According to the United Nations, nearly 70 percent 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.

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 innovations. 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.

Expert lectures and discussion formats right in the heart of the industry: The new Techtextil Forum is an opportunity for an interactive exchange of ideas and information between exhibitors and trade visitors, as well as researchers and developers and users. Present your new material, your innovative technology or solution to a larger audience of specialists.  

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 at the University of Stuttgart, and the architecture and design platform Architonic. The online application deadline is 24 February 2019.

With its varied supporting programme, Techtextil offers technical inspiration and an overview of the latest developments in the industry. You can look forward to events such as the Techtextil Innovation Award, the Techtextil Forum, the student competition and the Innovative Apparel Show.

Techtextil's product groups cover the entire textile value chain in the areas of technical textiles, apparel fabrics and nonwovens as well as textile technologies and accessories.

Together with Texprocess, the leading trade fair for the garment manufacturing and textile processing industry, Techtextil covers all aspects of technical textiles and functional apparel textiles – including their manufacture and processing.