Around four months before it opens its doors, Techtextil is almost fully booked, exceeding once again booking levels for the previous event at the same time of year. With its trend theme, 'Urban Living – City of the Future,' the international trade fair also takes a look ahead to see how technical textiles will shape urban life in the future.

In parallel with Techtextil, Texprocess, the leading trade fair for the processing of technical textiles and nonwovens (May 14-17, 2019), will provide insights into all the stages in textile processing, including textile finishing and digital printing. Texprocess is also recording an outstanding level of registrations, above those for the last event.

Techtextil 2017 drew more than 33,670 visitors from 104 countries and 1477 exhibitors from 55 countries. In addition, 7091 visitors to Texprocess also visited Techtextil. The two fairs welcomed a total of 1789 exhibitors from 66 countries and more than 47,500 visitors from 114 countries.

"Every two years, Techtextil mirrors the range of applications for textile materials. Leading international experts from the most diverse industries – be they from architecture, the automotive industry, medicine, the fashion industry or personal protection – come together at Techtextil in search of lightweight, durable and sustainable materials," says Olaf Schmidt, vice president Textiles and Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt.

The suppliers at Techtextil represent the complete spectrum of technical textiles and nonwovens. There is a significant increase in the number of suppliers in the fields of technology, as well as fibers and yarns. Suppliers of woven fabrics, coated textiles and functional apparel textiles are also strongly represented. All areas of application for textile materials are covered. In particular, representatives from industry, architecture and construction, the fashion and clothing industry, the automotive sector, aerospace, medicine, sport, and hazard protection will find a more comprehensive range of products than before.

In collaboration with 'Creative Holland', the Dutch creative industries, Techtextil is dedicating an exhibition space to life in the city of the future with the 'Urban Living – City of the Future' special event. According to the United Nations, nearly 70% of all people are expected to be living in metropolises and megacities by 2050. This poses new challenges for living and mobility concepts, as well as food supplies and health services provision. Functional apparel, with smart functions for example, could also play an even more important role in people’s everyday lives in the future. The Techtextil and Texprocess exhibition area will be presenting examples of textile applications. In addition, an accompanying complementary programme will offer insights into the industry.

On all four days, the trade fair will offer a new format of lectures, discussions and interactive sessions with the Techtextil Forum. The forum, which replaces the Techtextil Symposium, will take place directly in exhibition Hall 4.1 and all Techtextil participants will be able to access it free of charge. Trade visitors can look forward to contributions in the following thematic areas: sustainability, digital transformation, smart textiles, urban textiles, composites, and technical textiles in medical technology. In addition, both the Dornbirn Global Fiber Congress (GFC) and the textiles competence centre at the General Association of the German Textile and Fashion Industry (Gesamtverband der deutschen Textil- und Modeindustrie e. V.) are organizing a thematic block.

For the 15th time now, Techtextil will be giving the Techtextil Innovation Award for outstanding new and further developments in the field of technical textiles, nonwovens and functional apparel fabrics. Both exhibitors and non-exhibitors at Techtextil can take part in the competition. Entries can be submitted online up until February 18, 2019 at: www.techtextil-award.com.

Also for the 15th time, Techtextil will be giving awards to students and young professionals for their work, as part of the 'Textile Structures for New Building' competition. The competition is supported by the international network TensiNet as sponsor, the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (Institut für Leichtbau Entwerfen und Konstruieren - ILEK) at the University of Stuttgart, and the architecture and design platform Architonic. The online application deadline is February 24, 2019 at: www.techtextil-student.com. The award ceremonies will take place during Techtextil. All the award-winning works and ideas will be presented in special shows.

Sustainability is one of the central themes of the upcoming Techtextil and Texprocess. For the first time, the two fairs will be showcasing their exhibitors’ efforts towards sustainability. The Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards give prizes for sustainable textile innovations and processing approaches. In addition, the Texprocess Forum will offer a thematic block exclusively around the theme of sustainability in the textile and fashion industry, with an offshoot of Fashionsustain, Messe Frankfurt’s conference about sustainable textile innovations.

In May 2019, Techtextil and the parallel Texprocess will be sharing an exhibition hall for the first time. In Hall 4.1, Techtextil will be showcasing some of the suppliers of woven, laid web, braided and knitted fabrics, coated textiles, and nonwovens, as well as selected suppliers of textile machines. Suppliers of functional apparel textiles and the 'Digital Textile Micro Factory' mark the transition to Texprocess, which will be showcasing different production lines for clothing, shoes, and the processing of technical textiles. In addition to these, exhibitors for product preparation, finishing, textile logistics, internal material flow and textile refinement, as well as providers of sewing solutions, will be there. In the shared hall, visitors will get an insight into the entire production process, from raw material to finished product.