in two sizes, allowing for the use of different types of backrests: individual, double, angular and so on. It’s upholstered in Hero 2, an upholstery textile, designed by Urquiola for Kvadrat.
Cimento Hanging by Urquoila
The hanging structure is made of Cimento, a patented and entirely made in Italy product that is structurally lightweight, consisting of over 90% mineral aggregates mixed with a cementitious binder. The panels shaped using a custom-made mold were designed to optimize sound-absorbing properties. The structure features a custom color created specifically for the project. Fabric filaments from cc-tapis production scraps are integrated into the Cimento mixture, contributing to the color and solidity of the structure. At the bottom, the structure includes a series of fringes, extending downward.
CC-Tapis Rug by Urquoila
Developed in collaboration with cc-tapis at the company’s prototyping center in Milan, this rug was made using the company’s innovative robotufting machine. The system offers bespoke solutions and limitless design possibilities, enabling precise automated tufting across a wide range of yarns and allowing for unique shapes and tufting directions without constraints. This enhances efficiency and flexibility, enabling the creation of distinctive pieces for exhibitions and installations, including Urquiola’s double-sided hanging carpet structures that push the boundaries of traditional rug-making processes.
Marking a meaningful step toward sustainability, each structure was made with innovative Econyl yarns. This material allows the production of custom pieces that can be fully recycled, with the fibers regenerated into new Nylon yarn, ensuring a sustainable and closed-loop production process.
CC-Tapis Black Bands Dhurrie Rugs by Urquoila
Consisting of 8 different bands with letters, these dhurries were made on a handloom whereby the artisans crafted the main rug on one side and the eight bands on the other. Letter strips were sewn on the large rug, one by one, by hand. After the strips were attached, the rug was folded in half, and the seams were carefully stitched by hand, following the provided design to create pockets for hanging and for inserting the inflatables later. The sewing process took two weeks, as only one craftsman possessed the skill and precision required to execute the task flawlessly.
Heimtextil as a Global Knowledge Hub
Beyond the installations and thematic trends, Heimtextil 2025 served as a critical platform for knowledge exchange. With more than 140 lectures, workshops and guided tours, the event catered to a diverse array of industry professionals. The Retail Stage and Texpertise Stage highlighted topics ranging from AI in retail to trends in hotel design, emphasizing Heimtextil’s role in shaping industry standards and practices.
Expanding Reach and Impact
The expansion of the Carpets & Rugs area, which now hosts three times as many exhibitors and has grown across several hall levels, underscored Heimtextil’s significance as the epicenter of the global carpet industry. This growth not only reflects the broadening scope of Heimtextil’s influence, but also its commitment to providing comprehensive solutions and inspiration for the entire textile industry.
Heimtextil’s Role in Future Design
As Heimtextil continues to evolve, it remains at the heart of the dialogue on how textiles can shape the built environment. For architects and designers, the fair is more than an event; it is an essential resource that informs, inspires and instigates the creative processes that will define the spaces of tomorrow. As the industry continues to evolve amid economic and ecological challenges, Heimtextil remains a beacon of innovation, resilience and global collaboration. With each edition, the trade show not only reflects the current state of the global textile industry, but also guides its future, making it an indispensable event for those committed to pushing the boundaries of design and sustainability.