AlexanderWärmel is project manager at the trade fair organizer Muveo GmbH for the international trade fair for sustainable textiles Innatex, which takes place from July 29th to 31st in the Rhein-Main-Messecenter.

After the period of pandemic-related restrictions, the return to normal trade fair business is to be celebrated together with the twenty-fifth anniversary.

As part of the projects for the fiftieth edition,Wärmel and his team have planned a community area with rounds of talks and a reinterpretation of the fashion show, as well as outdoor activities with a festival character. 

Patricia Andreae

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Mr.Wärmel, everyone is talking about green fashion and sustainability in the textile industry at the moment. Starting today, Friday, you are celebrating your anniversary with the 50th Innatex trade fair, which has always been about exactly that.

How did that happen?

The idea came about at the Biofach trade fair.

There were almost a dozen exhibitors from the textile sector who wanted to get out of the niche of the fair for organic products of all kinds.

My predecessor Heike Hess had a lot of conversations at the time, found like-minded people, and so we, as Muveo GmbH, were able to organize the first Ökotex trade fair in Hofheim-Wallau in 1997 with around 50 to 60 exhibitors.

Over time, this turned into Innatex, an international order meeting point for natural textiles.

What has changed over the past 25 years?

Well, in the beginning sustainable fashion was still a niche market and we were partly smiled at.

However, developments on the market have proved us right.

While at that time fashion could not offer a wide range of colors because, for example, heavy metals were deliberately avoided, today a greater variety is possible.

Colorful things can now be dyed lightfast and brilliant without using them.

Because a lot of technology has advanced, more fashion variety is possible.

There are also new materials.

Who are the exhibitors?

Most of the exhibitors are manufacturers, but there are also trade representatives.

This is also the basis of Muveo, which is a subsidiary of the trade association founded in 1962 and also organizes order fairs such as the Gardiente for garden furniture in the Rhein-Main exhibition center.

A number of Innatex exhibitors offer traditional products that require special expertise and ancient techniques.

Linen, for example, has always been part of it and is now very popular again.

There are also young labels and brands that complement the “classics” with new materials, colors and cuts.

There is also a lively exchange between the exhibitors, one of the special features of Innatex.

And the customers?

The customers at Innatex are shops that value a sustainable range.

These are still world shops, for example.

The majority, however, comes from the fashion retail trade: concept stores specializing in sustainability or the classic retail trade that wants to set a special focus, as well as larger trading houses.

There are also online stores.

In addition to women's and men's clothing, Innatex also offers a baby and children's range as well as shoes, bags and accessories.

Larger companies are also among the interested parties.

Hess Natur, for example, has been with us from the start.