view Newsletter: October

Decorex a stunning success! With an increase in visitors who swarmed the stands at the show, healthy business was the order of the day at the end of September in Chelsea.  As the design baton passes from London after the imminent Sleep exhibition, to Interiors Birmingham in January, strategic plans to improve the flagship show for the entire industry have been announced.  As Birmingham itself is rejuvenated and improved so too is the major British interiors event, with dramatic changes to benefit everyone involved.

Ian Thompson, Editor

After eighteen months of extensive research, UBM Live*, the organisers of the UK's largest interiors event, Interiors Birmingham, are happy to announce their strategic plans for the event over the next two years.

Having carried out in-depth interviews with past and present visitors and exhibitors, held advisory panel meetings involving industry experts from all sectors, visitor focus groups and email surveys, UBM Live* have gathered the thoughts and opinions of over 2000 members of the industry and in turn laid plans to deliver a much improved and exciting destination in line with what the industry has asked for.

The plans are being rolled out in two stages. Stage One, ready for the 2009 edition, will involve all of the high end companies from across the furniture and design interiors market being moved into Pavilion, Hall 1 and Hall 2, creating high end classic and modern destination halls. Lighting will be located in Hall 9, soft furnishings and furnishing accessories in Hall 3 and the remaining halls (3 - 5) will house a mix of volume furniture.

Stage Two, which will follow in 2010, will see each hall arranged by the following categories: Design Interiors, High-end Classic, High-end Modern, Bed & Bedroom, Dining Room furniture, Cabinet, Living Room, Occasional, Furnishing Accessories, Soft Furnishings, Upholstery, Lighting and Outdoor furniture.

Andrew Vaughan, Event Director, comments on the changes, "Having listened to industry voices and pro actively established a solution to many of the uncertainties, we believe that these changes will help buyers plan their days more efficiently and ensure navigation around the show is more logical, offering reinvigorated halls that will give a new dynamic to the audience."

Vaughan also gives his views on the improved exhibitor experience, "The vastly enhanced navigation for visitors will benefit each exhibitor as buyers will have more effective time at the show to visit more companies and hopefully place more orders."

Interiors Birmingham will still incorporate trend-led feature areas, seminars and other unique highlights which will be announced in the coming months. Keep up to date with the latest news on the brand new website www.interiorsbirmingham.com

*UBM Live, formally CMP information

Decorex International 2008, 'The Interior Design Show For Professionals', really did live up to its tag line this year. Bigger and better than ever before, Decorex was the place to see and be seen between. The current financial crisis didn't seem to keep the top interior designers, specifiers and buyers away this year as initial figures show a 4% increase on total visitor numbers. High quality visitors working on big projects reportedly placed big orders directly on stand. International couriers will be tied up in the next few weeks with samples and contracts whizzing their way from London to worldwide destinations including Dubai and Russia.

The 9,090 visitors from 70 countries entered the show through arches at the main entrance, each accented with giant chartreuse flower heads from celebrated florists In Water, and past the walls, beautifully finished with custom printed 'Decorex Logo' wallpaper, through to the London Lobby. The sumptuous space designed by John Stefanidis featured both bespoke and off-the-shelf pieces of furniture, lighting, art and carpet, all supplied by a selection of the 260 Decorex exhibitors.

The temporary Decorex structures were filled with only the best furniture, fabrics and wallcoverings, lighting, flooring, interior accessories and even recycled bathtubs providing the perfect place to source everything an interior designer could need for any high end project, be it commercial or residential. The show lived up to its worldwide reputation for excellence, quality and inspiration.  

Once again the Decorex awards highlighted the best in show this year. Even though the Ben Whistler stand looked like the back end of a boat albeit a realistic 30ft wooden hull topped with a mast and full billowing sails, the showcase captured the imagination of not only the BIDA who honored the bespoke furniture manufacturer with the Best Stand Award, but also the hearts of the other exhibitors who collectively selected them for the Decorex Challenge Award, also for Best Stand.

Susan Crewe, Editor of House & Garden magazine presented French design studio Emery & Cie with an award for Best Merchandise. Stepping into the enclosed stand was like stepping into an Aladdin's cave full of everything you could need to finish off a design scheme from tiles to paint, fabrics to ironmongery.

Sophie Davies, Assistant Editor at Elle Decoration judged the newest award at the show. The Elle Decoration Award for Best Sustainable Product was hotly contested with several companies being short-listed for the prize. The product that pipped the others to the post was the Voyage hand-printed natural wallcovering collection by Phillip Jeffries Ltd available through Architectural Textiles, which not only fulfilled the sustainable criteria but was also right on trend in terms of pattern and colour.

Colour was also what attracted the judges eyes for the idFX Award for Best Contemporary Product. Editor Kate Burnett and designers Martin Brudnizki and Helen Green were drawn to the stunning new collection of 'Out of Print to Colour' woven silks at Vanderhurd, bestowing the durries with the prestigious award.

World of Interiors magazine publisher Emma Redmayne selected Leisure Plan as the company to be presented with the World of Interiors Award for Innovation for the extensive outdoor furniture collections showcased from Dedon.

Don't forget to put the dates in your diary for next year! Decorex International 2009 will run from 27-30 September although there will be a mid season taster at Interiors UAE in Abu Dhabi where 25 stands from key companies will form the Decorex Pavilion. Further information is available at www.interiorsuae.com

Within the design industry, one thing that has always been so important is diversity. Change is eye-catching and innovation, in my opinion, is the key to success.

Classic pieces are always there.  This is not a bad thing, as it means that these designs and products are still popular with the consumer, but we are in danger of design becoming monotonous. That is why re-packaging is vital. What made the difference at Decorex was Andrew Martins's stand.  It was instantly memorable as it was striking and creative.

Products don't sell themselves, they need a frame. People want to see the launch of new, inventive products, but in a stall that is enticing, exciting and one which will surprise the public. This is what will sell your products.

Birmingham is a city which is about to transform and be re-packaged. With billions of pounds set aside for the redevelopment of the city, it is an amazing opportunity for designers and architects to flourish.

Living in London we are spoilt with things to do. Not a day goes by when there isn't an event happening, a gallery opening etc, so my first impressions of Birmingham were, why go?

On visiting the city you realise that, with 1,2000,000 inhabitants, sufficient economic resources, an extensive history in design and industry, there is no doubt that Birmingham will be hugely important in the future of British design.  The re-branding of Birmingham provides an exciting opportunity and blank canvas for the whole of the design industry.

In no time at all, we shall see the rebirth of Birmingham into an iconic city, in a similar style to the transformation of Bilbao. During my time working in Spain, during the 80's and 90's, no one wanted to go to Bilbao. It was a dirty, industrial city, which carried huge risk due to severe terrorist threats. Then in 1997, Frank Gehry's Guggenheim was opened. This one masterpiece of architectural design changed the face of Bilbao forever. The city got cleaned up, thankfully the threat of terrorism subsided, and many well known architects, such as Calatrava and Foster, began weaving their creative magic upon the city.  It now stands as a very popular international tourist attraction. 

I hope that Birmingham, as a city, follows in Bilbao's footsteps, and I think that the city makes the perfect companion to the Interiors show: re-vitalised and exciting. I look forward to visiting in January.

Taken from a Blog by Kersti Urvois, Owner, Casa Décor