On 22nd January 2012, the imm cologne and LivingInteriors drew to a close in Cologne with a very good result. For seven days, 1,157 companies from 54 countries showed the interior design trends of the coming year. Including estimates for the last day of the show, the trade fair duo lured 115,000 visitors to Cologne,14 percent more than at the last comparable event in 2010, even without LivingKitchen. With foreign visitors accounting for 42 percent (based on the trade visitor days), the imm cologne was once again a very international trade fair. Firstly, there were far more buyers from Europe, especially from the Russian Federation and Italy, and secondly, there was a slight increase in the number of visitors from North America and Asia. The Public Days were also very well attended. Around 40,000 consumers came to seek inspiration from the interior worlds on show.
“Cologne is the key business platform for the global furniture economy – as this trade fair has once again impressively demonstrated,” sums up Gerald Böse, Ceo of Koelnmesse. “This year we were bang on course. We had more exhibitors, were more international – the Italian contingent was stronger than it had been for a long time – and visitors got to see lots of genuinely new products. All in all, a result like this means we are again playing at the very top of the furniture sector’s premier league,” continues Böse. With his statement “This year’s furniture fair exceeded our expectations yet again,” Dirk Uwe Klaas, Chief executive of the association of the German furniture industry (Verband der Deutschen Möbelindustrie), came to a similar conclusion. “With this kind of momentum, 2012 may well be a very good year for furniture– and as far as Germany is concerned, our furniture industry may well become the engine that drives consumption,” adds the Chief executive.
Nowadays interior design is inextricably linked with textiles, wallpapers and carpets. As a result, furniture is very often selected together with decorative fabrics, wallpapers and flooring. At the imm cologne, these worlds come together in ideal fashion. With last year’s pure textile show and the new LivingInteriors format at this year’s fair, the trade show has consistently pursued the imm cologne’s evolution as an interior design fair. The new trade fair format, which was held together with the imm cologne for the first time, showcased perfectly staged interior worlds consisting of furniture, bathrooms, floors, walls and lighting that met with an excellent response from trade visitors and consumers alike.
Besides LivingInteriors, Pure Village and its new highlight “Das Haus – Interiors Page on Stage” was another of the public’s favourites. Especially over the weekend, visitors made the most of the chance to inform themselves about the coming season’s trends.
Trends for 2012
The major trend theme is nature. Natural-looking and natural materials exude a sense of honesty and authenticity. Solid wood and veneer furniture is just as popular as parquet flooring. As for covering fabrics, real leather, lots of wool and wool felt are popular, the latter often knitted.
Furniture is getting smaller. A growing number of single people are living in smaller spaces and need petite and multifunctional furniture. As various areas of the home merge, furniture has to be light and flexible because it is used wherever it happens to be needed at any given time rather than remaining in the same place for years on end. This not only includes smaller upholstered furniture, but small desks and bureaus as well, because the communication technology we use is getting smaller too.
Wall units are becoming ever more compact and slender. The chunky Tv is increasingly being replaced by an elegant flatscreen model, and thanks to digitised information, contemporary customers no longer need so much storage space. Led lighting technology has arrived in the furniture and interior design sector where, besides providing energysaving lighting, it is being used to create lots of colourful atmosphere as well.
The next dual trade fair imm cologne/LivingKitchen will take place from 14th to 20th January 2013.
