The most important fabric trends for Autumn. Winter 2024/25, lectures and discussions on the most relevant industry topics as well as plenty of networking opportunities: after three days, Germany’s largest and most important fabric trade show, Munich Fabric Start, with over 1,100 collections on display, came to an end. The international and, compared to pre-covid times, restrained transcontinental travel behaviour of the fashion industry and the general changes in the market are also partly reflected at Munich Fabric Start – the fundamentally positive mood on the part of exhibitors and visitors at the trade show, which took place for the first time at an early July date, proved that the trade show location Munich is set for fabric sourcing.
After three days full of program, networking, inspiration and fashion business, the 52nd edition of the international trade show Munich Fabric Start came to an end. The anniversary edition of the denim trade show BLUEZONE, which celebrated its 20th birthday this summer, the one-stop sourcing platform THE SOURCE and the innovation hub KEYHOUSE closed their doors for this season.
“Munich Fabric Start has once again proven itself to be the platform with the strengths it is known for: in a highly professional working environment, with reliable top quality of the international exhibitor portfolio and diverse opportunities for inspiration, information and networking, Munich Fabric Start as a one-stop destination offers almost everything needed to create collections bundled in one place. The fact that we are able to offer this qualitative continuity as a trade show in transformative times, in which much of the fashion business is being readjusted and put to the test, is honoured by our visitors, exhibitors and partners and confirms our conviction that Munich Fabric Start brings together the right people at the right place and on the right topics.” Sebastian Klinder, Managing Director – Munich Fabric Start
“After intensive discussions with a large number of relevant market participants, we decided to take a progressive step and reposition Munich Fabric Start in terms of the date. After three days of the show, we can state that all those for whom this early date is relevant have been here in Munich and have been able to do successful business. At the same time, we simply have to note that the days of crowds of visitors pushing their way through the exhibition halls are over and that success and quality are expressed differently today. The need for information and orientation is becoming more and more important: fully attended trend lectures and the large number of panels where future-relevant topics were discussed controversially show how important personal contact is for the industry. I would even go so far to say that the joy of meeting and exchanging ideas in person, working together on collections and inspiring each other or celebrating together is essential for releasing the creativity that is essential for fashion’s survival – and we definitely felt this joy during the past three days.” Frank Junker, Creative Director & Partner – Munich Fabric Start.
Munich Fabric Start is now looking forward to the near future with anticipation: first and foremost, review Autumn. Winter 24/25, which will celebrate its premiere at Motorworld on 13 and 14 September 2023 – and thus on the date previously reserved for MFS and BLUEZONE. With this new venue in Munich, it offers the industry, as usual, a late order date that is perfect for follow-ups and research into the latest market developments. As a new concept, reVIEW replaces the previous View Premium Selection and fits harmoniously and seamlessly into the trade show portfolio of Munich Fabric Start Exhibitions GmbH. It thus enables the still important September date as an essential time for quick orders, innovations and developments in the fashion industry.
“MUNICH FABRIC START is like visiting friends. It doesn’t feel like work at all. That’s how you want a trade show to be.” Pia Geisler, RND – Hugo Boss
“We are very very happy with the new date in July. I have been saying for a long time that the September date is too late and I am very happy about the postponement. The collections are now ready and there is no reason to wait any longer with the sales. Price, price, price – that’s THE topic we’re discussing with all our customers at the moment.” Thomas Püttmann, Owner – Textilagentur Püttmann
“My quintessence: it’s early, but good. Munich Fabric Start provides continuity and constancy in the present time. That is simply nice. Everyone is here, you find each other. And yes, the date is early, but that suits me for slow fashion.” Claudia Lanius, CEO – Lanius
Trends: What we will see in Autumn.Winter 24/25
Due to its much earlier summer date for the first time this year, Munich Fabric Start once again increased its relevance as a place for early trend research. The five exclusively developed, central aesthetic trends for the winter season 2024/2025 are united under the leitmotiv “each other” and were staged over a wide area in the foyers of the MOC: Highland Hybrids: a patchwork of nature, tradition and performance; Mystic Beings: the fantasy world of elves, heroes, monsters and robots; System Cringe: a movement that calls for action; Kinky Classics: provocatively extroverted with style and Past Forward, a retrofuturistic point of view.
“In the past, entire worlds of colours and materials were excluded from the outset for women because they were not compatible with our outdated ideas of the beautiful and weak gender. And it is precisely these colours and materials that women are now conquering. For the first time in the history of fashion, women are now wearing the colours of concrete, anthracite charcoal and mud and materials like bacon saddle leather, stiff raw denim and scratchy tweed,” says Carl Tillessen, CEO of DMI, summarising the most striking shifts. The DMI Fashion Day, which took place the day before the show at the MOC, also celebrated a successful premiere, creating synergies for visitors and exhibitors alike.
“The majority of our customers is looking for stretch fabrics, mostly a composition of wool, polyester and lycra, but also flannels for coatings and jackets. Even though the show focuses on the season Autumn.Winter 24/25 season, we could see a huge interest in bright colors, not only black, navy and grey. In this, we can also see a shift in the mentality.” Eser Kaygusuz, Sales Leader – Yünsa
“The most important trends for Autumn/Winter 24/25 are soft touches in different finishes and construction, 3D effects, cross-overs for newly interpreted jacquards, velvet effects and contrast doubles. The colors of the season are light beige and naturals, pastel green, dark green, cobalt and the full range of dark colors with a high importance of brown.” Giancarlo Biancalani, Sales Consultant – Fabrica Tessuti
Edutainment – future-oriented and sustainable application scenarios
In addition to the extensive trend information for Autumn.Winter 2024/25, the show offered a diverse program of lectures with panel discussions, inspiring keynotes and lectures. Around 35 agenda items and over 50 speakers ensured a comprehensive edutainment experience.
Future-oriented sustainable material developments – from research to the finished product – were discussed by Simon Angel, Sustainable Innovations Curator, with Nicole Espey from Biotexfuture, among others. Virtual Knitting, Mycotex, AlgaeTex, BioTurf, BioBase, CO2TEX and BioCoat are just some of the innovations that were presented and discussed. Everyone agreed that it is important that industry and research work closely together in a network to really make progress. Otherwise, research projects remain in research and do not make it to market – “the Death Valley of research” as Espey called it.
The upcoming and partly already implemented legal regulations as well as their concrete effects on the entire fashion and textile industry took up a large part of the discussion. In three application-oriented sessions and discussion rounds, Rolf Heimann, Chairman & CEO of the Hessnatur Foundation, showed how and where companies can start in their supply chain to promote recyclable products and processes and how these can be integrated into corporate practice.
Kim van der Weerd, Intelligence Director of the Transformers Foundation, presented the new guide “An Apparel Supplier’s Guide to Key Sustainability Legislation in the EU, US and UK”, which was launched. It presents twelve international regulations and their requirements that companies can expect in the coming years – with a clear focus on textile manufacturers. “It is a large number of regulations for suppliers to fulfill in the near future. My advice: look at it as a holistic business change. It will not only involve the sustainability teams, but also HR, sourcing and others”, Kim van der Weerd summarised the legislative changes coming to the industry at the panel accompanying her keynote with Danijela Cafuta (Lenzing AG), Rashid Iqbal (Naveena Denim NDL) and Ilishio Lovejoy (Simple Approach).
During the panel “Newtopia – Reconstructing the Jeans of the Future from Scratch”, Panos Sofianos discussed the future of denim with Jordan Nodarse (Bossa), Romain Narcy (Ereks & Era Denim Group), Hamit Yenici (Hich Solutions), Christina Agtzidou (Tom Tailor Group) and Marco Lucietti (Sanko Holding ISKO Division): “Bast in general is a good competitor to the good old cotton. I think bast has a great future. But I see it from a mainstream side as well – it is still very expensive and it’s difficult to implement. Mills should make it more approachable,” Christina Agtzidou brought up a rethink at fibre level. Marco Lucietti called for an even broader shift: “We have to shift the paradigm towards consumption. It’s not just about reduce and reuse. Now is the time of NOT using any new materials of virgin fibers. We have to close the loop and make recycled products accessible to the market.”
“We need to create more fashion that costs money. This is about the question: what value does fashion have for us? And what is it worth to us to buy a sustainable product? We all have to work towards a different way of thinking, so that we also pay for things according to their value again,” Karin Schmitz, Business Development Director Peclers Paris aptly summarised the status quo of the current discussions in the industry during her trend lecture.
