FRANKFURT — March 25, 2014 — A new season, a new Trendtable, a new concept: Heimtextil is working on a completely new kind of trend presentation for the next trade fair for home and contract textiles (14 to 17 January 2015). “We plan to expand the Trend Show into a ‘Theme Park’ and make room for a comprehensive presentation of future-oriented subjects relevant to the sector. To this end, we are planning a series of new measures, with which we aim to draw greater attention to design-oriented, contemporary aspects”, said Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt, announcing the new plans.
In a first step, experts from six international design studios met for the Trendtable in Frankfurt am Main on 5 and 6 March 2014 and exchanged ideas and opinions on global design developments. The results of their deliberations represent the creative basis for the new ‘Theme Park’ at Heimtextil 2015, which will include hospitality and sustainability areas, as well as a colour area and presentation zones visualising trend and innovation themes.
Dutch designers assume overall responsibility
Representatives of new yet extremely renowned design studios also took part in the Trendtable: Lisa White, Creative Director of Homebuildlife / WGSN from the USA and Felix Diener, textile designer and engineer from the studio of the same name in Germany contributed for the first time this year. Additionally, the Trendtable welcomed back Mayouri Sengchanh of French agency Exalis / Carlin International. The other members of the Trendtable are Kate Franklin and Caroline Till of FranklinTill Studio, Great Britain, Dan Namura and Gen Namura of Dan Project, Japan, and Anne Marie Commandeur, Grietje Schepers and Anouk Haegens of Stijlinstituut Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In this connection, the Dutch trend experts from Stijlinstituut Amsterdam have assumed responsibility for preparing the concept of the trend themes and the new ‘Theme Park’ at the next Heimtextil. “The ‘Theme Park’ will concentrate creativity, science, technology, business and communication to reveal new solutions and developments in the world of textile interiors”, explains Anne Marie Commandeur.
During the meeting in Frankfurt, all design studios presented their own trend predictions, which were then discussed and refined. In this connection, the designers introduced a variety of future-oriented projects from the fields of architecture, interior design, fashion, art and lifestyle from all over the world, account of which have been taken into the evaluation process. “The enormous creative potential and the international expertise of the members of the Trendtable are also of great importance for the reorientation of our trend presentation. We are really looking forward to the big ‘Theme Park’ project at Heimtextil 2015”, says Olaf Schmidt.
The design studios involved in the preparation of the trend themes for the 2015/16 season are:
Stijlinstituut Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and its managing director Anne Marie Commandeur will take the lead in the development of the new trend themes and the ‘Theme Park’. She heads a team and network of multi-disciplinary designers who work in the fields of textile innovations, prognoses, colour trends and strategic design concepts. www.stijlinstituut.nl
Tokyo-based Dan and Gen Namura from Dan Project (Japan) are young designers whose artistic origins can be traced back to the renowned ‘yuzen’ handicraft of dying and weaving kimono fabrics in Kyoto. Their work ranges from designing furniture fabrics, via bags and clothing, to premium textiles and colourful graphic prints. www.dan-web.net
Mayouri Sengchanh, CEO of Exalis, represents Carlin International (France), the world’s longest established trend agency and one of the top five of the sector in Germany, Switzerland and Russia. Carlin International offers services in the field of style marketing, brand development and consulting, trend scouting, sector-related trend books and the individual preparation of colour and trend worlds in special workshops for clients. www.carlin-groupe.fr
Felix Diener, textile designer and engineer (Germany), founded his own design studio in 2008. He designs carpets, curtains and home accessories. His creative work forms an interface between art and technology, and is distinguished by the use of colours, materials and textures. As reflected by his portfolio, his individual design philosophy transcends colour and form with the emphasis on the search for innovative structures, surfaces, compositions and production techniques. www.felixdiener.com
Kate Franklin and Caroline Till of FranklinTill Studio (Great Britain) have over 20 years’ experience in research, trend forecasting and design strategy. The wide range of projects carried out by the multi-disciplinary agency includes trend reports, colour prognoses, design realisation, brand developments and fair and exhibition curation. Caroline Till is also responsible for the world-famous Textile Futures course of study at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design in London. www.franklintill.com
As Creative Director of Homebuildlife, a subsidiary of the WGSN Group (USA), Lisa White and her team have created the only B2B trend-forecasting website, which specialises in interior and product design and analyses the latest lifestyle, industrial design and decoration trends. Additionally, Lisa White is Director of the WGSN Think Tank, which analyses long-term consumption trends. www.homebuildlife.wgsn.com
Photographs of the Trendtable meeting can be downloaded from:
http://www.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/de/media/textiletechnologies/heimtextil/frankfurt/foto_audio_video.html
Posted March 25, 2014
Source: Messe Frankfurt
