Designer & Rustic Reproduction Furniture at the International Furniture Fair Cologne, 18th to 24th January 1999

Furniture World Magazine

Designer furniture has lost its regional significance - and gained thereby. In the past, only attractive designs from neighboring regions and countries inspired ranges of designer and rustic furniture. The strange and the exotic were imported directly. Most design creations and ranges of furniture were of interest only to particular regions. In the age of world-wide communications, however, all that has changed : designs today are exported from country to country and from continent to continent. Their trade platform is the INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR in Cologne (18th to 24th January 1999), the largest furniture market in the world. As successful furniture manufacturers are now reporting, new markets have been opened up for furniture in Baroque style, for instance in Asia and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, German-speaking countries are showing an ever increasing enthusiasm for imported Mediterranean and Scandinavian furniture. The global village is not creating a homogeneity of style as many feared it would. Instead, it is presenting us with a wider cultural spectrum from which to draw. Visitors to the INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR can see the enormous effect this has had on the previously rather conservative designer and rustic furniture sectors. More colors are available for furnishings fabrics, mainly with a Mediterranean influence, but also Oriental and Central American. Pastel colors in uncomplicated designs from Northern Europe. Thoughtful, restrained designs with an emphasis on materials come to us from the Far East. The USA contributes the latest in styling perfection and uncomplicated fashion statements. It should be noted that, in the main, original designs no longer come onto the international market as a product of a particular country or cultural milieu, or serve as models. Often they are only influenced and inspired by another country's designs or a special design for a particular market. Different cultural inputs are mixed to produce the most individual creations: vive la différence - more important now than ever before! Something else has changed. Designer furniture is nowadays just as likely to be planned in the semi-public or contract areas as in private houses. Many pieces, often prepared to specific dimensions for a particular project, are intended for "themed" shops, restaurants and hotel rooms or holiday homes. Today's individualist enjoys changing the style of his furniture, especially in premises where he is staying only temporarily or just as long as the fancy takes him. There is ready involvement today in a host of new environments quite different from the domestic scene. The demand to create an intensely atmospheric setting has created in turn a world-wide market for new ranges of furniture with an emphasis on style.