KARL MAYER Launches State-of-the-Art Textile Innovation Centre to Drive Global Industry Advancements
OBERTSHAUSEN, GERMANY - 27 April 2026 – KARL MAYER has announced the successful inauguration of its state-of-the-art Textile Innovation Centre (TIC) following a four-day opening week from 21 to 24 April.
The grand opening event, held at the company's headquarters in Obertshausen, attracted 220 international customers, brand representatives, and partners.
The launch serves as a critical milestone in accelerating sustainable, application-oriented textile development to meet the urgent and evolving demands of the global market.
Spanning 5,000 square metres, the globally unique facility is designed to bridge the gap between initial concepts and full-scale industrialisation.
The facility houses 14 advanced machines, allowing partners to collaborate directly with experts to test ideas and create market-ready, sustainable prototypes.
Karl Josef Mayer, representative of the Karl Mayer family and member of the Supervisory Board, emphasised the company's forward-thinking commitment. “With the opening of our new Textile Innovation Center we want to make a clear statement and send a strong signal to the entire textile industry worldwide that we at KARL MAYER believe in the value of textiles and that we are ready and willing to invest into the future of your business, the future of our industry and especially into all our ‘love for textiles’,” he said.
Lutz Wolf, CEO of KARL MAYER, reinforced this vision, highlighting the necessity of collaborative innovation. “This is a milestone. It is a commitment to our markets as well as to our further strategic development. This TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER is designed as a place where ideas come to life – a place for collaboration, for creativity and for market-relevant solutions. Our goal is simple: To create value together with you through open exchange, fresh thinking, and close cooperation in one shared space,” Wolf noted.
The event also featured a keynote address by Vishnu Prakash Muthusamy, Lead Textile and Material Development Engineer at New Balance Athletics, who showcased impressive shoe innovations made possible by advanced warp knitting technologies.
Visitors were then invited to explore the TIC Showroom, a curated space displaying the latest samples from KARL MAYER’s product development range, concept textiles with real market potential, and trend collections derived straight from market scouting.
The Obertshausen site is part of a larger global network with additional centres in China and Japan.
Together, they pool the expertise of approximately 15 highly qualified specialists in materials, processes, machine technology, and textile applications.
About Karl Mayer
The manufacturer offers perfect solutions for the fields of warp knitting and flat knitting, technical textiles, warp preparation for weaving and digitalisation.
The digital solutions are offered under theKM.ONbrand, the product portfolio for flat knitting under theSTOLLbrand.
To ensure the success of its international customers, KARL MAYER has always been eager to provide its clients with the best economical and technical products and services and to offer innovations which bring fresh impetus to the textile world.
With more than 3,300 employees worldwide, the international organization produces in its main markets, so that KARL MAYER is always close to its customers and their needs.
Today, the company has subsidiaries in the USA, in England, India, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Bangladesh and Switzerland as well as agencies all over the world.
