#Associations

2025-11-06

Elections of the ITMF Board for the term 2025-2027

Mr. Juan Parès (Spain) elected as new ITMF President

On October 24th, 2025, during the ITMF Annual Conference & IAF World Fashion Convention 2025 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the Committee of Management of the ITMF elected the members of the ITMF Board for the period 2025-2027.

Mr. Juan Parès (Spain) was unanimously elected as the new ITMF President of the Federation.

Juan Parés born in Cantabria-Spain in 1960, is Chairman of Textil Santanderina Group, a leading European textile industry group with a complete, traceable, vertical production system: Spinning, Design, Weaving Finishing, Coating, Printing and making up. Degree in Business administration and management at the University of Cantabria, he started at Textil Santanderina SA in 1980, where he worked as Quality Manager (1985-1989), Product & Marketing Manager (1989-1993) and was appointed Managing Director & CEO in 1994, and Chairman of Textil Santanderina Group in 2007.

Mr. Mustafa Denizer (Türkiye) was re-elected, and Ms. Yan Yan (China) was elected as new Vice Presidents of the Federation.

Mr. Ernesto Maurer (Switzerland) was re-elected as Honorary Treasurer. The following persons were re-elected as Non-executive Board Members:

• Mr. Salman Ispahani (Bangladesh)

• Mr. Yingxin Xu (China)

• Ms. Suchita Jain Oswal (India)

• Mr. Tae Jin Kang (Korea)

• Mr. Anees Khawaja (Pakistan)

• Mr. Stefan Hutter (Singapore)

• Mr. Uday Gill (Thailand)

The following persons were elected as new Non-executive Board Members:

• Mr. Ernst Grimmelt (Germany)

• Mr. Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu (India)

Mr. Rafael Cervone (Brazil), Mr. Mohammad Kassem (Egypt), Mrs. Michelle Tjokrosaputro (Indonesia), Mr. Loek de Vries (Netherlands), and Mr. Muharrem Kayhan (Türkiye) were co-opted to the Board.

Mr. K. V. Srinivasan (India) was appointed Honorary Life Member of the Federation in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Federation as Vice President (2018- 2023) and as President (2023-2025).

SIMTA joins ITMF as Corporate Member

In the past two decades SIMTA has established itself as producer of specialized machinery for the textile industry. In short period of time, SIMTA became an important supplier of precise rollers for top OEMs. Afterwards SIMTA started manufacturing overhead cleaners, bobbin transport systems, and other textile ancillaries. In the meantime, SIMTA is a leader in this space in collaboration with the German automation technology partner Jacobi.

ITMF and IAF conclude successful Joint Convention 2025 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) and the International Apparel Federation (IAF) have successfully concluded their second joint convention, held this year in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In close collaboration with the host Indonesian Textile Association (API), the event gathered over 400 delegates from around the world from across the entire textile and apparel value chain.

Turkmenistan: Italian textile machinery focuses on high technology and specialization

The Italian textile machinery industry flies to Ashgabat to participate with a large “Made in Italy” delegation at TURKMEN TEXTILE EXPO 2026, the major international showcase taking place from June 4 to 6, 2026. The Italian presence, coordinated by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) and ACIMIT (the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers), aims to consolidate Italy’s primary technological role in a highly strategic market with interesting prospects.

Young talents honoured – 60 years Walter Reiners Foundation

At the Techtextil trade fair in Frankfurt at the end of April, Peter D. Dornier, chairman of the VDMA’s Walter Reiners Foundation, presented awards to five successful young engineers. Promotion and sustainability awards were presented in the categories of bachelor’s/project theses and diploma/master’s theses. Academic theses are eligible for the sustainability awards if, for example, they develop solutions for resource-efficient products and technologies.

Fifteen years of Autoneum – From spin off to global technology leader

What started as a strategic carve‑out has since become the success story of a global technology leader in acoustic and thermal management solutions for vehicles. Headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, Autoneum supplies leading automobile manufacturers worldwide with innovative, lightweight and increasingly sustainable solutions.

Kruger, Canada, orders first nonwovens line for sustainable wipes from ANDRITZ

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order from newly established Kruger Nonwovens to deliver a complete WetlaceTM hybrid line for the Wayagamack mill in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. With this investment, pulp and paper producer Kruger is preparing to enter the nonwovens market with a new generation of plastic-free, chemical-free materials for sustainable wipes. The line is the first of its kind in Canada and is scheduled to start production in 2028.

Picanol to present its leading weaving technology at ITM 2026

Picanol is pleased to announce it will be participating in ITM 2026 in Istanbul. This is a key event for industry professionals to engage with the Turkish textile industry as well as the extensive international audience attending the fair. During the event, Picanol will present its latest innovations to the visitors in Hall 8, booth 802.