Celebrating 65 years of innovation, the leading congress for the fiber industry will take place from 16 – 18 September 2026 in Dornbirn, Austria, reinforcing its position at the forefront of the sector and strengthening its role as an international platform for trends, knowledge exchange, and key developments. The congress will bring together about 600 international experts from industry and academia, representing over 30 countries. With 100 presentations delivered by high caliber speakers, 2.5 days of content, three parallel tracks, and moderated sessions, the event offers an exceptional platform for knowledge sharing and networking to shape the future direction of the global fiber sector.
Key topics and highlights:
• Change in the Management Team
• 65th Dornbirn GFC – A success story
• Innovation Day & Forum
• Key note Speakers
• Paul Schlack Prize: Deadline 23 June 2026
• Lenzing Young Scientist Award: Deadline 12 July 2026
• Dornbirn GFC ASIA
Change in the Management Team
Dornbirn GFC Appoints Béatrice Moureaux as New Managing Director
The Dornbirn GFC announces a change in its management team. Matthias W. Gluth has resigned from his position as Managing Director to pursue other career interests. During his tenure, he made a significant contribution to the recent successes and continued development of the Congress. The Board of the Dornbirn GFC sincerely thanks Matthias for his commitment, leadership and dedication,
and wishes him every success in his future endaevors.
The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Béatrice Moureaux as the new Managing Director of the Dornbirn GFC, with immediate effect.
Béatrice Moureaux brings more than 25 years of international leadership experience in technical textiles, nonwovens and specialty materials. Her career includes senior leadership roles at DuPont Protective Technologies in Geneva and Glatfelter/Magnera in Basel. She is currently also active as Board Advisor at ReHubs, where she supports the development of strategic partnerships in technical textiles, workwear and nonwovens.
“Béatrice brings exactly the combination of experience, energy and international perspective that the Dornbirn GFC needs for its next chapter. She combines deep industry knowledge with a strong record in innovation and sustainability, an established international network, and the ability to connect people across disciplines and value chains. On behalf of the nomination committee, I am very pleased that she has accepted this role,” said Fritz Weninger, member of the nomination committee of the Dornbirn GFC.
As Managing Director, Béatrice Moureaux will lead the strategic development of the Congress, strengthen international partnerships and further position the Dornbirn GFC as a central forum for innovation, sustainability and circular economy thinking in the global fiber industry. A particular focus will be placed on strengthening the Congress’ international reach, including in Asia, as well as on deepening the dialogue between industry, academia and policy makers.
Béatrice Moureaux holds a Master of Science in Textile Engineering and Chemistry from ENSAIT, the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles in France. She is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and holds a Certificate in Business Sustainability Management from the University of Cambridge. Her international profile is strengthened by her fluency in English, French and German.
65 Years of Dornbirn GFC: A Success Story
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Albrecht and Kommerzialrat Seidl of Lenzing AG founded the Dornbirn in 1961, man-made fiber conference which later evolved into today’s Dornbirn GFC. The aim was to create an international platform for professional exchange in the fiber industry – an approach that particularly during the Cold War fostered dialogue between Eastern and Western Europe. With 13 presentations and 130 attendees from 6 countries, the success story began. With its growing importance, it developed into a global industry meeting point for business, research, and science. A major milestone was the construction of the Kulturhaus Dornbirn in 1982, which enabled 3 parallel lecture series for the first time and continues to define the format today. In the 2010s, the topics of sustainability and recycling were introduced into the programme. The congress was renamed Dornbirn GFC. Since then, both scientific approaches and their practical implementation have remained key focus areas for the fiber industry.
Today, Dornbirn GFC features around 100 presentations and serves as a central meeting point for the global fiber industry. With Dornbirn GFC ASIA, the congress has also established an additional knowledge platform in India and Korea. These activities are being continuously expanded.
Innovation Day & Forum:
The three-day Dornbirn GFC Innovation Days are evolving into the new Dornbirn GFC Innovation Day & Forum. This compact one-day format brings all activities together on Thursday, 17 September 2026. Participants will showcase their companies and innovations at their touchpoints within the exhibition area and present their latest developments during the innovation pitch on stage in Hall A. The pitch remains the central element of the event, providing an international platform for forward-looking ideas, technologies, and applications.
Participants will present their innovations by addressing three key questions: What? Why? How? They will explain the novelty of their innovation compared to existing technologies, materials, or processes, highlight its value for the industry in terms of performance, sustainability, cost efficiency, or market potential, and provide insights into its industrial implementation and stage of development on the path to commercialization.
A jury of fiber industry experts together with the audience will evaluate the presentations and vote for the most innovative idea. The winner will receive the Dornbirn GFC Innovation Day & Forum Award 2026.
Key note Speakers:
A key tradition of the Dornbirn GFC is the opening morning, featuring high-level presentations.
Christian Skilich, Lenzing AG
“Reinventing the Man-Made Cellulosic Fiber Industry: New Technologies and Innovation in Times of Crisis”
This presentation shows how new fiber technologies are changing the industry and helping to create better products using fewer resources and supporting a circular economy. The focus is on new developments in fiber technology and innovative, high-value applications. It highlights how innovation can open up new growth opportunities, even in uncertain times. It also shows how important
collaboration across the entire value chain is – from raw materials to end products – to bring new solutions to market faster and build resilient business models.
Elke Hortmeyer,BREMEN COTTON EXCHANGE
“The Power of Methodology: How the Green Deal and PEF Are Shaping the Future of the Textile Industry”
Make the Label Count advocates for fair and science-based fibre assessment. Ironically, current EU sustainability methodologies do not yet meet this standard. Significant methodological gaps lead to unbalanced results that increasingly affect market access and competitiveness. Corrective action is urgently needed.
Marines Lagemaat, EDANA
“Nonwovens, the other main fiber processing industry.”
In “Positioning nonwovens in the world of fibers,” Lagemaat addresses the following two questions:
What explains the success of nonwovens in the various applications? What are the main challenges the nonwoven (related) industry is facing?
Georg Stausberg, Barmag GmbH & Co. KG
“Challenges for Circular Economy & sustainable Textiles”
Global growth in manmade fiber demand is increasing pressure on the textile industry to adopt circular economy principles. Scalable recycling systems and low‐impact production technologies are essential to reduce energy use and emissions. Rising sustainability expectations from brands and regulators are accelerating the need for systemic industry transformation.
Paul Schlack Prize 2026 – Call for applications
CIRFS is thrilled to announce that applications for the Paul Schlack Prize 2026 are now open!
Inspired by Paul Schlack’s groundbreaking creation of Polyamide 6, this prize supports visionary and exceptional researchers in the field of man-made fibres. The Paul Schlack Prize is dedicated to promoting innovations in man-made fibre research at universities and research institutes. Submission deadline:23th June 2026: https://www.cirfs.org/latest-cirfs/news-list/paul-schlack-prize-2026-call-applications
Lenzing Young Scientist Award 2026
For the fifth time, the Lenzing Group is honoring young researchers with the Lenzing Young Scientist Award. This year’s topic is “High-Performance Cellulosics: Premium Fibers for Next-Generation Applications”. The focus is on developing innovative, sustainable, and high value fiber solutions that elevate performance while enabling true circularity across the textile and nonwoven
industries. Submission deadline: 12th of July 2026: https://www.lenzing.com/technology-production/innovation/young-scientist-award/
Session blocks: ReHubs, Natural Fibers and RWTH Aachen convene leaders
ReHubs: ReHubs is a synergy-driven alliance accelerating textile-to-textile recycling in Europe. In two session blocks with four presentations each, ReHubs members will provide insights into the topics of workwear and recycling.
Natural Fibers: This sessionwill be organized and coordinated by Elke Hortmeyer, Bremen Cotton Exchange. Expert presentations will be delivered by the following companies: Discover Natural Fibres Initiative, POLYVLIES GROUP, Wilhelm G. Clasen GmbH & Co. KG and RWTH Aachen.
RWTH Aachen meets industry: This session will feature projects presented by the RWTH Aachen University in collaboration with industry partners such as Barmag GmbH & Co. KG and Technofibres s.a. and Solid Air Dynamics GmbH. The lectures will provide insights into ongoing research and industrial applications arising from these partnerships.
Dornbirn GFC ASIA
International Dynamics: Growing Global Presence of Dornbirn GFC ASIA
The international appeal of Dornbirn GFC ASIA is growing continuously.
The Dornbirn GFC Korea, held in Seoul in May 2026, attended by over 250 experts from Korean fiber and textile industry, was an outstanding success:
Daitek President Jae-Hong Choi stated, “Dornbirn GFC-Asia is establishing itself as a global textile technology exchange platform connecting Asia and Europe,” adding, “We will continue to expand our global cooperation network focusing on key issues for the future textile industry, such as sustainability and digital transformation.” He added, “The 6th Dornbirn GFC-Asia also plans to grow into Korea’s leading global textile conference that shares advanced technology and research achievements.”
As a direct result of this success, leading Korean experts will attend the main congress in Dornbirn in person in September 2026.
Collaboration with China is gaining momentum besides the strong delegation joining this year’s edition in Dornbirn we are also close to signing a Letter of Intent (LOI) to organize a one day event in China later this year.
These developments underline the increasing importance of Dornbirn GFC as a global networking hub
Congress Highlights 2026:
65th Dornbirn GFC
16. – 18 September 2026, Dornbirn, Austria
Gala evening
for all participants, including a fashion show and buffet dinner.
Dornbirn GFC Innovation Day & Forum
17 September 2026
Awarding:
✓ Innovation Day
✓ Lenzing Young Scientist Winner
✓ Paul Schlack Prize
