European textile trade fair operator Munich Fabric Start will move from a twice-yearly show cycle to a 365-day digital and content platform, under a strategic partnership with Future Fashion Assembly.

The "365 Days Munich Fabric Start" initiative will deliver webinars, sourcing tools and case studies to European mills, brands and retailers between the physical January and September shows. The next in-person edition runs Jan. 20–22, 2027 in Munich.

The first public event under the new framework is a webinar titled "What Comes Next for European Fashion Supply?" scheduled for Oct. 28. It will convene brands, retailers, manufacturers and technology vendors ahead of the January fair.

Why move beyond the trade show calendar?

The change reflects pressure on buyers and suppliers to make sourcing and compliance decisions on a continuous basis, rather than within the compressed three-day window of a fair. Florian Klinder, managing director of Munich Fabric Start, told Sourcing Journal that the fair itself remains central to deal-making.

"The trade fair isn't the issue," Klinder said. "It is still the most efficient way to build trust, to feel a fabric and to conclude a deal to meet in person."

Klinder added that exhibitor and buyer decision cycles no longer fit a twice-annual show format. "A platform which only exists twice a year cannot keep up with that," he said.

Sofia Strazzanti, founder and CEO of Future Fashion Assembly, framed the partnership as a response to that same acceleration. "The challenges they are facing do not occur just twice a year; regulations change, new solutions appear, commercial pressures vary and the teams require reliable information and support all throughout the year," Strazzanti said.

What sits inside the new platform?

The joint programme combines Munich Fabric Start's 30 years of textile industry relationships with Future Fashion Assembly's focus on strategic innovation. Content streams will include:

• A global webinar series
• Digital tools for material library management
• Practical case studies on supply-chain operations
• The Stage programme at the January 2027 fair

How is regulation reshaping the agenda?

The platform launches as mandatory Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and tightening anti-greenwashing rules move compliance from the sustainability office into core sourcing and merchandising workflows. Both leaders urged brands to treat data readiness as a commercial priority, not an administrative burden.

Strazzanti pushed back against siloed handling of DPP and greenwashing work. "The greatest error is to regard Digital Product Passports or the fight against greenwashing as something that should be dealt with solely by the sustainability team or postponed, simply because it doesn't directly 'generate money'," Strazzanti said.

She called for cross-functional ownership spanning product, sourcing, suppliers, legal, marketing and systems. Companies, she said, must identify which data they already hold, where the gaps sit, and who verifies the rest.

Klinder framed the same point as a sourcing question. "Begin with the data rather than with the regulation," Klinder said. "Textiles are one of the first product categories to be required to have a digital product passport."

What does the deal require of AI adoption?

The platform will also host content on artificial intelligence deployment, with both executives setting a commercial-results test for new technology investments. Klinder said the experimentation phase has run its course.

"My test is straightforward: if you can't name the KPI that an AI project improves, then it isn't a viable business case yet," Klinder said.

Strazzanti framed AI as a means to specific operational targets. The starting points, she said, are margin loss, manual data handling and forecast-driven excess stock. The platform's task is to give mills and brands shared proof points for those use cases rather than a generic AI pitch.

What sourcing decision now sits with buyers?

European apparel brands and mills will need to map existing material, supplier and product data against the Digital Product Passport evidence base before the January 2027 show. The output will dictate sourcing and compliance priorities through 2026.