Performance Days Munich – Spring 2024 Review
The Spring Edition of Performance Days Munich took place on 20th & 21st of March 2024 in the C halls of the Messe Munich. This new location is closer to the official parking garage yet a little bit of a walk from the u-bahn station, which was no problem at all as the days were blessed with perfect spring time sunshine.
3000 visitors came to visit 440 brands and exhibitors from 36 countries in two tradeshow halls. It was our second visit to the show and was interesting to see how the show has grown in just 6 months.
The first area you encounter upon entering the show is a new space for innovators and brands who had showcased their technologies in the innovation forum in the Autumn. OceanSafe for example, a textile technology company for biodegradable, toxin-free circular textiles has moved from a tiny pop up stand in the Innovation Forum to a proper booth, reflecting the growth in clients that use their bio-degradable naNea polyester, over the last half year. Next to the Innovation Forum, where a bunch of brand new technologies are showcased, is the new Technology Hub, where you can find out what key trends innovation leaders must respond to in order to take a leading role in the industry.
The Footwear Hub launched at the last show and bundles up everything you’d like to find out about new materials and trends in the shoe market. The main section sported an enormous Italian bar where Pontetorto, Imbotex and Weichert Agencies sponsored free coffee and snacks for all visitors. Perfect to stock up on nutrient supplies before sitting down for one of the many Expert Talks in the back end of the hall, which were popular not only with the visitors but also the exhibitors themselves.
The biggest number of exhibiting brands and manufacturers were located in the second hall, which also sported the Media and Sustainability Lounges, the Trend Forum, and the Reality Zone Workshop, a dedicated space for immersive workshops in collaboration with Accelerating Circularity.
Again the Trend Forum offers a great overview of the most important topics the fabric industry is dealing with at the moment, of which the biggest is: The Future of Polyester. This forum offers a lot of information about the art and ways of sourcing recyclable fibres, including a big overview of fabric samples for various segments. This is a really helpful and valid starting point to go about the trade show, as it gives you an idea of what to watch out for and also where to find examples of what your after, so you don’t have to sift through all the incredibly broad offerings present at the show all by yourself. In addition to that you will also find a lot of little gems just by strolling through the halls, as all exhibitors are super friendly, helpful and willing to engage with all sorts of customers.
Some of the highlights included Sympatex efforts to increase their use of fibre-to—fibre recycling (instead of sourcing plastic bottles etc), reflecting the main theme in the Trend Forum. Right now the main base for this is cut offs from manufacturing, although the ideal scenario would include consumer fibre stock, which still needs a viable collection system. They also told us that many brands have drastically increased the amount of carry overs in their collections, sometimes reaching as much as 90%, which is a huge step in a more sustainable direction.
One of the biggest challenges in fibre-to-fibre recycling is the blending of fibres which happens in most garments. For this we saw a possible solution at Climatex in the Innovation forum: a technology that not only inherently (without additional coating or membranes) provides waterproofing and breathability, and enables separation of chemical and natural fibres just with the use of pressure, water and hot temperatures. You can literally pull the two sheets of fabric apart
When it comes to coatings, we saw a lot of water based solutions, for example grip for gloves by Ocean Plastics, bio-based thermal regulation by Devan and a new bacteria based, silver free anti-stink technology by Polygiene. We also liked Schoeller’s approach of undyed wool, offering natural shades of brown and their bio-based Polycolon yarn.
Once again it was very enlightening to see just how much is being developed for a green, healthier and hopefully better future. Of course a lot of what we saw will take a while to reach the broad mainstream, but it always has to start somewhere, right?! And it starts here!
The next edition of PERFORMANCE DAYS will take place on October 23rd and 24th, 2024, in Munich, at the Munich Trade Fair grounds in Halls A1 and A2. Until then, the PERFORMANCE DAYS platform will be available, including the Marketplace and continued inspiring themes of Material Stories, to make online sourcing even easier! Stay up to date! The free PERFORMANCE DAYS newsletter provides updates, trends & innovations, material stories, and other important information. Simply generate a free visitor account once and benefit from all tools on the website!
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Check out our photo gallery of the show below
