Heimtex Trends 27/28 - Home-Maxxing: Why the Home Has Become Our Most Demanding Performance Space
What are we craving Ultimately?
The instinct to slow down while simultaneously optimising every measurable aspect of life isn't a passing curiosity. It's a structural response to a world that feels increasingly unstable, and it's reshaping what people expect from their homes, hotels, workplaces and healthcare environments alike.
For the design and manufacturing sectors, this means rethinking both product and process.
We ask more of our homes than ever before. They must recover us from burnout, showcase our discipline, and quietly run the calculations behind our sleep scores - sometimes all before breakfast. This is the paradox at the centre of Heimtextil Trends 27/28, "Home-Maxxing: The Performance of Everyday Living", developed in collaboration with the influential Milan design platform Alcova.
Previewing at Hall 4.2 of Heimtextil 2027 (12–15 January, Frankfurt am Main), this trend forecast doesn't just anticipate colours and materials. It diagnoses a shift in what we expect from the spaces we live in and what our industry must do to keep pace.
The Optimisation of Everything, Including Rest
Something curious has happened to the concept of rest. We track our sleep. We score our recovery. We turn wind-down routines into rituals worth sharing. As Alcova co-founder Joseph Grima observed while previewing the trend, this is "home-maxxing" - a direct extension of internet-native optimisation culture (think "looks-maxxing" or "sleep-maxxing") into the domestic sphere.
The home, once a refuge from performance culture, has become one of its primary stages. Smart mattresses. Connected wellness devices. Energy systems that demand to be monitored, tuned and improved. Grima points to Reyner Banham's 1965 "House as environmental system" essay, in which the architecture critic argued that a home is fundamentally an assemblage of technical systems that keeps its occupants comfortable, rather than a static shelter. What was once a provocation now describes our daily reality. We have normalised living inside a network of devices that quietly measure, adjust and report.
And yet, in the same breath, we crave the opposite. We reach for typewriters, vinyl records and unplugged corners of our homes. We want friction.
Heimtextil Trends 27/28 gives shape to this dual reality through three converging directions: Staged Competence, Inside, Out and Hyper Presence.
Three Directions, One Home
Staged Competence: When Preparedness Becomes Aesthetic
The first trend imports the visual language of outdoor performance gear into the domestic interior. Technical fabrics, micrographics, spec-sheet typography and rugged detailing - elements once reserved for extreme conditions - now upholster our sofas and dress our bedrooms.
This isn't purely aesthetic. As Alcova co-founder Valentina Ciuffi notes, the trend draws directly from "gorpcore" fashion, where people dress for an alpine summit to walk to the bus stop. It reflects, per Alcova designer Alicia's analysis during the trend preview, a "diffused, mild anxiety" running through the culture. Climate volatility. Political instability. Global uncertainty. Owning objects that signal readiness offers a way to metabolise that unease, one technical cushion at a time.
For manufacturers, the message is clear: durability and engineering credentials are no longer back-of-house specifications. They are front-of-house design features.
Colour palettes reinforce this, leaning into cool blues, mineral greens and a jolt of acid yellow that recalls hardware and performance equipment.
Inside, Out: Designing for Transparency
The second direction responds to a world increasingly run by black boxes. As artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure become more opaque, Inside, Out pushes back by exposing what usually hides: wiring, joints, seams, structural skeletons. Objects stop concealing their mechanisms and start narrating them.
This is more than visual novelty. It signals a cultural shift toward trusting what we can see and understand. A chair with a visible zip that unwraps to reveal its frame isn't just interesting to look at—it's making an argument about honesty in design. Products that once concealed their inner workings behind smooth casings should now consider structural transparency as a value proposition, not just a manufacturing shortcut.
The palette here leans deliberately artificial: charcoal and graphite recalling steel and industrial components, cut through with saturated red and soft violet.
Hyper Presence: The Return of the Unmeasurable
The counter-movement to all this optimisation is Hyper Presence, a trend built on what technology cannot replicate: the feel of raw linen, the scent of beeswax as it warms, the way humidity-responsive wood shifts and ages with its user. Alicia's team point to the Sextantio hotel in Matera—a property built into 9,000-year-old caves—where luxury is expressed not through abundance, but through the deliberate absence of clutter and artifice.
This is a meaningful signal for manufacturers navigating sustainability commitments. Recycled and upcycled materials, once treated as compromises, are being re-contextualised as markers of authenticity and care. Ciuffi notes this shift explicitly: attitudes toward the finish and colour variation inherent in recycled materials are evolving, and the industry has an active role in building new aesthetic codes that make regenerated materials feel aspirational rather than "less than." Deep rust, ochre, dusty pink and warm off-white anchor this palette, offering a grounded counterpoint to the cooler tones of the other two directions.
The Real Insight: These Trends Don't Compete, They Cohabit
The most important takeaway from Heimtextil Trends 27/28 isn't any single direction. It's that all three now coexist inside the same home, often the same room. A meditation corner with no plugs might sit beside a smart speaker system built for a rave. A humidity-responsive wooden textile might share a shelf with a device tracking REM cycles. As Ciuffi puts it plainly, homeowners aren't choosing one philosophy and discarding the others. They're living inside the contradiction.
This has real implications for how our industry approaches product development. A single-minded bet on either high-performance technical textiles or raw, unmeasured materiality misreads where consumer demand is actually heading. The opportunity lies in designing for tension, not resolution.
The instinct to slow down while simultaneously optimising every measurable aspect of life isn't a passing curiosity. It's a structural response to a world that feels increasingly unstable, and it's reshaping what people expect from their homes, hotels, workplaces and healthcare environments alike.
For the design and manufacturing sectors, this means rethinking both product and process.
Materials need to perform on two fronts: technically engineered enough to satisfy the demand for staged competence, yet tactile and honest enough to deliver the sensory grounding people are craving. Transparency, once a compliance checkbox, is becoming a design language in its own right. And recycled or regenerated materials must be developed not as apologetic substitutes, but as materials with their own compelling aesthetic identity. Manufacturing methods will need to catch up with this complexity.
What are we craving, ultimately? Not less technology, and not more. We're craving a home that can hold both truths: a space engineered to perform, and a space allowed to simply exist.
Heimtextil Trends 27/28, "Home-Maxxing – The Performance of Everyday Living," will be presented in full at the Trend Space, Hall 4.2, during Heimtextil 2027, running 12–15 January in Frankfurt am Main.
What are we craving Ultimately?
The instinct to slow down while simultaneously optimising every measurable aspect of life isn't a passing curiosity. It's a structural response to a world that feels increasingly unstable, and it's reshaping what people expect from their homes, hotels, workplaces and healthcare environments alike.
For the design and manufacturing sectors, this means rethinking both product and process.
The Structual Shift is Real and its Already Here
Volumes are moving east, where digital production is accelerating rapidly. Consumer behaviour has shifted.
Demand is now driven by personalisation, shorter buying cycles, and an expectation of near-instant responsiveness. Regulatory pressure is intensifying, with supply chain transparency now a legal and commercial fact in many markets. And margins? They are under sustained, structural pressure.
This is not a temporary disruption. It is a fundamental reordering of how textile manufacturing must operate.
The Challenge: Standing Firm as the Industry Shifts
The wallpaper landscape has changed dramatically. Digital printing has lowered the barrier to entry, spawning countless direct-to-consumer brands and pushing much of the market towards faster, cheaper production.
At the same time, manufacturing in the UK has grown steadily harder - rising minimum wage, national insurance, energy and substrate costs all bear down on margins. Surface Print have embraced all of these challenges - and stand resolutely prepared for the future.
From Helsinki's printing mill to Paris's Le Marais, discover how Marimekko is scaling a design-led brand with purpose, craft, and bold innovation.
But what makes Marimekko's story compelling is not just its aesthetic legacy?
The word "toxic" carries weight. It conjures danger, harm, and things best avoided.
“Yet in the textile industry - Where between 3,000 and 10,000 chemicals move through the supply chain, a reflexive fear of the term is one of our biggest obstacles to progress.”
This article distils the key takeaways and what buyers, designers, and brands should be asking right now.
What Is the Digital Product Passport?
At its core, a Digital Product Passport is a digital record attached to a physical product - For a printed textile product, this means the DPP would capture data on the substrate, inks and dyes used, the printing process and technology, chemical compliance, environmental impact (including water and energy use), supply chain traceability, and end-of-life instructions.
The Market Gap that Changed Everything
Future Fashion was founded in 2019, timed deliberately to coincide with a pivotal moment in global textile technology: the commercial launch of the EFI Reggiani BOLT Single-Pass digital printing system.
The founders recognised that single-pass architecture had fundamentally changed what was industrially possible - and that Pakistan's domestic market had yet to catch up.
Print is no longer defined by the inefficiencies that once characterised it…as advances in production processes and technology have significantly improved its environmental performance.
Taran Rai, Corporate Sustainability Manager at Epson explains why?
The story of what happens when young designers access digital technology is still being written.
What once was a theoretical sustainability goal seems to have shifted into an active regulatory reality.
Is the Textile Market Finally Recovering?
After a difficult few years, there are genuine reasons for optimism. Duncan was candid about the challenges: "The market for textiles has been very difficult over the last three years. I'm not going to hide the truth there. But the tide is turning.“
A profound shift is currently reshaping the sector
Changing consumer expectations demand greater design diversity, faster turnaround times, and sustainable manufacturing practices.
To thrive, interior brands must adapt their supply chains, bringing production closer to the end consumer and moving away from bulk manufacturing.
Digital textile printing offers a definitive solution to these operational bottlenecks.
Digital transformation doesn't announce itself.
It accumulates - one innovation at a time - until an entire industry looks back and realises the ground has shifted beneath its feet. That's precisely where textiles stands today.
The conversations happening now about AI, automation, sustainability, and digital product passports are not theoretical. They are shaping decisions being made on factory floors and in boardrooms right now.
“By leveraging advanced digital textile printing, Marylene Madou has successfully merged traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. Her approach offers a blueprint for how independent designers can scale their brands globally while maintaining a minimal environmental footprint.”
The textile industry is undergoing a vital transformation. As the insights from Techtextil and Texprocess reveal, the path forward relies on a combination of sustainable hardware, intelligent chemistry, and seamless digital workflows.
From Zimmer's industrial-scale energy reductions and Stratasys's on-demand 3D embellishments, to Kornit's single-step technical printing and the unified digital ecosystems of NedGraphics and Optitex, the tools for change are here. To stay competitive, brands and manufacturers must adopt these innovations, moving away from fragmented, wasteful processes towards a truly connected, circular economy.
Friedmans stands as a testament to the power of combining traditional textile knowledge with forward-thinking innovation.
“Operating from their UK headquarters, Friedmans now serves a diverse array of sectors, including swimwear, dance, entertainment, sportswear, interior decor, prosthetics, and even pet apparel. With a strategic supply chain that reliably serves clients worldwide”
The apparel decoration industry is decisively moving away from isolated, analogue production tools toward connected digital manufacturing environments.
"Kornit’s unwavering commitment to transformative technology continues to disrupt the status quo. For business leaders and innovators ready to capture the future of apparel manufacturing, the path forward is clear”
The Urgent Need for Sustainability at Scale
The transformation at Coats provides a vital blueprint for the wider textile and apparel sector. True sustainability cannot be achieved in silos. As Dearing emphasised:
“Cross-industry collaboration is the engine of meaningful change. Brands, machinery suppliers, chemical providers, and fibre producers must act as an interconnected ecosystem”
Today’s customers demand superior product quality, real-time data visibility, and lightning-fast turnaround times.
For large-scale garment decorators, managing these expectations while balancing seasonal demand fluctuations - such as the massive surges seen during Black Friday - presents a monumental challenge.
"Relying on transactional vendor relationships and outdated legacy equipment is no longer sufficient to secure long-term stability and growth.”
Printing method is never a secondary detail. It shapes the entire life cycle of a product, from concept to customer. In today’s fashion industry, where margins are tighter and speed matters more than ever, technical knowledge has become a competitive advantage.
“The future of textile design belongs to professionals who can combine creativity with execution, aesthetics with practicality, and vision with production reality”.
Are we witnessing the reinvention of Merch driven by adaptive, digital technologies?
The commercial opportunity presented by printed, personalised merchandise is already a lucrative revenue stream; it is the core driver of growth in a multi-billion-pound industry. And the mandate for print businesses is clear: automate, adapt, and offer undeniable added value, or choose to gradually lose market share.
Powderless DTF is an important area of innovation. It deserves research, investment, and thoughtful development.
“But at its current stage, it often feels like the industry is attempting to commercialize the concept ahead of the underlying chemistry and system readiness”.
Telford – UK – September 2026 – The Dlican DLI-360s from China print Supplies has probed to be an excellent investment for Promo Trade Print where it will be helping them meet the demand for personalised drinkware!
At The Print Show. from 29th September – 1 October 2026, CMYUK will launch its new Sign & Graphics Materials portfolio, bringing together a practical, commercially focused range of substrates for everyday display graphics, signage, décor and specialist print applications.
The new collection has been developed with a clear objective: to give customers a focused, reliable range of materials that covers their everyday application requirements, while removing unnecessary complexity from the product portfolio
Emmerich am Rhein, Nordrhein-Westfalen – September 2026 – Brother Industrial EMEA has announced that its DTRX direct-to-film (DTF) roll-to-roll printer will be demonstrated live at a special Textile Edition Open House, hosted by trusted dealer Vemar.
The event will take place on 25–26 September at Vemar's showroom in Paterno, Italy, giving visitors the chance to see the technology perform first-hand.
Crewe = Cheshire – UK – September 2026 Three new UV flatbed printers with updated automation and productivity capabilities, all equipped with next generation RasterLink workflow and RIP software will launch on the Hybrid stand at The Print Show
Mimaki has announced the introduction of three new UV flatbed printers: the large-format JFX220-2515, and the small-format UJF200 Series (UJF200-3042 and UJF200-6042).
Developed to make advanced UV printing easier to operate and more accessible to print service providers, the new products combine simplified workflows and increased automation to support more efficient, productive print operations.
Braintree, Essex – 2 September 2026 – Venture Banners, a leading UK trade-only large-format print supplier, will highlight its expanding textile signage range, including its newest solutions, at The Print Show 2026, taking place from 29 September to 1 October at the NEC, Birmingham.
Frankfurt am Main, 7 September 2026 – Heimtextil has unveiled its Trends 27/28 forecast, titled 'Home-Maxxing – The Performance of Everyday Living', developed in collaboration with Milan-based design platform Alcova.
The forecast examines how efficiency-driven thinking and technology are reshaping the design of interior spaces and textiles across residential, hospitality, workplace and healthcare environments.
Leicester UK – September 2026 – Vivid Laminating Technologies Ltd has announced the delivery of its latest Veloblade Nexus cutting system this week, produced for Krit Patel and Printvision (UK) Ltd.
The milestone marks another significant step forward in the company's mission to lead the print finishing industry with precision engineering and innovative technology.
The Veloblade Nexus represents one of Vivid Laminating Technologies' most advanced digital cutting solutions to date.
MUTOH has announced that its XpertJet 661UF UV-LED flatbed printer has been named a 2026 Pinnacle Product Award winner, recognising the device's capacity to bring professional-grade UV-LED printing to businesses of all sizes.
The compact printer enables users to print directly onto objects up to 5.91 inches thick across a 19 × 23-inch print area, all within a footprint small enough to fit in the corner of a shop.
Accrington, UK, September 7, 2026: Soyang Europe will showcase three core products from the Platinum Technologies LIYU range on its stand at The Sign Show 2026.
Following its debut in 2025, The Sign Show will return to NEC Birmingham this autumn, once again co-located with established print industry exhibition The Print Show.
This year, the two events will run from 29 September to 1 October, with thousands of visitors expected across the shows.
Soyang, which exhibited at several previous editions of The Print Show, will take the largest stand in The Sign Show section of the hall, with a focus on its new distribution partnership with Platinum Technologies LIYU
Amsterdam, Netherlands – September 2026 – Dutch fashion designer Tess van Zalinge and Epson Europe have unveiled a limited-edition scarf collection to mark the tenth anniversary of the Tess van Zalinge label.
The collaboration demonstrates the creative and environmental possibilities of digital textile printing, while giving new life to archive designs spanning a decade of the label's history.
The collection revisits three archive prints selected by Van Zalinge from collections created over the past ten years
Dorking – UK – September 7th 2026 – FESPA has announced that entries are now open for the FESPA Awards 2027, the print and signage industry's longest-standing and only independent awards programme.
To encourage early participation, FESPA is offering a 50 per cent early bird discount on all entries submitted by 7 September 2026.
Entrants who secure the reduced rate will have until 2 December 2026 to finalise and refine their submissions, giving businesses ample time to present their work at its best.
Pointcarre, a leading provider of AI-powered textile CAD software, has highlighted its new AI-driven image upscaling feature designed to help textile designers restore and enlarge low-resolution pattern files without compromising design integrity.
The new capability addresses one of the most persistent challenges in the textile industry: working with legacy or low-quality design assets.
Klagenfurt, Austria – September 2, 2026 – J. Zimmer Maschinenbau GmbH Klagenfurt and J. Zimmer Maschinenbau GmbH Kufstein | Digital Printing Systems have announced the launch of "Zimmer 2028", a strategic transformation initiative that will unite the two operating companies into a single, unified organisation effective January 1st, 2028.
The initiative represents a decisive response to evolving market demands and increasing economic pressures facing the industrial printing and textile machinery sector.
Birmingham, UK – September 2026 – Epson UK & Ireland will be exhibiting at The Print Show 2026, taking place at the NEC Birmingham from 29 September to 1 October 2026.
Visitors can find Epson at Stand S130, where the company will present live demonstrations of its latest professional printing technologies across UV, Direct-to-Garment (DTG), Direct-to-Film (DTF), and flatbed printing.
Aarhus, DK & Milwaukee, WI — September 2, 2026 — FASTSEWN will showcase the next generation of its flatbed automated textile finishing at PRINTING United 2026 with the U.S. debut demonstration of its innovative full 3.3M width StitchNCut™ flatbed sewing and laser cutting solution.
This solution is designed specifically for high-volume production of Silicone Edge Graphics (SEG), pillowcase graphics, and other grand-format and industrial textile applications.
The centerpiece of the launch will be live remote demonstrations from FASTSEWN’s headquarters, where attendees will see the company’s full-size StitchNCut 3.3-meter automated flatbed sewing and laser cutting system producing finished SEG graphics and pillow graphics under real market-based production conditions.
Newtown PA – 11 August 2026 – Hybrid Software will showcase the technologies shaping the future of print production at PRINTING United Expo 2026. At booth C1371, visitors will see how artificial intelligence, GPU-native rendering, workflow automation and advanced colour management are improving productivity, quality and efficiency across print production.
Demonstrations will span the Hybrid Software Group portfolio, including Labels & Packaging, Brandz, Helix, Color, Xitron and Meteor Inkjet.
For sticker businesses, moving from offline to online sales is more than simply adding a new sales channel.
It requires a well-structured process that makes product discovery, customization, ordering, and fulfillment as seamless as possible for the customer.
According to Wacław Mostowski, CRO & Co-founder of Antigro Designer, when implemented effectively, online sales can expand market reach, improve operational efficiency, and create new opportunities for scalable growth.
A strong e-commerce presence allows print businesses to reach customers beyond their local market while creating a more accessible and convenient buying experience.
Crewe , United Kingdom – September 2026 – Hybrid Services Ltd, the exclusive distributor of Mimaki technology across the UK and Ireland, has confirmed that its dedicated Mimaki showroom remains open to visitors five days a week following the successful conclusion of its recent Demo Weeks event.
The Demo Weeks programme welcomed a wide range of visitors to the showroom, giving attendees the opportunity to explore the latest print technology, discover new ideas and advance their Mimaki journey.
With the event now complete, Hybrid Services is reminding those who were unable to attend that the showroom continues to operate on an ongoing basis.
Open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, the Mimaki showroom houses an extensive range of technology spanning sign and graphics, industrial printing, textile and apparel, and 3D printing.
Hamamatsu, Japan – 2 September 2026 – Roland DG Corporation, the world's leading provider of wide-format digital printing solutions, today announced the launch of the TrueVis AG-640, a next-generation 64-inch latex printer/cutter that expands what's possible with latex printing.
Combining low running costs, high output quality, expanded colours, dense white ink, and integrated contour cutting, the AG-640 helps print professionals move beyond traditional latex limits to take on more profitable work with confidence
Leicester – UK – September 2nd 2026 - VeriVide have launched UltraView60, a new, compact, cost-effective colour assessment cabinet that expands the existing UltraView product range and makes its tuneable LED technology accessible to more organisations.
Developed as a lower cost entry into the UltraView range, UltraView60 gives businesses, who have limited space available, the opportunity to benefit from the features and colour assessment capabilities in VeriVide’s UltraView technology.
Anglesey – September 2026 – Nova Chrome UK, one of the UK's longest-standing suppliers of dye sublimation printing solutions, has announced it will exhibit at The Print Show, taking place at NEC Birmingham.
Visitors can find the company at Stand P240, Hall 1, where its specialists will showcase the latest sublimation products and equipment.
Telford, UK – September 2026 – China Print Supplies UK Ltd invites businesses considering an investment in new print equipment to experience a range of machines in action at its showroom, where prospective buyers can assess print quality, ask questions, and test their own materials before committing to a purchase.
As demand for high-quality, versatile printing solutions continues to grow, seeing equipment perform under real conditions has become an increasingly valuable step in the buying process.
China Print Supplies is addressing this need by offering hands-on access to a selection of its latest demonstration machines, allowing customers to make informed decisions with confidence.
Clay Cross – August 2026 – Resolute DTF has announced it will take a prominent stand at The Print Show 2026, held at the NEC Birmingham from Tuesday, 29 September 2026.
The company will also maintain a presence at The Sign Show, which is co-locating with the event, marking a significant dual appearance for the brand at one of the UK's most anticipated print industry exhibitions
Comun Nuovo, Lombardy – September , 2026 – EFI has announced its EFI Reggiani pigment printing solutions, a suite of integrated digital technologies designed to help textile producers achieve faster turnaround, greater flexibility, and more sustainable production.
The announcement responds to mounting industry pressure for cleaner, more efficient manufacturing without compromising on quality or profitability.
Las Vegas, NV – August 2026 – Agfa will return to PRINTING United Expo 2026, one of the printing industry's most important events, to connect with print professionals from across North America and beyond.
The company will exhibit at Booths 1149 and 1161 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre from 23–25 September 2026.
At the show, Agfa will demonstrate how its latest inkjet solutions help businesses increase productivity, expand application possibilities, and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving print market.
Geretsried, Bavaria, August 2026 – Rudolf has introduced RUCO®-THERM PCM BIO MFT, a bio-based textile finishing technology that brings intelligent thermoregulation to functional apparel, helping hikers stay comfortable as temperatures rise and fall on the trail.
London, UK – August 2026 – The Royal College of Art (RCA) has announced the launch of the fourth RCA x Design for Good Academy, an ambitious live online short course that, for the first time, will open its places to the public alongside Design for Good alliance members and RCA students.
The programme begins in October 2026 and runs until March 2027.
Las Vegas, NV – August 2026 – Sun Chemical today announced its participation in PRINTING United Expo 2026, taking place 23-25 September 2026 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre.
Visitors are invited to booth C2880, where the company will present its latest advances in digital ink, textile, industrial, and sustainability-focused printing solutions designed to help printers transform their businesses.
At the heart of Sun Chemical's presence is a commitment to helping customers improve print quality, enhance sustainability, and optimise productivity.
Peterborough – August 2026 – The addition of embroidery to Snuggle Ltd’s in-house embellishment services, united DTF, DTG, Sublimation, UV and embroidery under a single roof at its UK headquarters.
The move positioned the company as one of the most comprehensive garment decoration operations in the industry.
The decision to invest in embroidery was driven directly by customer demand.