Futurotextiles

A pioneering project initiated in 2006, the Futurotextiles exhibition combines science, technology, design, fashion and art around innovative textiles and their different application sectors.

This new Futurotextiles MIX exhibition invites visitors to discover the world of textiles: to appropriate its incredible diversity, from fibers to weaving and knitting, including composites and non-wovens.

It is also a question of showing that textiles are becoming more and more technical, innovative and intelligent while often falling within the current issues related to sustainable development.

The exhibition offers visitors an artistic and educational journey through the incredible materials that have marked the previous editions of Futurotextiles (micro-encapsulation, connected textiles, unusual fabrics made from coffee or basalt, etc.)

Discover innovative and visionary materials, coming from France, Europe, the world by favoring the host countries of the exhibition, highlighting the research, the ingenuity of companies and engineers by associating them with the talents of creators, that’s it. the bet of this exhibition.

After Futurotextiles 2006 and Futurotextiles 2008, why do it again with this third edition?

Because textiles, or rather textiles, are constantly evolving. There is always something new to discover and show, it’s fascinating!… And this in all sectors since everyone is concerned… Clothing, sport, architecture, design, transport, health… Yes the first two editions were such a great success, it’s because we brought together areas that are not alike. And this time again: high technology, haute couture,
top-level sport , contemporary art, design…. Yet all of them have textiles in common. This resolutely multidisciplinary aspect of Futurotextiles is essential: seriousness comes close to playfulness, science meets art.

The choice of Lille and its region historically marked by the textile industry is no accident….

Everyone knows that successive crises have long and hard hit the textile sector. What we know less, however, is precisely this creative and technological fiber synonymous with reconversion and potential. So yes, may this breath of optimism, this desire to associate textiles with a promising future be held in this particular region constitutes a very positive symbol. Moreover, the idea of ​​Futurotextiles has aroused the enthusiasm of local authorities such as the Regional Council and Lille Métropole, as well as that of professionals in the sector.

An example of potential, precisely?

As I said, textiles are changing everywhere! But let’s take an emblematic field, the medical one: We present the Psyche t-shirt (designed by the CSEM). It is equipped with discreet sensors that record the heart and breathing rate of the wearer, as well as their movements. This information is automatically transmitted to a central via an IP / GPRS system, which makes it possible to adapt the treatment to the most precise and fastest.

And an artistic example?

I always like to evoke the work of Daniel Buren specially designed and exhibited during the first edition of Futurotextiles. It was a striped canvas, characteristic of the artist’s work, but in woven optical fiber. The scratches could turn on or off thanks to a built-in timer. This extraordinary work was the fruit of a dialogue between art and technology, a technology developed by the Lyon-based company Brochier.

Does Futurotextiles play a role of ferryman?

It was neither planned nor premeditated, but it is true. The shattering of boundaries between sectors is crucial: An engineer working
in geotextiles, for example, is not necessarily aware of the latest innovations in the field of medical textiles. And vice versa. However, the exchange and transfer of information often makes things happen. The pooling of energies promotes new research and new possibilities. I would add that by emphasizing this decompartmentalization, Futurotextiles also contributes to the remobilization of textile students.

Tennis racket, motorcycle helmet, car door… are also part of Futurotextiles !?

Yes, all are in composite, a growing sector, little known to the general public.
It is a combination of resin and textile weave. Nowadays, composite is everywhere: in our phones, in
airplane floors…. Its durability, resistance and maneuverability are formidable assets. We find there glass fibers, carbon fibers, plant fibers also, such as flax, in full revival and particularly well adapted.

If only one “common thread” were to be retained in terms of innovations?

Innovation is often linked to current events and their needs. As the environmental issue is of prime importance today, we are therefore observing the emergence of numerous textiles emphasizing ecological and
energetic properties. That said, in general, ultra light, “ultra light” is particularly present in the selection of this new Futurotextiles: work on air, evanescent fabrics, featherweight materials … Lightness is to the taste of day and comfort. It turns the world of textiles upside down.

But what is the world of textiles, and more generally what is textiles?

The world of textiles is incredibly diverse: from fibers to weaving and knitting, including composites and nonwovens. The origins of fibers are sometimes strange. Coffee, a pebble of basalt, wisteria, give rise to a fiber, a thread, a fabric. The new fibers seem to have come straight from science fiction. Interactive, intelligent, they undergo various techniques of coating, finishing, microencapsulation … Cosmetic or therapeutic, ‘bio-sensory’ textiles modify physical conditions according to environmental conditions and become antibacterial, thermoregulatory, hydrophilic, therapeutic …

Caroline David
Curator
Interview in July 2012

TOUR

• LILLE / 14 octobre 2006 – 14 janvier 2007
  Bombaysers de Lille
  Tripostal, Lille (France)
• ISTANBUL / 04 – 10 septembre 2007
  Dans le cadre de « Istanbul Design Week »
  Galata Brigde, Istanbul (Turquie)
• KORTRIJK / 09 octobre – 07 décembre 2008
  Futurotextiel 08
  Hall NMBS, Kortrijk (Belgique)
• MARCQ-EN-BARŒUL / 23 – 25 janvier 2009
  Dans le cadre de « Futex »
  Hippodrome de Marcq-en-Barœul (France)
• BANGKOK / 30 juillet – 16 octobre 2009
  Jim Thomsom House, Bangkok (Thailande)
• CASABLANCA / 12 novembre – 12 décembre 2009
  Esith, Casablanca (Maroc)
• JAKARTA / 27 avril – 12 mai 2010
  National Gallery (Grand Palais), Jakarta (Indonésie)
• SHANGHAI / 1er mai – 15 juillet 2010
  Dans le cadre du «Pavillon Lille Europe» / Shanghai 2010 Expo Universelle
  Galerie Hong Miao, 496 Nanjing Road, Shanghai (Chine)
• WATTRELOS LA LAINIÈRE / septembre 2010
  100 ans de la Lainière (France)
• MARCQ-EN-BARŒUL / 14 – 23 janvier 2011
  Dans le cadre de la « Convention Futex »
  19 & 20 janvier 2011
  Hippodrome de Marcq-en-Barœul (France)
• BARCELONE / 15 février – 02 avril 2011
  Musée Maritime de Barcelone (Espagne)
• CORDOUE / 03 mai – 03 juin 2011
  Palacio de la Merced (Espagne)
• PRATO / 30 septembre – 13 novembre 2011
  Museo del Tessuto (Italie)
• RENAIX / 02 décembre 2011 – 15 janvier 2012
  Campus TIO3 (Belgique)
• LODZ / 18 avril – 20 mai 2012
  (Pologne)
• TOURCOING – ROUBAIX / 13 octobre – 30 décembre 2013
  CETI (France)
• PARIS / 05 février – 14 juillet 2013
  Cité des Sciences (France)
• TIMISOARA / 10 – 29 septembre 2013
  Halles Timco (Roumanie)
• BUCAREST / 15 octobre – 17 novembre 2013
  (Roumanie)
• PARIS BERCY / 10 décembre 2013 – 24 janvier 2014
  Ministère du Redressement Productif (Paris)
• BUENOS AIRES / 16 juillet – 02 novembre 2014
  Tecnopolis (Argentine)
• MARCQ-EN-BAROEUL / 17 – 25 janvier 2015
  Futex (France)
• MILAN / 1er mai – 14 juillet 2015 (Textifood)
  Expo Universelle
• Pavillon France/Lille Europe, Palazzo delle Stelline, Institut français Milano (Italie)
  LILLE / 26 septembre 2015 – 17 janvier 2016 (Textifood)
  Renaissance
  Musée d’Histoire Naturelle (France)
• ANKARA / 1er avril – 12 mai 2016 (Futurotextiles MIX)
  CerModern (Turquie)
• IZMIR / 27 mai – 25 juin 2016 (Futurotextiles MIX)
  Kültürpark, Galerie du Musée national de peinture et de sculpture et Institut français Izmir (Turquie)
• DAEGU / 28 mai – 31 juillet 2016 (Textifood)
  DTC Textile Museum (Corée du Sud)
• WUHAN / 30 septembre – 16 octobre 2016
  (Futurotextiles MIX)
  Musée des Sciences et Technologies (Chine)
• CHENGDU / 04 au 25 novembre 2016 (Futurotextiles MIX)
  Galerie WM, The Atrium (Chine)
• VARSOVIE / 02 novembre – 01 décembre 2016 (Textifood)
  Palais de la Culture et de la Science (Pologne)
• MARCQ-EN-BARŒUL / 14 – 22 janvier 2017
  (Futurotextiles Mix)
  Convention Futex (France)
• BERLIN / Mars – avril 2017 (Futurotextiles MIX)
  Ambassade de France (Allemagne)
• SOFIA / Octobre – novembre 2017 (Futurotextiles MIX)
  Palais National de la Culture de Sofia (Bulgarie)