Flagging attendance hasn't quashed innovative spirit
20 countries represented at show
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, May 19, 2006
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Copenhagen flashes more color
 A purple table with an acrylic top and aluminum base, and chairs that each featured 900 broom-like PVC straws, turned heads in the showroom of Italian producer Edra. |
| A purple table with an acrylic top and aluminum base, and chairs that each featured 900 broom-like PVC straws, turned heads in the showroom of Italian producer Edra. |
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- A booming Danish economy has pepped up domestic sales for the country’s furniture makers, but it hasn’t done much to boost flagging attendance at the Copenhagen International Furniture Fair.
Trade attendance at this year’s show wasn’t available at press time, but total attendance — including consumers allowed in on the closing Sunday — came to 14,569, down slightly from 14,668 the year before.
In 2005, and for the second consecutive year, trade attendance declined 20% to 11,975 visitors. This year saw a slight dip in the number of exhibitors to 352 companies from 363 in 2005. Twenty countries were represented.
In recent years, attendance has been hurt by consolidation among Danish furniture makers, said Keld Korsager, managing director of the Assn. of Danish Furniture Inds. From 1999 to 2005, Denmark lost about a third of its furniture manufacturing base, with some 200 companies either closing or being swallowed up by competitors.
Retail consolidation has been another issue, he said, and that’s in addition to retailers bringing smaller delegations here than in the past. It’s also become common for some of Denmark’s largest manufacturers to skip the show. Tvilum-Scanbirk, for example, pulled out a few years ago.
Today, it’s more difficult for retailers to get a complete picture of what Denmark has to offer, and Korsager worries these developments also are taking the edge off the country’s long-held reputation for innovation and bold design.
 What’s new is old. The Wingchair, in a spring green fabric, was designed by Hans Wegner in 1960 and marketed on a limited basis for about seven years. The new chair, from Carl Hansen & Son, is produced nearly the same way except the base in now stainless steel instead of chrome and the cushion is molded to the frame. |
| What’s new is old. The Wingchair, in a spring green fabric, was designed by Hans Wegner in 1960 and marketed on a limited basis for about seven years. The new chair, from Carl Hansen & Son, is produced nearly the same way except the base in now stainless steel instead of chrome and the cushion is molded to the frame. |
That said, this year’s show continued to place great emphasis on innovative design, risk-taking and new thinking. A large Talent Zone at the Bella Center, for example, spotlighted fresh looks from young international and Danish designers looking for production and branding partners. The Japanese Cool 2 area, the show’s first collaboration with the Japanese External Trade Organization, showcased about 20 prototype pieces from young Japanese designers, who have the Danish touch for simple, yet clever and functional, furniture design. Among the standouts was a chair made of recyclable materials that was inspired by a white shirt collar, and a “wave” bench that took three different forms depending on how it was put together and placed. Youth furniture, a fast-growing segment for Danish suppliers, was highlighted in a Cozy Kids area where, among other things, the entries in a Stimulating Children’s Furniture contest were displayed. The winner was Pim Pom by GoPingPong, a piece of furniture in the shape of a strange animal that could be sat on and played with in several ways.
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Flagging attendance hasn't quashed innovative spirit
May 28, 2006
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