12 minute read
The perfect combination of tradition and innovation
Vorarlberg is a global hotspot for the development and production of fine fabrics and smart textiles.
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The textile industry may have lost its position as a leading sector over the last few decades – machinery construction has been occupying the top spot with a 50 percent share – but the production of fabrics, ribbons and lace is still essential to Vorarlberg as a business location. This ranges from traditional products and increasingly towards smart textiles as a key technology. The textile industry realised a long time ago that the future can be found in the combination of fabrics and electronics.
The trailblazers of this new line of business were a few embroidery companies that set up the “Smart Textile Platform” twelve years ago; by now, up to 50 businesses and research institute from Austria and abroad have joined forces.
Innovative key technology
“This commitment has led to several technology corporations such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft becoming customers of textile companies from Vorarlberg. Research and development has also increased. A textile competence centre has been set up in Dornbirn, for example, and the Research Institute of Textile Chemistry and Physics added a second professorship with the focus on textile composite materials and technical textiles,” explains Andreas Staudacher from the Vorarlberg Economic Chamber.
The type of products that are being researched ranges from sensor chairs and battery storage technology to lightweight carbon composite materials and textile concrete.
The Smart Textile Platform has already developed a number of market-ready products with sensors from Vorarlberg such as the WISBI mattress protector that detects wetness and movement, the smart insoles by Stapp One or the QUS sensor sports short by SanSirro.
Smart textiles and technical fabrics ...
By now, about 50 percent of the added value of the Vorarlberg textile industry is made up of technical fibres – a success story that wants to be continued. The Textile Competence Centre Vorarlberg 2 (TCCV2) is set to open in April 2021. In addition to the Republic of Austria and the Province of Vorarlberg, the partners involved include businesses from Vorarlberg and other provinces, foreign businesses from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Great Britain as well as scientific research
Photo: Jens-Ellensohn
Technical fabrics make up about half of Vorarlberg’s textile production.
bodies. Governor Markus Wallner sees the cooperation with research-oriented foreign partners and the corresponding internationalisation as a major step towards having the competence centre recognised as a textile Comet Centre (K1) in the long run. Competence Centres for Excellent Technologies (COMET) is a central funding programme of the Austrian technology policy. 5.1 million euros across the initial project duration from 2021 to 2025 have been allocated for the Textile Competence Centre Vorarlberg 2; half the amount comes from the participating businesses.
The TCCCV2 projects will focus on sustainability, in particular degradable fibres for geotechnical textiles, sportswear and work wear, hygiene, medical applications and energy saving technology.
… is gaining in importance
Technical textiles are playing an increasingly important role at Getzner and the business division includes fabrics for various uses such as industrial applications, protective wear for emergency personnel, outdoor fashion, sports equipment, sun protection and acoustic textiles. Over the last few years, the company made extensive investments into knowhow, infrastructure and resources under the umbrella brand Getzner Technics. In addition to the headquarters in Bludenz, Bayreuth in Germany with the two subsidiaries SR Webatex and Blaha Textilveredelung has become an important location in this field.
About 15 percent of turnover – which amounted to 375 million euros in 2018 – is generated by technical textiles. The business unit Mobility with fabrics for seat covers for buses, railways and cars generates the same amount of turnover. The business unit Shirting is relatively small with five percent of turnover but it serves major fashion brands such as Hugo Boss, Ted Baker, Walbusch, Olymp and Tiger of Sweden as well as numerous corporate fashion companies that trust the quality and look of the premium fabrics for shirts and blouses. Getzner has also extended its Eco Soft product range to follow the trend of more ecology in fashion. The sustainably manufactured organic cotton-based product collection now also offers the complete spectrum of possibilities offered by its other collections. Besides plain-coloured fabrics, the Eco Soft collection now also includes checked, textured, multicoloured and dobby weave versions.
“With the numerous different versions, we are making a host of new possibilities for designing attractive and at the same time more sustainable fabrics available to designers,” says Gerhard Leitner, head of the Getzner Textil Shirting business unit. The new finishes developed by Getzner make it possible to manufacture the organic cotton-based products without the use of synthetic resin, formaldehyde and silicones, yet they are still of the same usual high quality – as evidenced by the laboratory values. “The designers and the customers can enjoy a beautiful and sensitively manufactured product that also meets high quality standards. This level of sustainability is only available from Getzner,” says Gerhard Leitner. Sustainability and environmental protection are deeply ingrained in Getzner’s corporate culture. In fact, this can be said about Vorarlberg’s textile industry in general. “Our staff is working hard every day to improve our environmental performance across all our sites. We are therefore delighted that our customers and partners pay more and more attention to sustainability and our environment,” says Roland Comploj, CEO of Getzner. “It is hard to tell how this mind shift will eventually affect the markets considering the current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic. But we are confident that our know-how and our high-quality goods from sustainable production will also be in high demand in the future.”
Photo: Marcel-Hagen-Studio The “Boubou”, a fine outfit from shiny jacquard, is considered a status symbol in Western Africa.
Highly export-oriented
Getzner’s most important sales market with a share of about 70 percent is the fashion industry in Western Africa. This success story emerged from a veritable crisis.
“In 1976 we saw a drop in demand for jacquard fabrics due to a rise in prints and general market changes. Back then, our company was making foremost bedding and fashion fabrics and we suffered greatly from this development,” Comploj recounts. “So, one of our staff – who is today the head of our business unit Africa – travelled to Africa in search of new sales markets. He discovered a huge demand in jacquard fabrics there and sold about two million metres within the shortest amount of time. The rest is history.” And now a new chapter is being written.
At the end of 2018, Getzner opened a showroom for its extensive Africa Collection in Lustenau. It was met with great interest and brought additional income to the business unit Africa.
This new sales channel reaches foremost customers who only need relatively small amounts of fabrics. This includes small designers from Africa but also from Europe and the United States.
Flying high for more than 150 years
Africa, in particular Nigeria, is also an important sales market for embroidery companies from Vorarlberg who have not forgotten their roots in fashion despite all the research of high-tech applications in various smart textile projects.
The art of making lace in Vorarlberg dates back to the year 1869 and did not only influence the region’s economy significantly, but also – and this is quite remarkable – the clothing style in a faraway region.
Photo: Udo Mittelberger
Getzner saw the potential of embroidered electronics early on.
Photo: Ze Takahashi Catwalkpictures Photo: Hoferhecht Photo: Hoferhecht
“Today’s clothing styles that are considered traditional in Nigeria have only been around since the 1960s. Before, there were hardly any embroideries in Nigeria,” Staudacher says. When the country was a British colony, Nigerians used to wear European clothing for festive occasions, showing their education, urbanity and Christian faith.
Trendsetters for the African upper class…
When the Nigerian independence movement started at the end of the 1930s, local traditions received more attention. And when independence was ultimately gained in 1960, local clothing style were in fashion – some of them re-interpreted or even made up from scratch. The products of lace manufacturers from Vorarlberg, who were looking for export markets at the time, met the taste of Nigerians due to their lightness but also their colourfulness and their opulence. The Aso Ebi tradition in particular contributed massively to the distribution, marketing and use of embroideries in Nigeria. Aso Ebi is a family clothing worn by large groups at social events. Often, up to several hundred people will wear the same outfit, which has been made from customised fabrics.
“One recipe for success for the companies from Vorarlberg was that they sent representatives straight to Lagos to create personal ties with dealers in Nigeria instead of relying on intermediates,” Staudacher explains.
The close business ties from back then are often still around today. However, nowadays companies from Vorarlberg no longer serve the mass market as Nigeria begun to increasingly import cheaper fabrics from Asia in the early 1980s. Instead, they focus on the premium and luxury segment which is accessible to only a small yet very affluent group.
In 2010, the export volume of Vorarlberg’s embroidery industry – about 100 companies with 350 staff – amounted to 60 million euros. Today, the volume is at 31 million euros with an export ratio of 90 percent.
Photo: Alexandra Folie/WISTO
… and European luxury brands
One of the companies that is doing a lot of business in Africa is Stickerei Hoferhecht, founded in 1880.
“About 70 percent of our turnover falls into this segment, which is not only the biggest but also considerably more stable than our business with international fashion brands and designers who depend strongly on quickly changing fashion trends,” says Managing Director Selma Grabher.
Right now, embroideries can be rather found among discounters and less so in the high-end segment. Sooner or later this is going to change again, though, and Grabher believes there will still be a demand for exquisite embroideries and elaborate fabrics with rhinestones and sequins from the Lustenau-based family business.
It counts some of the most-renowned luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior, Armani and Oscar de la Renta but also smaller designer labels that specialise in sumptuous bridal dresses and evening dresses among its most loyal customers. In addition to Hoferhecht’s own collection, the company’s expertise in custom-made designs that require special know-how plays an important role in being a successful supplier for the luxury segment.
Photo: Andreas Staudacher
Andreas Staudacher
Face masks from Vorarlberg
The textile industry from Vorarlberg has proven its great innovative capacity and quick adaptability once more during the coronavirus crisis: The Grabher Group, Bandex, Getzner Textil, the embroidery company Hämmerle, Wolford and Tecnoplast have joined forces in order to manufacture certified, premium surgical face masks in Vorarlberg.
“Depending on the filtration performance there are different types of masks. Thanks to an additional fleece component, the medically certified face masks achieve 95 percent filtration, which equals the quality of type FFP2 masks,” says Günter Grabher, Managing Director of Grabher Group and initiator of the cooperation. “Therefore, we provide excellent protection for doctors, nurses and emergency personnel.”
It is to be seen, however, whether the masks from Vorarlberg will be able to stay on the market when production in Asia resumes and mandatory mask-wearing is eased further. Another factor will be whether the pandemic will really lead to more sustainable purchasing i.e. strengthening the domestic added value chain and focusing more on quality instead of the lowest price. ◆
Internom is setting standards all across Europe
From the beginnings with UPVC windows to today’s timber/aluminium, high-tech and high-design innovations – the Austrian company has been a market leader for decades.
Being Europe’s leading internationally operating window brand, Internorm offers its customers trend-setting solutions for windows and doors of the highest standard. Since its establishment in 1931, the family business from Traun in Upper Austria has produced more than 25 million windows and doors. The pioneer of UPVC windows became a technology and innovation leader in its industry a long time ago; today it is a renowned supplier of premium timber/aluminium systems and employs 1,906 people. Together with about 1,300 sales partners in 21 countries, the company keeps extending its leading position on the European market.
Europe’s leading window brand
Internorm has been a pioneer and leader in the production of windows since the very beginning. Founded in 1931 as a metal construction factory, the company was the first to produce UPVC windows in Austria in 1963. For decades, Internorm has been the Austrian market leader in the segments of UPVC windows, UPVC/aluminium windows, timber/aluminium windows, windows for low-energy and passive houses, entrance doors, blinds
Facts & Figures
Internorm, Europe’s leading window brand, received the German Innovation Award 2020 in the category “Winner” for its new UPVC/aluminium window KF 520. In addition, Internorm won the international MUSE Design Award in Gold for this premium window. These awards prove that Internorm’s new generation of windows combine innovative design with technological expertise in a trailblazing way. The window’s casement houses the revolutionary I-tec Secure locking system, which makes it almost impossible to pry open the window.
Internorm International GmbH Ganglgutstraße 131, 4050 Traun Tel. +43 7229 / 770-0 www.internorm.com
Photo: Internorm
and insulation glass, as well as being Europe’s leading window brand. The product range not only includes window and door systems but also solar protection and insect screens. In 2019, the company recorded a turnover of 371 million euros with its 1,906 employees (full-time equivalent).
The window and door systems are fully developed and produced in three state-of-the-art factories in Austria. Internorm is keeping the overall conception of window and door systems inhouse – from research and developing to extrusion, the insulation glass production, the latest production technologies and logistics systems. Internorm develops its own window casement and frame designs and even customised fitting systems independently from system suppliers.
Despite operating all over Europe, Internorm believes strongly in Austria as a business location: “We are an internationally operating company but we are producing our premium products exclusively in Austria,” says co-owner Christian Klinger.
