Innovations, highlights, and trends for the upcoming Fall/Winter 2025-26 season will be presented from now on not only in Hall A5, but also in Hall A6. In addition to the dedicated footwear area, the Innovation Forum, the Trend Forum, and the Sustainability Lounge will not only shine in new splendour, but also showcase the latest and most exciting features, event producer Design & Development GmbH Textile Consult said in a press release.

The programme will be rounded off with a ‘Duke Gin & Tonic Bar’ and its accompanying food truck, the Outdoor Innovator Spotlight by Utah State University Area with its own exhibition ‘History of Membranes and Waterproof materials from the archive’, the familiar Expert Talks, as well as SAZsport’s Sustain and Innovate sustainability conference.

“To date, more than 380 exhibitors have already been accredited for the upcoming Performance Days in Munich. In October, we will be placing particular focus on the new Footwear Area, which is the reason we have had to expand the exhibition area to almost two halls. The industry is currently in a state of transition. Never before have topics related to technical innovations and new approaches in the field of membranes focusing on sustainable aspects been so essential and exciting. Visitors can look forward to a number of groundbreaking innovations and new developments,” said trade fair boss Marco Weichert.

The event will no longer focus explicitly on sustainable functional textiles and accessories but is now setting its sights on the footwear market for a first time. From this winter fair onwards, suppliers of textiles and footwear will finally be able to meet up with decision-makers from international brands to present their solutions and build lasting relationships. Nina Conrad and Rucky Zambrano, two renowned industry specialists, have dedicated themselves to this topic by creating not only a footwear exhibition area, but also integrating a Footwear Forum into the fair.

In order to do even more justice to the innovative character of Performance Days in the future, the fair has decided to provide visitors and exhibitors with a separate Innovation Forum in addition to the Performance Forum, which will now be known as the Trend Forum. As usual, the Trend Forum will provide visitors with an inspiring and insider overview of materials, trends, and innovations from exhibitors. This year’s (Eco) Performance Award will also be presented within this framework. Furthermore, the new Innovation Forum will focus explicitly on never-before-seen, groundbreaking innovations and revolutionary products.

With its own Sustainability Lounge, Performance Days offers the ideal setting for industry networking. The Lounge is intended to encourage exchange and discussion and to serve as an information platform. The focus is on developments, news, highlights, innovative projects, and innovation related to sustainability issues.

The Expert Talks platform is a popular highlight each year. Performance Days will once again provide an exciting programme to choose from during the winter trade show. These include, as usual, Fabric Talk with Alexa Dehmel, the Trend Talk with Nora Kuhner, as well as stimulating discussion rounds and lectures from experts. In addition to the Expert Talks, which take place on the first day of the fair (4.10.23), the Sustain & Innovate conference by SAZsport, which is scheduled for the second day of the fair (5.10.23), will focus on topics related to this year’s main theme—'Revolution and Evolution from the Carbon Story to Membranes’.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)