Donata Apelt-Ihling, Alfred Apelt GmbH:

For everyone involved in the home and household textiles industry, Heimtextil should be their leading fair, a performance show, the culmination point, the industry hub and the highlight of the textile year. Everyone here should always give it their all: creativity and strong performance, innovation and rich ideas, fashion, sophistication and zeitgeist – that’s what Heimtextil is to me, and we, at Apelt, do everything we can to live up to these principles.

Looking back across 50 years of Heimtextil, what particular highlight springs to mind?

Joining the Deco Team in 1995 – just being able to collaborate with other companies at the world’s biggest textiles fair, to launch joint promotions and events and to allow the product to take centre stage has been a truly fascinating experience from day one of our membership.