Upholstery at the International Furniture Fair Cologne, 18 th to 24th January 1999

Furniture World Magazine

To do or not to do, that is the question which we ask ourselves again and again, particularly at home. Do the ironing or read a book; do the tax declaration or have a cuddle? Whatever the decision, life can be nice and cozy on the new sofas. It is even possible to "work properly" in a private and relaxed position. Starck, the humorous designer of the 1990's, is one of the "inventors" of such a "Lazy Working Sofa". He has installed both a work light and an atmospheric light on the sofa; there are occasional tables at the side and at the back, and in the middle there is lots of space for sifting, lying and sleeping. His sofa is incredibly deep. The INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR in Cologne presents the latest in upholstered furniture trends from 18th to 24th January 1999. Sifting, particularly on upholstered furniture, has become a purely private matter as guests are received at the table. Nowadays, sifting also means lying down, at least intermittently or alternatively. Either the new upholstered furniture can be converted in its form and functions, or clear forms and generous dimensions simply permit the furniture to be used unconventionally. Whether the former is merely the older" version and the latter the "younger"? Nowadays you will not get very far with such age-classifications. A style of living is no longer dependent on age. Whoever sets his sights on the powerful target group of the retiring or the restless, calls his models in this market segment, for example, "multi-generation armchair" or propagates furniture "full of life". The new, convertible armchairs, sofas and révcamiers of today are highly pleasing due to their extremely easy and sometimes decidedly clever conversion possibilities. They are far more comfortable than those of the days of Granddad's TV chair, and at the same time the form always presents itself at its best. For example, half of the back shell can be "folded over' decoratively to cozily form an asymmetrical leg rest. Or the footstool can be tilted to the front under the armrests. Small tables or shelves quite naturally form part of today's modern relaxation furniture. Even the mutation from armchair to two-seater and back again is possible with new Italian furniture, however it is still not really very comfortable. Manufacturers and designers offer the possibility of conversion to a lounge chair, chaise longue or even to a bed in all styles and styling variations and in a highly creative manner, entirely as is required, from an emergency bed to a perfect, permanent bedstead. The new "light upholstery landscape", which was given its name at the last INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR in Cologne, has become an overnight success with the public. The generous sofa or the "square récamier hits the current vital nerve on the spot; privacy, relaxation, having a lie-down, doing everything or nothing, alone or as a couple - and a great piece of furniture. Great expectations are in particular made on the "skin" of a piece of furniture which must prove itself in practical tests. As, however, not everyone likes hard-wearing leather or similar micro-fibre materials, the textile industry, in a veritable creativity leap, has created fantastic new high-tech and at the same time high-touch fabrics. They accordingly come in a new optical "contrast program"; some are fine, firm and silky, others are robust, strong and woolly just like hand-woven material, felt, worsted or good old corduroy velvet. However they are all without exception extremely hard-wearing; they even bear the attribute "cat-claw tested". The weavers and the textile designers work today with ingenious mixtures of high-tech and natural fibers, and even metal fibers are also woven into the fabric. Elasticity is in demand for the spectacular "Neo Pop" seats. Entirely free forms also appear again in the upholstered furniture, memories of the seventies: shrill colors, round forms, layers, cave-dwellingness. Verner Panton, the designer icon of this period, appears again with new designs alongside the many young designers who with great pleasure draw inspiration from "his" time. Even design is nowadays simply a "multi-generation" matter.