Shoes.be is the ideal guide to show you where to buy your favourite shoebrand in Belgium. Developed mobile-first so also very easy to use in town when looking for your shop.
And we don’t just mean fashion, but especially the more unknown innovative products that the textile sector has to offer and that you come into contact with on a daily basis. Have you ever thought about why a fireman’s suit is fire resistant? Or how doctor’s coats are made antibacterial? But also the artificial grass you play sports on is textile and so much more.
To guarantee these innovations, quality, design and sustainability, more than 650 Belgian textile producers are committed to this every day. Innovation in technology, raw materials, production processes and services contribute to this. This is of course a challenge for which they need motivated employees. Are you helping to build the future of tomorrow?
Here on the Wild van Textiel website you can get acquainted with the sector, we will guide you through the textile training courses that are offered and you can find an up-to-date database of vacancies in the textile industry.
Wild van Textiel is an initiative of the textile industry and textile education.
Our mission is to claim global stature for Belgian textiles. We do not just want to change the image, we want to rebuild pride. When people hear ‘Belgian textiles,’ we want them to think innovation, quality and possibility.
Meet the professionals
Interview
Hear what they have to say.
Screenshot
Francis Dejonghe, Chairman Textirama and Managing Director De Witte Lietaer
Meet the Man Behind the Vision: Francis Dejonghe
As both Managing Director of De Witte Lietaer and Chairman of Textirama vzw, Francis Dejonghe is a driving force behind Belgium’s textile renaissance. Since taking the helm at Textirama, he has spearheaded a bold transformation of the 60-year-old organization, steering it toward innovative strategies to elevate the visibility and reputation of Belgium’s textile sector. But why does this storied industry need rebranding? We sat down with Francis Dejonghe to uncover his vision.
Why Rebrand Belgian Textiles? Bridging Perception and Reality
“Textile in Belgium is at a crossroads,” Dejonghe begins. “The sector has evolved dramatically, yet public perception remains stuck in the past.”
For decades, Textirama’s mission was straightforward: connect buyers and sellers. Today, the challenge runs deeper. Globalization, technological leaps, and sustainability demands have reshaped the industry, yet many still associate Belgian textiles solely with clothing, curtains, or sofas. “Ask someone to define ‘Belgian textile,’ and they’ll struggle,” he notes. “But hidden behind that ambiguity are cutting-edge innovations—materials for aerospace, medical textiles, agrotech, 3D fabrics. Our industry is a powerhouse, yet its story remains untold.”
The stakes are high. Textile companies now battle an outdated image that fails to attract talent, investors, or consumer curiosity. “Textirama does not just sell products anymore,” Dejonghe emphasizes. “We’re selling a new identity—one that positions Belgian textiles as dynamic, innovative, and indispensable to modern life.”
“A Hybrid Strategy: Where Digital Meets Tangible”
To bridge this gap, Textirama is launching a two-pronged approach: a digital narrative paired with a physical experience that immerses the public in textile’s unseen world.
Digital Storytelling: Amplifying Hidden Innovations
Collaboration is key. Textirama partners with organizations like Cobot (promoting textile careers), Fedustria (the Federation of the Belgian Textile, Woodworking, and Furniture Industries) and Centexbel (a research hub for textile innovation) to craft compelling stories. “We’re not here to duplicate efforts,” Dejonghe explains. “We’re here to amplify them. Imagine showcasing how textile engineers create fabrics that make windmills more sustainble, or how a 3D woven fabric creates waves to surf on. These stories don’t just inform—they inspire.”
The Textile Odyssey: A Traveling Immersive Exhibition
The crown jewel? A roaming exhibition designed to dazzle. Visitors will step into an immersive installation—wandering into a weaving machine, or exploring how textiles shield fire fighters and what kind of fabrics we are going to take to the moon. “This isn’t a museum tour,” Dejonghe smiles. “It’s an emotional journey. We want people to leave thinking, ‘I had no idea textile could do this—I want to be part of it.’”
Who’s the Audience? Everyone—and Beyond
Textirama’s message casts a wide net. “Our audience isn’t just designers or engineers,” says Dejonghe. “It’s anyone curious about how society evolves, innovation, sustainability, or even the chair they’re sitting on.”
Tech Enthusiasts: Discovering textiles in aerospace or renewable energy.
Decoration lovers: Seeing interiors as a canvas where fabrics shape identity and install comfort.
Future Talent: Students reimagining textiles as a career of creativity and impact.
Everyone open to be inspired by Belgian textiles: no need to ‘have a thing’ with textile, inspiration promised.
“When someone realizes that textile can be used to protect whales or that linnen bedsheets can help reduce water consumption, that’s a lightbulb moment,” he adds. “Textile isn’t just material—it’s a solution.”
The Future: A Fabric of Recognition
For Dejonghe, success means Belgian textiles reclaiming their global stature. “We’re not just changing an image—we’re rebuilding pride. When people hear ‘Belgian textile,’ I want them to think innovation, quality, and possibility.
The Belgian Linen™ quality label is an internationally registered trademark. The label was created to promote linen from Belgium, widely known as the world’s finest linen.
Woven in Belgium
At least 85% flax in weight
Flax of European Origin
Europe’s finest flax
Flax thrives in this region of Western Europe. A moist and temperate climate and excellent soil quality provide for one of the best qualities of flax in the world. This region is situated between Caen and Amsterdam, Belgium being in the exact middle of it all.
Strictly governed
The Belgian Flax & Linen Association is the responsible and independent organization for authenticating fabrics as Belgian Linen™. Through membership, weavers can apply for a certification of their fabrics.
Once the Belgian Linen & Flax Association approves the certification, each batch of fabric is assigned a unique ID. Through this ID, buyers of the fabric and products based on it can always trace back the origins of the fabric.
Belgian Linen™ in your finished product
Buyers of our members’ linen fabrics can apply for a permit to use the Belgian Linen™ label as a marketing tool on their packaging and in their communication.
The project is led by Valentine Fruchart, an engineer-architect by training.
Passionate about the art of yarn and concerned about the environmental impact of our way of life, she took the Fabricademy, textile and technology training at the end of 2019 in order to specialize in opening the Green Fabric.
She takes care of the management of the place, the Fabricademy training and the machine trainings.
She created the Green Fabric with the aim of reducing consumption, promoting autonomy and recreating the link through creation.
The project occupies a building of the municipality of Forest in temporary occupation at 22-24 chaussée de Bruxelles.
Cefret est le centre de formation sectorielle pour l’industrie textile.
Nous conseillons et assistons les travailleurs et les candidats travailleurs du secteur textile sur différents points charnières de leur carrière. Nous voulons leur apporter un soutien et une orientation maximum dans le développement et le renforcement de leurs compétences tout au long de leur carrière.
Nous aidons également les entreprises textiles dans le développement d’une politique de compétences et d’accompagnement du personnel.
Cobot is the sectoral training center for the textile industry
We advise and assist employees and candidate employees in the textile sector at various pivotal points in their careers. We want to provide them with maximum support and guidance in developing and strengthening their competencies throughout their career.
We also help textile companies to develop a competence policy and a diverse personnel policy.
Mission
We want to encourage current and future employees in the textile industry
to lifelong learning, so that they can use their competences and talents to the full
develop and deploy. We encourage a learning culture for the textile companies.
We promote the textile industry through all kinds of actions and we put the various
study and career opportunities.
We closely follow the evolutions in (textile) competences and education and
maintain close contacts with key players in the labor market. So
we can assist our textile companies with advice and assistance, and all their questions
on training, safety and the inflow and outflow of employees.
We help textile companies to provide their employees with
to keep the drive to work.
Vision
We want to reach all textile companies with our services. Do they have a
training question? Then they immediately make the link with cobot/cefret. Together with the
textile companies, we form a partnership to put the right people in the right place
to get. We are also putting the textile industry in Flanders and Wallonia in the
spotlights. In this way we make the sector attractive for new employees. And
we transfer knowledge from generation to generation.
Values
All our employees show respect for each other and our customers. Of
equality as the common thread throughout our organization. Employee,
job seeker or company? We share our knowledge with everyone. With the expertise that
Having Cobot and Cefret in-house, we take the textile industry to a higher level.
And we are not just talking about fashion, but above all about the most unknown innovative products that the textile sector has to offer and that you come into contact with every day. Have you ever thought about why a firefighter suit is fire resistant? Or how are doctor’s coats antibacterial? But also the artificial turf where you play sports is textile and much more.
To guarantee these innovations, this quality, this design and this durability, more than 650 Belgian textile producers work there every day. Innovation in technology, raw materials, production processes and services contributes to this. This is obviously a challenge for which they need motivated workers. Would you like to contribute to the future of tomorrow?
Here on the Crazy for Textiles website, you can familiarize yourself with the sector, with the textile training courses that are offered and you can find an up-to-date database of job vacancies in the textile industry.
Dingue de Textile is an initiative of the textile industry and textile training.
Mission
Fedustria vzw is the merger federation of the former non-profit associations Febeltex and Febelhout and represents companies from the Belgian textile, wood and furniture industry.
Together, these sectors realize a turnover of 10.9 billion euros with employment of 36,000 direct jobs in about 1,700 companies in Belgium. In other words, one of the most important sectors in the Belgian industrial landscape.
Fedustria’s mission is to help companies in the textile, wood and furniture industries in their successful development by safeguarding and strengthening their competitiveness. This is done by:
to act as a representative of these sectors,
through an active defense of the common interests of the member companies,
through a wide range of specialized services, by creating a common training and meeting place for members,
Flax thrives in this region of Western Europe. A moist and temperate climate and excellent soil quality provide for one of the best qualities of flax in the world. This region is situated between Caen and Amsterdam, Belgium being in the exact middle of it all.
The project is led by Valentine Fruchart, an engineer-architect by training.
