The global home and contract textiles market is currently valued at an annual $300 billion, according to Swiss consultancy firm Gherzi. Heimtextil, which will next take place in Frankfurt, Germany, from January 14-17, 2025, continues to be its annual showcase.

“Despite a challenging market situation, Heimtextil remains a strong and reliable platform for the global sector and offers both retailers and contractors solutions for sustainable business success,” said Ivonne Seifurt, show organiser Messe Frankfurt’s director of marketing communications for textiles and textile technologies.

Speaking during a recent press conference in London, she added that the most important quality needed for companies operating in this sector today is resilience.

“This is especially necessary for retailers who have had to adapt to the new market reality of the migration to online purchases and a difficult trading situation,” she said. “The European Union’s Green Deal will add further pressures, but our research indicates consumers are firstly looking for price and quality over sustainability.”

January 2025 also happens to be the month the European Union is introducing its ban on the landfilling or incineration of post-consumer textile waste and is imposing an extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme on brands and manufacturers to pay for its collection and disposal. The European Commission is further calling for all textile products on the EU market to be durable, repairable or recyclable – and to contain a significant percentage of recycled fibres – by 2030. Similar legislation is expected to follow in other parts of the world, beginning with California in the US.

New cellulosics

Unsurprisingly then, sustainability will be the key priority for exhibitors at Heimtextil 2025 and there is now as much emphasis on what materials are made of as on their aesthetic appeal.

Many manufacturers of home textiles are turning to alternative raw materials, such as the new cellulosic fibres from fast-rising Scandinavian companies such as Renewcell and Spinnova, in addition to natural fibres such as hemp, jute and wool.

The difficulties of commercialising new fibres for the circular economy, however, were underlined during 2024, when Renewcell was obliged to file for bankruptcy at the Stockholm District Court in Sweden. The company started up the first 100 per cent textile-to-textile recycling plant for the production of regenerated Circulose fibres in Kristinehamn, Sweden, in August 2022, but subsequently struggled to build capacity off-take and was not able to secure sufficient financing to continue.

Circulose pulp is so far the only material that has been produced at scale from 100 per cent textile waste, based on a closed-loop, chemical recycling process and happily, Swedish investment firm Altor stepped up to acquire Renewcell and it is now operating again with secure financing under the new name Circulose.

Network

Circulose has subsequently expanded the members of its Circulose Supplier Network (CSN) to 151 spinners, weavers and textile mills, including key suppliers to the home textiles market such as Al Karam, Sapphire and Siddiqsons in Pakistan, and Kadri Mills, Sharadha Terry Products and Trident Group in India.

Strategic partnerships have now been formed with suppliers, with a focus on South and Southeast Asia and the aim of establishing manufacturing hubs in these strategic locations.

Spinnova

Finland-based Spinnova has also developed a patented technology for making textile fibres from wood pulp or leather, textile and agricultural waste without harmful dissolving chemicals.

The Spinnova technology creates no side waste streams in the production process and the resulting fibres have minimal CO2 emissions and water use, as well as being biodegradable and recyclable. The mechanical process gives the fibres the look and feel of natural cellulosic fibres such as cotton, making them highly suited for many household items such as tableware, curtains and drapes. 

The first commercial-scale facility producing wood-based Spinnova fibre started up in 2023 and is being operated by Woodspin, Spinnova’s joint venture with Suzano, the world’s largest pulp producer. This plant has the capacity to produce an annual 1,000 tons of sustainable, recyclable and fully biodegradable textile fibres from responsibly grown wood each year.

Having successfully developed many prototype fabrics with leading brands, Spinnova is now looking to license out its technology to third party manufacturers.

Bananatex

Less established natural fibres making inroads into the home textiles market include Oleatex— an alternative leather made from waste derived from the olive oil industry, Desserto—another alternative leather derived from the Mexican cactus, and Bananatex—a durable, technical fabric made purely from abaca banana plants.

Bananatex has been developed by Swiss bag brand Qwstion in collaboration with a yarn specialist and a weaving partner both based in Taiwan.

Grown within a natural ecosystem of sustainable mixed agriculture and forestry, abaca is sturdy and self-sufficient, requiring no pesticides or extra water. These qualities have allowed it to contribute to reforestation in the Philippines, in areas of former jungle which have been eroded by soil damage due to monocultural palm plantations.

A farmer’s cooperative is supplying Bananatex with its raw fibre, enhancing the economic prosperity of its members.

Topping and tumbling

Each abaca plant has several stalks that can be harvested once a year and regenerate fully within a year. The first step is ‘topping’ the leaves which are left to decompose, creating a natural fertiliser, and ‘tumbling’ the stalks which are then stripped and combed at the harvest site.

The potential of Bananatex is demonstrated in products such as the Kolter Eco daybed from Danish furniture brand Softline. Designed for durability and easy care, the daybed features a removable custom cover made from the Bananatex fabric and a modular frame made of Scandinavian spruce. This simple and sleek design will add a practical and sophisticated presence to any room.

Swiss furniture company Lehni has also used Banantex fabric in its Enso seat for both indoor and outdoor use. Defined by functionality, timeless design and the minimal use of resources, the Enso combines Bananatex with a recycled aluminium frame.

Extra Organic

Leading wallpaper companies are now fully aware of the benefits nonwoven fabrics can bring to interior design and are increasingly incorporating them into their collections.

As opposed to paper, nonwovens are both dimensionally stable and strong. They do not shrink, ravel-up or curl when handled, which makes them easy to hang. They are also ideally suited to being applied in their dry state to a pasted wall, rather than needing to be pasted themselves. These are referred to as ‘paste the wall’ papers.

Using tailored adhesives, they will also just slide around a wall until a perfect fit is ensured – eliminating all the hassle of trying to match together intricately patterned designs. In addition, the design possibilities with nonwoven wallcoverings are being constantly extended due to advances in digital printing.

Flax linen fibres have now been transformed into reliable and tear-resistant wallcoverings with a positive eco-balance by Norafin Industries, headquartered in Mildenau, Germany, a pioneer in the production of nonwovens from pure natural fibres.

Branded Extra Organic, the biodegradable nonwovens are characterised by high UV resistance as well as heat-insulating and sound-absorbing properties and can be made of 100 per cent flax or in blends with viscose.

They are eminently suitable for a number of applications in sustainable and creative interior design, including as wallpaper, but also as room dividers, ceiling panels or table decorations, such as napkins, place mats or table runners.

Extra Organic nonwovens can be used as the base material for the rotary or digital printing of wallpapers and wallcoverings, or as stand-alone wallcoverings without paint.

Eelgrass

A most unusual natural material is eelgrass, which is now being converted into acoustic panels by Copenhagen, Denmark-based Søuld and features in the latest wall and suspended ceiling products of Spinneybeck, the New York-based MillerKnoll design brand which first brought Italian upholstery leather to the US in the 1960s.

A marine plant naturally grown off the coast of Denmark, eelgrass was first used in structural design in the 1600s when settlers on the Danish island of Læsø used it to forge thick roof-thatching for their homes. The plant is collected after it washes ashore and through a fully circular manufacturing process is pressed into durable sheets by S∅uld.

The organic texture of eelgrass imbues interiors with warmth and tactility, and it is frequently paired with natural wool to exploit the best of the two natural materials in interior thermal and acoustic insulating materials.

Cleaner air with wool

Wool also continues to find new applications. Unilever brand Blueair, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, for example, has partnered with New Zealand-based Lanaco to launch a range of high-performance electrostatic wool and plant fibre-based air filters for the home.

Lanaco has combined the unique properties of wool with its proprietary data-driven technology to produce filter media with proven efficiency and ultra-low resistance. Its EcoStatic electrostatic filter technology uses positive and negative fibre surface charges to attract and retain particulate matter effectively and the media’s porous structure allows air to easily flow through a purifier. Unlike oil-based plastics or synthetics which the air purifier industry has been built on, EcoStatic filter media is based entirely on wool, which is naturally fire resistant and hydrophobic. So water would not build up and clog it.

“Wool is a renewable resource that is helping change the filtration industry for the better,” says Nick Davenport, CEO of Lanaco. “Our partnership with Blueair is built on our commitment to improving air quality and making a positive impact.”

Bio-Vera

Bioengineered textiles are also emerging for the upholstery sector, such as Bio-Vera from Modern Meadow, based in Nutley, New Jersey, which is designed to provide the same natural feel, texture, colour vibrancy and performance as traditional chrome-tanned leather, with a 90 per cent reduction in impact. 

Bio-Vera is made with over 80 per cent renewable carbon content and crafted using Bio-Alloy, a flexible mix of plant-based proteins and polymers.

In September 2024, Modern Meadow announced it had established the capacity to produce an annual 500,000 square metres per year of its next-gen material which is designed to easily integrate into existing production processes used by industries such as automotive, footwear and furniture, making it a practical leather alternative option for immediate use.

“We are thrilled to support tanneries and brands in their journeys towards adopting transformative, high-performing sustainable materials,” said Modern Meadow CEO David Williamson. “The alternative leather industry has faced challenges in meeting the commercial demands of these sectors, but with our new production capabilities, we are confident in our ability to help our customers achieve their sustainability goals at scale.”

Biodegradation

Bio-engineered synthetic fibres are already having an impact, and fabrics created to incorporate both CiCLO from Intrinsic Advanced Materials/Parkdale Mills, and PrimaLoft Bio from Fiberpartner will be highlighted at Heimtextil 2025.

These two products are additives that can be applied at the fibre extrusion stage to enable the accelerated biodegradation of synthetic fibres.

CiCLO creates countless biodegradable spots in the matrix of the polymer that enables microbes—which naturally exist in certain environments—to break down the materials just like they do with natural fibres. All that remains are natural biogases and biomass.

The mechanism is only activated under conditions that allow for biodegradation, and they will not prematurely deteriorate while in storage or use, just like biodegradable fabrics made from natural fibres like cotton and wool.

Long term studies prove that CiCLO polyester as well as nylon fabrics biodegrade at greatly accelerated rates compared to such fibres without them.

Parkdale Mills has now established a network of over 50 certified fibre and yarn manufacturers to ensure quality assurance and traceability in the supply of CiCLO products.

PrimaLoft Bio has also been specifically designed to biodegrade in landfills and ocean water and according to independent testing, fabrics incorporating it have reached 93.8 per cent biodegradation in 646 days when exposed to an accelerated landfill environment. At the conclusion of the test, the remaining material was found to contain no trace of plastic, leaving behind only natural, carbon-based elements.

Sugarcane

Fiberpartner is also introducing PolyPlant, a new polyester derived from sugarcane, that is said to have all of the widely appreciated qualities of polyester, while not sharing its negative impact on the environment. It is 100 per cent bio-based, non-toxic and safe, recyclable and renewable, and also biodegradable. In addition, its production enables a 75 per cent reduction in carbon footprint compared to the production of virgin PET and it can be engineered to enable moisture-wicking, UV resistance and flame retardancy.

A PolyPlant down for pillows and duvets is already commercially available.

As the global demand for fibres accelerates in the next few years – demand that will only realistically be met through the increased production of synthetics, and primarily polyester – CiCLO, PrimaLoft Bio and PolyPlant represent important new options for the widescale advancement of sustainable new fabrics.

naNea

Another fibre which is finding favour with home textiles manufacturers is naNea from OceanSafe, based in Bern, Switzerland.

This new polymer is already being turned into fibres, filaments and yarns that have all the favourable processing and performance properties of polyester, yet are circular, biodegradable, compostable and toxin-free.

OceanSafe’s naNea fibres and the resulting fabrics made from them are also the first and only textile materials which have achieved the extremely stringent Cradle-to-Cradle Gold Certification for the biological cycle to date – for the entire product supply chains of various manufacturing partners.

These partners already include such established European home textile brands as Betten Reiter, Blue Classics, Dorbena, Manufactum, Moebel Pfister, Neutex, Otto and Stotz Décor.

Circle Textiles

Swedish home textiles manufacturer Almedahls has developed its Circle Textiles range based exclusively on naNea.

CircleEase light weight hanging curtain fabrics are piece dyed for colour uniformity and available in a palette inspired by the elements – sky, water, sand and rock. They are flexible and easy to adapt to most environments both in front of windows and as light room dividers to subtly diffuse the surroundings.

CircleRest is a lightweight, textural, semi-transparent drapery with a refined weave construction, again with a colour range based on contemporary neutrals to complement the most common architectural materials of wood, concrete, glass and stone.

Camaleonda

To impressive effect, naNea has also been employed in the special edition Camaleonda sofa system by Mario Bellini with an ‘S-Wave’ monogram fabric designed by Stella McCartney.

The Camaleonda is the second collaboration between McCartney and the Italian design house. Born as a result of McCartney’s long-time passion for Bellini’s works, it started in 2022 with the Le Bambole armchair. The Camaleonda sofa system was originally designed in 1970 and has made a comeback more than 50 years later.

Naia Renew

Leading home textile brands including Alkaram, Huafang, North Home, Ozanteks Tekstil and WestPoint Home are meanwhile now producing home textiles based on Eastman’s Naia Renew.

The new cellulose acetate staple fibre—which is based on 60 per cent sustainably-sourced wood pulp and 40 per cent certified waste materials—is being employed in soft, quick-drying towels as well as sustainable sheets and duvets.

“Naia Renew is now available at scale and is certified biodegradable and compostable,” says Eastman’s global segment market manager Chad Doub. “It can also be blended with many other fibres.”

Eastman, he explained, is working to transform waste materials that are difficult to recycle, and which would otherwise not have an end-of-life option into biodegradable fibres, through its patented carbon renewal technology (CNR).

This is one of Eastman’s two molecular recycling technologies that break materials down into basic molecular building blocks, assuring end materials are indistinguishable from those made from traditional sources in quality, performance or appearance.

Eastman aims to have 50 per cent of all its own products made with Naia Renew by 2025 and to lower the greenhouse gas footprint of the current Naia portfolio by 40 per cent by 2030.

Eastman is currently investing around $2.25 billion in molecular recycling technologies capable of processing hard-to-recycle textile waste. In addition to producing the cellulose acetate for Naia, these technologies can turn waste into new PET monomers and polymers for fibres and filaments that are said to be indistinguishable from their fossil-fuel based equivalents.

Kvadrat Really

A very famous Danish textile brand for interior design is Kvadrat, which adopts a zero-waste policy across its operations and has now developed a new range of premium-quality engineered materials suitable for interiors called Kvadrat Really, based on upcycled end-of-life textiles.

Kvadrat Really’s Textile Tabletop is a durable circular material designed for all horizontal flat surfaces, crafted from end-of-life cotton and wool. It is 100 per cent recyclable and meets the highest standards for resisting scratches, heat and liquids.

Also made from end-of-life textiles and cut-offs from Kvadrat is Textile Board, a high-density material supplied pre-coated with a melamine surface, making it highly resilient to wear and tear.

Based on a unique bicomponent fibre meanwhile, Textile Felt is an acoustic material ideal for ceilings and wall installations, distinguished by hints of the many recycled textiles used in its creation process with a rich scale of fabric fibres and tones emerging from its subtly structured surface.

“Kvadrat Really is a response to the global issue of waste and specifically textile waste,” says its director Wickie Meier Engström. “We are not creating new textiles here, but upcycling it into premium products. Kvadrat is an established premium brand in a very established market which provides us with unique access to the design and architecture industry and we have a very simple colour selection which enables us to tap into the biggest fraction of the textile waste.”

“What is really exciting about the Really products is not just that they are circular solutions, but that they also hold beauty,” adds Kvadrat CEO Anders Byriel.

Conclusion

The materials mentioned here inevitably represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the new raw materials and intelligent design options being explored by suppliers of home textiles.

As the first textile show of the new year, Heimtextil 2025 will feature the products of over 2,900 exhibitors from 60 countries in a well signposted market overview stretching over 16 halls – from fibres and yarns to consumer end products.

As such, the event provides a unique and early opportunity for visitors to tap into the zeitgeist of where home textiles – and indeed all fibre-based materials – are heading in 2025.