ITMF annual conference to be held in Switzerland from September 18

After three years, the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) annual conference will be back as an in-person event which will be held from September 18-20, 2022, in Davos, Switzerland. Industry experts from several companies and organisations will share their expertise and vision and will engage in discussions at the ITMF conference.

ITMF has announced that both Swiss Textiles and Swiss Textile Machinery are co-hosts of this year’s conference. The theme of this year’s conference is 'Climate Change and a Sustainable Global Textile Value Chain'. The conference will provide an ideal platform to exchange best- practices and demonstrate successful cooperation models, the organisers said in a press release.

Dr David Bosshart, who is a renowned philosopher, futurist, retail & consumer analyst with in-depth knowledge about consumer behaviour and the retail industry, will deliver a keynote-address with the title “Between cheap, aspirational, and sustainable – textile manufacturing in a fully disruptive and interconnected world”.

Next to speakers with a long history in the fibre, chemical, textile machinery, textile, garment, and home textile industry, the organisers have also invited up to six start-up companies to share their innovations and business models. Engaging with start-ups is an effort to learn from each other and to help identify new solutions that turn challenges into opportunities.

For the first time, ITMF will recognise persons/companies for their outstanding achievements with the newly introduced ITMF Awards. In 2022, the ITMF Awards will be granted in two categories, namely “Innovation & Sustainability” and “International Cooperation”.

The format of the World Café, which was introduced for the first time in 2019 in Porto, Portugal, will provide delegates with the opportunity to discuss actively in smaller groups selected questions about how to navigate the current and future business environment. The results of the different groups will be shared among the participants at the end of World Café with some main takeaways.