The INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR Becomes IMM Cologne. Extended Concept For Interior Products Design Is a Central Focus

Furniture World Magazine

The INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR will have something different about it when it takes place in 2003: a new name. From then on, the trade fair will be known as imm cologne - the International Furniture Fair. The new name is part of a conceptual transformation of the global platform for the furniture sector, the aim of which is to develop the event into a centre for new ideas for the world of furnishing and international design. The product ranges on display at the forthcoming imm cologne will be extended in order to reflect the wealth of attractive possibilities offered by furniture and interior design. At the high end of the market, home textiles, carpets, accessories and items for the home will be presented alongside home lighting for the very first time. In this way, imm cologne will be reflecting a trend that has become apparent in the specialist furniture trade. Here, it is becoming increasingly important to offer customers complete presentations of living styles that focus not only on furniture but also on home textiles, carpets and accessories. This expansion of the concept behind imm cologne is a logical step on the path towards developing the trade fair into one that covers all aspects of interior design. The groundwork began in 1999, when home lighting was included for the first time. Even more striking, however, was the establishment of the Interior Lifestyle Centre, in the modern market sector, in 2000. Here the focus was on the home-design philosophies of individual companies rather than the presentation of individual pieces of furniture. Traditional and classic furniture is increasingly being presented as part of a comprehensive concept of integrated and harmonious home interiors. The introduction of the Classic Atmosphere segment in 2001 reflected this development. The central focus of imm cologne 2003 will be on international design in all its diversity. The forthcoming trade fair's design programme will be considerably broader than this year's Red Route presentation, thus once again making imm cologne 2003 the world's most comprehensive information and communication platform for design -orientated furniture. The particular attraction of the design programme at imm cologne is that it not only presents design of the highest quality - it also juxtaposes internationally recognised design on the one hand with new, provocative design on the other. New advertising for the fair will appear with the slogan "Living ideas". This slogan, with its international outlook, will help to promote brand identities all over the world and emphasize the event's global orientation. The new name design and new logo can be requested from: m.majerus@web.de