TRADESHOW PREVIEW
MUNICH FABRIC START/BLUEZONE Munich
25 — 27 January 2022
munichfabricstart.com
PROMISING PROSPECTS FOR THE INDUSTRY The upcoming edition of Munich Fabric Start will hopefully be held in the “usual broad scope and depth”, according to its Managing Director Sebastian Klinder, who is looking forward to January with confidence, although he is still well aware of how unpredictable the situation is. INTERVIEW CHERYLL MÜHLEN
After a long enforced break, Munich Fabric Start and Bluezone will finally be returning as a physical event. How did you experience the comeback and what stands out most in your mind? It was definitely the most dynamic and intense year in our company history! We planned a lot, revised every last square metre and found new solutions. We also had to reassess or discard some of our plans, develop hygiene concepts and work on new approaches with the authorities. At the same time we were constantly aware of the enormous responsibility and the high risk we were talking on by holding a physical tradeshow during a pandemic. So our experience during the event itself was a mix of apprehension and hope that everything would work out as planned. There was also euphoria and gratitude when things finally got going and we realised that we had really made it: in a time when it is simply impossible to plan, we managed to host Munich Fabric Start and Bluezone in almost the usual broad scope and depth. The great response and the confirmation from the industry were overwhelming. I particularly remember a comment one exhibitor made, about us giving back the industry a bit of normality and hope for the future.
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You introduced your new Fabric.iD service at the last edition. How has the response been so far and what are the benefits? The response to our Fabric.ID has been really good. Together with our partners we’ve been able to set up the process for digitalising fabrics in such a way that it can be expanded step by step. Since there are several steps needed to capture all the data, such as colour values, texture, repeat patterns and material composition, it’s quite time consuming. After the launch in September 2021, our goal is to offer this service to our exhibiting suppliers in its entirety. But visiting companies can also integrate the service into their sample process. The associated added value lies, for example, in cost and time savings during the sampling process as well as during the creative process. It also means that the massive amount of sample shipments for control and design processes is significantly reduced. Digital twins of fabrics offer a future-oriented solution for hybrid work with textiles, which are ultimately a haptic product that needs to be experienced and felt.
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Are there any similarly exciting projects planned for the next edition? What can exhibitors and visitors look forward to in January 2022? Exhibitors and visitors can look forward to Munich Fabric Start, Bluezone and Keyhouse in their usual broad scope and depth –
with an international portfolio of fabrics and accessory manufacturers who will be presenting their innovations in Munich. This is still a planning challenge considering the uncertainty of putting on events in the run up to January 2022. With this goal in mind, we are fully focused on putting together an interesting and broad portfolio for spring/summer 2023 that offers the usual appeal. And we certainly won’t want to miss out on the opportunity to come up with one or two surprise projects at the tradeshow. Apart from the health and safety aspect, international footfall is certainly one of the biggest challenges in COVID times. What are your hopes for next year’s edition and how do you assess the situation until then? We are still in a very special situation and developments are still difficult to predict. There are simply too many factors that determine further development. What we are hoping for is to be able to maintain our September 2021 levels and – circumstances permitting – to raise things up a notch. The tradeshow business has probably changed for good: what do you think are the most formative changes at MFS? First of all, the appreciation we’ve experienced. After this long break for tradeshows we are seeing a lot of changes on the tradeshow calendar. At the same time, in-person tradeshows are gaining in importance, at least the kind of formats we represent. People are no longer taking physical tradeshows for granted – and this realisation is palpable. Another long-term change is the planning security and flexibility. Particularly when it comes to organising physical tradeshows on the scale that we do, a certain amount of advance time and the associated planning security are essential, both of which have been in extremely short supply over the past year and a half. We have had to repeatedly reassess, adapt and rethink our planning. This requires a great deal of flexibility and adaptability, which has been stretched to its limits in the dynamic kind of situation we’ve been experiencing over the past few months. At the moment, it feels as if these changes will continue to accompany us, and remain in the long term. Add to this the digital way of working that was thrust upon us by the pandemic, which requires hybrid approaches. This is also a long-term development that will influence the future of the industry – even though physical tradeshows, including the personal interaction and the haptic experience of fabrics, can never be completely replaced by digital solutions.
