HFN Staff Report
International trade show attendees have a little secret: Their business travel can be quite glamorous. While it’s, “Oh, another trade show,” to their bosses and associates, to friends it’s more like, “Can you believe I’m going to Milan, Paris and Bangkok and getting paid for it?” This edition of the International Trade Show Preview for the first half of the year is packed with tons of overseas shows with something for even the pickiest home furnishings buyer/jet-setting globe hopper.
Textiles
The granddaddy of international home-textiles trade shows, Heimtextil, kicks off the trade-show calendar once again from Jan. 14 to 17.
Heimtextil features what it calls “More” sections, which include premium home textiles for all rooms of the house. The first of these, “More Clarity,” offers classic designs, while “More Style” presents trendy and fashionable looks.
For the 2009 show, Messe Frankfurt has supplemented the bedding-products area with lectures on product quality and current marketing topics.
The following week, the textiles universe shifts to Paris for Maison & Objet, scheduled for Jan. 23 to 27. The show offers an increase in the space available to brands to highlight their creative efforts. Special sections such as scènes d’intérieur now!, design á vivre and Maison & Objet éditeurs will have their own exclusive halls dedicated entirely to their exhibitors.
The first Manila FAME International trade show of 2009 takes place in Manila from April 15 to 18. The theme for this show is Design Royalty, which include a focus on Philippine fibers, to coincide with the ASEAN International Year of Fibers.
From May 20 to 23, Evteks, the Instanbul Home Textiles Exhibition, is scheduled to take place. Described by its organizer, ITF Fairs, as the second-largest home textiles exhibition in the world, the show welcomed more than 80,000 attendees in May.
FLOOR COVERING
Aesthetic and traffic-flow improvements and additional exhibition space are just a few things attendees of Domotex Hannover 2009 have to look forward to in January.
Domotex Hannover has refurbished one of its heaviest-used exhibition-ground entrances—Nord 1—in time for the winter global floor-covering event, being held Jan. 17 to 20. The renovation will improve traffic flow and ease the registration process, according to a Domotex statement.
Traffic from the new north entrance will also now be channeled right into Hall 18, the new home of the Loom Lounge, a display area dedicated to vendors of handmade carpets and rugs. The centerpiece of the lounge is the Italian Café, an informal spot where exhibitors and attendees can take a break or meet over a cup of coffee.
Hall 18 is also linked to halls 2 and 3, which both house mostly machine-made carpet and rug vendors. It’s a change that Domotex planners say exhibitors have been clamoring for and should make exhibition grounds easier to navigate for rug buyers.
Domotex organizers have high hopes for the winter show, which was attracting respectable numbers of exhibitor registrations early on in the registration period. About 1,350 exhibitors are expected to fill more than 300,000 square feet of display space. The show also promises a program with many highlights aimed specifically at the area rug and carpet industry.
Domotex Hannover will host its fourth annual Carpet Design Awards presentation, recognizing creative and innovative design in the handmade segment. Winners, selected by a jury of professionals, are awarded 10,000 euros in prize money.
Another showcase for the latest in rugs and carpets will be “floorforum,” featuring trends in contemporary carpet design and floor coverings. According to Domotex organizers, Dutch designer Ulf Moritz will assemble an exhibit of floor coverings presented as “works of art.” The exhibit will be divided into three themes: structure, which focuses on the tactile qualities of textured carpets; color and the use of color to create designs, express individuality and tie into interior design schemes; and design, with a focus on decorative and “glamorous” carpets.
Organizers also suggest that exhibitors and attendees take a moment to visit Hall 17 during their time at the show to see what they’re calling the world’s largest square Nain rug. Knotted in one piece over the course of six years, it measures approximately 66-by-66 feet.
FURNITURE
IMM Cologne (Jan. 19 to 25) is a global market and meeting place for the international furniture sector. Show organizers expect 1,200 exhibitors from 50 countries for the 2009 edition.
“This is where the trends of the coming year will be presented, where visions are born, and where innovative design ideas become international best sellers,” show organizers said. The show takes great strides to identify the year’s emerging interior design trends with various lectures on color and light, form, function, pattern and material. Meanwhile, young and independent designers are highlighted at a talent events.
A comprehensive offering of furniture and furnishings ranges from traditional interior suites to premium designer furniture. The products are arranged by sales channels so that exhibitors are grouped together effective.
Two days of the show are open to the public.
Meuble Paris (Jan. 22 to 26) is a furniture and decoration event running in conjunction with Maison & Objet. Attendees should expect to see lots of wood-based offerings as “the season is abandoning bling, airs and graces,” according to show organizers.
For this year’s show, attendees can access discounted fares up to 47 percent with Air France.
Attendees use a single entry badge, and can use free shuttle buses back and forth between exhibition centers for Meuble Paris and Maison & Objet.
Some 400 exhibitors and 10,000 attendees are expected to gather for the Canadian Home Furnishings Market near Toronto from Jan. 10 to 13. The show is known for unveiling products to meet specific needs of Canadian consumers.
It offers a variety of furniture, including collections for every room in the house, juvenile and accent furniture, lighting, decorative accessories, and mattresses and bedding.
This year’s market features a conference on understanding the female demographic and a training seminar on mattress selling. There will also be a Trends Display with concepts to inspire retailers with new ideas for visual presentation in their stores.
This year marks the 48th edition of Salone Internazionale del Mobile, scheduled for April 22 to 27. As usual, included will be nearly every possible type of domestic furnishing, from stand-alone pieces to coordinates, and every possible style from classical to design to modern.
This year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile will feature the 10th edition of Designing Designers, the International Convention of University Courses in Design. The 2009 version will explore “Lighting Design Innovation Scenarios.” The educational forum will focus on: LED for lighting; lighting for wellness, sustainable lighting and energy saving; and lighting art and urban design.
Alongside Salone Internazionale del Mobile will be Euroluce—the International Lighting Exhibition with a broad spectrum of goods from light sources to domestic lighting, from technical illumination to urban illumination—embracing both technological and formal innovation.
Attendees of the China International Furniture Fair (March 18 to 21) should expect to see thousands of related products under one roof.
CIFF features more than 500 manufacturers, wholesalers and designers. The event is held at the Chinese Export Commodities Fairground at Guangzhou and runs concurrently with Homedecor + Hometextile China.
The fair consists of two parts, with the first part focusing on furniture for the home and the second part for office furniture. The first phase of the fair will be co-located with the Homedecor & Housewares China and the China International Outdoor & Leisure Products Fair, while the second phase will be held in conjunction with the Hometextile China, the China Kitchen Furniture and Appliance Fair and the China International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Raw Materials Fair (Guangzhou). With a number of events held at the same time and venue, buyers can see all related products under one roof.
Manila FAME, what organizers call Asia’s second longest running trade show, has moved to a new home, at the SMX Convention Center, the newest and biggest exhibition and convention center in the Philippines. It’s “a venue that will bring together the country’s products, showcased in one stage,” said show organizers.
The show, scheduled for April 15 to 18, includes offerings such as housewares and home decor, bed and bath, furniture and gifts.
Recently, Manila FAME opened the Natural, Herbal and Organic Zone to offer a various line of personal care, spa products and spa services.
TABLETOP
Ambiente (Feb. 13 to 17) remains the grand dame of the international trade fair circuit and as such, attracts visitors and exhibitors from around the world eager to learn about business and fashion trends for the coming year.
Nicolette Naumann, vice president of show organizer Messe Frankfurt, called Ambiente “an indispensable source of inspiration” and said this year will be no exception. “In a time when consumers have become more discerning and careful it is very important for the trade to have the right sales arguments ready.”
This means, she said, the right balance of products distinguished by “style, quality and distinctiveness.”
Trends for the coming year, displayed in Galleria I, have been categorized under four groups: “feel grace,” “enjoy calm,” “stay essential” and “think romantic.”
“Feel grace” embodies the graceful, faux-couture, feminine and luxurious chic, marked by surprising material mixes and pale colors. “Enjoy calm” is synonymous with a solidarity with nature, creativity and uncomplicated authenticity, and includes sustainable products and environmental consciousness. “Stay essential” features minimalist design and a combination of functionalism and decoration. “Think romantic” focuses on the feminine and flowery.
Gallery I will also be the site of a special exhibit celebrating Wedgwood’s 250th anniversary.
A design award from the Federal Republic of Germany and the Design Plus awards will be given. The show will also feature its annual Plagiarius awards, a negative prize for blatant copying.
Permanent tabletop showroom building 41 Madison and GLM will co-host their annual after-hours party during the show, a highly anticipated gathering that draws much of the domestic and international tabletop community in a spirit of friendship.
The 27th edition of the Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair in India (Feb. 25 to 28) promises to be “bigger and better than ever before,” with more than 1 million square feet of display area at India Expo Centre showcasing thousands of products from more than 2,000 Indian manufacturers and exporters of in virtually every category of home furnishings, as well as apparel and jewelry.
CeramEx China 2009 (March 18 to 21) will this year integrate into the China International Furniture Fair as a part of “whole home decor,” displaying with seven other themed fairs, including Outdoor & Leisure Guangzhou 2009, Hometextile China-Intertextile Guangzhou and most importantly, Homedecor & Housewares China 2009, with which it will share halls. The repositioning will not only differentiate CeramEx China from other fairs, organizers said, but also provide more extensive home decor and housewares offerings.
CeramEx China 2009 will also deepen its cooperation with local governments for ceramics manufacturing bases within China, and further combine international promotion activities with CIFF.
The Bangkok International Gift Fair and Bangkok International Houseware Fair 2009 (April 21 to 26), organized by the Thai government and supported by various trade organizations within Thailand, features roughly 700 exhibitors from several tabletop and gift categories, including giftware and decorative Christmas items and candles.
HOUSEWARES
At Ambiente this February, caffeine lovers can delight in the show’s German Coffee Olympics, a series of five competitions. The contests will include the Fifth Annual German Latte Art Contest, where contestants must create four beverages and decorate the milk foam on each identically within eight minutes, and the Fourth Annual German Coffee and Spirits Competition, during which competitors must demonstrate their ability to make Irish coffee and produce two identical Irish coffees and two original alcoholic beverages within eight minutes.
In addition, the Loft area, which showcases design from avant-garde to international newcomers, will expand at Ambiente into an additional exhibition hall, so will now be located in Halls 6.0 and 6.1. Loft will include Talents, which will feature young designers; Next, which will showcase start-up companies; and On Design, where top international designers will give presentations on current design trends. In Galleria 1, international design consultants bora.herke have again been asked to curate the 2009 trends exhibition for the show, and which this year are “feel grace,” “enjoy calm,” “stay essential” and “think romantic.”
During the Hong Kong Houseware Fair in April, attendees will see the addition of the World of Pet Supplies, which will run concurrently with the show. It was created in response to strong market demand, according to show organizers.
In addition, to entice both buyers and exhibitors to participate at shows in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council has launched an assistance package of about $15.5 million. Programs include subsidized hotel and airline expenses to lure buyers from emerging markets such as Russia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia and the Chinese mainland. In addition, all local Hong Kong companies exhibiting in a trade fair in Hong Kong next year will receive a coupon of about $260 to redeem for a wide range of HKTDC services.
The Bangkok International Gift Fair and the Bangkok International Housewares Fair are held twice annually in April and October by the Department of Export Promotion, the Ministry of Commerce. More than 750 exhibitors are expected with more than 1,900 booths ranging from housewares, gifts, home decor, office supplies and more. Along with Thai exhibitors are overseas companies from across Asia and beyond including Singapore, Malaysia, Ghana, Vietnam and Laos.
The China Sourcing Fair: Home Products (April 20 to 23) is Hong Kong’s specialized trade show for China-made good and is 100-percent focused on home products, according to show organizers. The show will feature thousands of goods from export-ready suppliers focusing on product categories including kitchenware, storage, home decor and laundry and cleaning products.
This year’s fair, scheduled for April, will include a glassware and arts and crafts pavilion. The China Sourcing Fair is co-located with the new India Sourcing Fair: Home Products.