Salon du Meuble intros turn toward comfort
By Jay McIntosh -- Furniture Today, January 20, 2002
PARIS — Europe's furniture industry fared better than North America's last year, but new products at the 2002 International Furniture Exhibition here, the Salon du Meuble, still reflected a turn toward the conservative and comfortable.
Warm colors, especially reds and oranges, were successors to the purples that were abundant last year. Case goods companies emphasized the quality of their woods in a variety of shades from blond to near-ebony.
Seats on chairs tended to be wider to offer more comfort. And for the first time, the show set aside an area for home office furniture, reflecting a cultural evolution in French attitudes toward working at home.
Paris continued its strong presentation of contemporary styles, particularly in its showcase of avant-garde and student designers. But the show also offered new mini-exhibitions aimed at more traditional tastes — such as Le Village, which focused on the "ancestral craftsmanship" of classic styles, and the French Line, with reproductions and adaptations from the 1930s' era of the great Atlantic cruise ships.
Exhibitors and show organizers said they believed attendance at the Jan. 10-14 show was off slightly. That is in spite of the fact that unlike the U.S. furniture industry, where sales declined last year, sales in France rose an estimated 2% at retail and 3.5% on the manufacturing side.
Buyers may be cautious because they believe 2002 could be a more difficult year, said Patrick Renaud, director general of show sponsor COSP. France is facing a presidential election, which traditionally causes uncertainty and some resulting weakness in the economy, and also is wondering whether its Jan. 1 adoption of a pan-European currency will help or hurt. France and most other European Community nations are switching from francs, drachmas and lire to the new Euro notes and coins.
Renaud, however, also said that buyers in Paris "are seeing the French market so dynamic, and they will expect style leadership" at the Salon du Meuble.
Among those providing that leadership were Francois Beauchet, winner of the show's Designer of the Year Award, and the team of designer Didiez Gomez and manufacturer Groupe Roset, which shared the Nombre d'Or prize.
Buyers also had an easier time finding potential new resources at the show, which made more of an effort to group exhibitors by style or market segment. Mass-market companies showed in one of the huge, open halls at the 2 million-square-foot show, and high-end style leaders were in another. In addition to the Le Village and French Line areas, spaces were designated for decorative accessories, international or contemporary designs.
One new area answering a changing need in French homes was the home office area. Because France has legally reduced its workweek so that employees can't stay at their companies more than 35 hours, more people are spending a few extra hours doing work at home.
| Gautier mixes white finish, natural wood and metal surfaces in a new youth group that will debut to American buyers in High Point in April. |
| A retro-styled liquor cabinet by Felix Monge was among the traditional offerings in the Paris show's Le Village area. |
| A leather-upholstered chair with a flip-up arm table by Hughes Chevalier was part of the French Line exhibit of reproductions and adaptations from the 1930s heyday of Atlantic cruise ships. |
| 1. Francois Beauchet, winner of the Paris show's Designer of the Year award, designed this sofa for Cinna. |
| 2. Sometimes it's a chaise, sometimes it's a flat sofa. The piece by Christophe Francois for Kyo Design adjusts to whichever seating posture the user chooses. |
| 3. Gathered at a Grange party during the Paris furniture show are Lester Gribetz, left, Bloomingdale's New York; Chantal Rousseau, Bloomingdale's Europe; Philippe Mayer, Industries Francaises de l'Ameublement, standing at right; and Grange President Dominique Mercier. |
| 4. French manufacturer Brigitte Forestier used tree trunks to give its showroom entrance an ambience related to the company's name. |
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