Performance Days Munich remains a 'must' for functional textiles

Performance Days in Munich has once again shown why it is one of the most important meeting points for the international functional textiles industry. The public transport strike in the Bavarian capital did nothing to change this.

“The trade fair is well attended,” said Eva Doll, brand strategy manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Swedish textile supplier Polygiene, on the first day of the event. This impression was shared by numerous other exhibitors. It was also confirmed by a look around the two exhibition halls, which were consistently busy on both days.

The quality of the visitors was also highlighted across the industry. Numerous relevant decision-makers from the industry met to learn about new materials and developments for the spring/summer 2028 season. The brands mentioned included Adidas, Bogner, Peak Performance and Black Yak.

Recycling: the process must be managed

Sustainability remained the focus of the industry and the trade fair, partly because new legal regulations will come into force in the coming months to which the industry must respond. The last event in autumn 2025 focused on textile-to-textile recycling. This time, it was dedicated to the key topic of “Textile to Textile – The Role of Collectors and Sorters”.

Exhibitors such as Turns presented circular solutions, like the tea towel for the drugstore chain DM made from post-consumer textiles, or the new textile collection with Höffe Textil from Berlin, which consists of recycled fibres. The Turkish textile company Kipas, with its subsidiary fibR-e, has commissioned what it claims is the world's largest plant for the chemical recycling of mono-polyester and blended fabrics with at least 70 percent polyester content this year. “We can produce 200 tonnes of yarn per day,” explained Halit Gümüşer, managing director of Kipas Holding.

The trade fair's Eco Award was therefore also won by a fabric from BioCulus and Reo-Eco, which was produced from post-consumer polyester using an enzymatic recycling technology. Unlike before, the company works with a mild version of enzymatic depolymerisation, where no aggressive chemicals are required, yet high-purity polyester building blocks can still be obtained.

It was not just about the technical infrastructure that needs to be built and recyclable components. “Processes must also be developed, along with clothing that can be recycled tomorrow,” said Matthew Betcher, creative and marketing director at US down supplier Allied Feather + Down. The company has worked with activewear brand Peak Performance and other partners on the material separation of down jackets. Until now, it has been extremely labour-intensive to recover the down from down jackets. The separation process is also mainly carried out by shredding, which affects the quality of the down and textiles. With the help of yarn specialist Resortecs, Peak used a soluble yarn that makes separating the materials much easier and preserves their quality.

Standardisation processes for higher margins and more sustainability

Particularly in times of multiple crises, the topic of sustainability was also discussed under the premise of cost reduction. The Chinese fabric supplier Flytec, for example, is focusing on standardising processes by defining core yarns that suit most brands and are therefore cheaper. “This allows for more efficient production; we have less waste; and the brands receive high quality, faster development cycles and higher margins,” said Karrine Fang of Flytec.

This can solve the problem of quality often being sacrificed when prices rise. With the iWarm heating function from Flytec, which can be integrated into textiles, Fang is thinking along very similar lines: “If I can heat the clothes, I don't need to heat the rooms and may not even need clothes for so many different seasons anymore.”

Fleece specialist Polartec and outdoor brand Haglöfs have also thought about standardisation, but in the dyeing of textiles. During a joint material test, they identified more than 20 visually almost indistinguishable black variants that are actively used in Polartec's best-selling original fleece series. Each of these required its own dyeing process with corresponding production quantities and resources, even though they look almost identical.

“By standardising something as fundamental as black, we can reduce unnecessary production steps and use shared resources more efficiently,” said Ramesh Kesh, senior vice president at Milliken & Company and business manager at Polartec. “Standard Issue Black is deliberately designed to be open to the entire industry. Our goal is to initiate a broader movement towards common standards in colour development and production.”

Technical innovations for more function

The sports industry would not be the sports industry if it were not also about technical innovations – especially solutions that improve functionality, for example in the areas of lightness, breathability and moisture wicking.

The Lycra Company, for example, celebrated the global premiere of the new Coolmax CloakFX fibre at Performance Days. This innovation minimises visible sweat patches and is intended for brands, weaving mills, fabric and clothing manufacturers that produce performance-oriented activewear, workwear and everyday clothing. The technology scatters light at fibre level using an optical “masking” that reduces the visual appearance of moisture, helping to make sweat patches less visible. The function is retained even after several wash cycles.

The Swiss textile supplier Livinguard presented a technology that not only protects textiles from unpleasant odours but also “reduces fibre fragmentation by up to 80 percent,” said Christina Fürst, global head of marketing at Livinguard.

The start-up SA-Dynamics from Aachen also had a real innovation in its portfolio. The spin-off from RWTH Aachen University has developed a fleece from cellulose aerogel that has already been tested with Adidas. Aerogel is the name given to materials that consist of a particularly high proportion of air and are therefore particularly light and insulating. The highly porous cellulose aerogel from SA-Dynamics consists of 70 percent air.

“We are the first to be able to produce a fibre as an aerogel,” explained CEO Sascha Schriever. In contrast to other aerogel solutions, the aerogel does not have to be specially integrated into fibres here, which is much more complex and expensive. The technology is also suitable for other fibres such as polyester or aramid. The company is currently looking for investors to build the first pilot plant.

Wool as a functional natural fibre in focus

Natural fibres were also in the spotlight. Wool, for example. The natural functional fibre has long been popular in the outdoor industry but is suffering from rising prices. “Many farmers are giving up and prefer to sell their land at a high price rather than continue breeding sheep,” said Steve Weinstein from the wool supplier Engraw from Uruguay. The company is one of the very few in the global wool market that works directly with its farmers; is RWS and GOTS certified; and whose energy requirements are met by 98 percent renewable sources.

Wool itself has excellent properties that can be developed even further. For example, through the integration of bioceramic yarns that reflect far-infrared waves, thus storing body heat and improving blood circulation, for example from the Südwolle Group with Tecnofilati. Meanwhile, fire-resistant wool with thermoregulating properties was presented at Woolmark.

The Innovation Award was also related to wool and went to the knitting specialist Wu Luen Knitting. With its new warp-knit technology NeoWarp, the manufacturer is breaking through conventional limitations in knitting with wool. The high-density warp structure improves the stability and durability of the fabric.

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