The he latest edition of Maison & Objet, held Sept. 7-11, attracted a total of 70,916 visitors, down 4.7% from September 2011. The reduction can be attributed to a 6.8% decline in the number of French visitors, whereas the number of international visitors remained stable, with a drop of only 2%.
The Top-10 best-represented countries at the show were Belgium, Italy, Germany, the U.K., Svvitzerland, the U.S., Holland, Russia, Japan and Spain.
The show saw an increase of 9.26% in visitors from Germany, 4.8% from Holland, and 2.04% from the U.K. There were fewer Italian and Spanîsh industry insiders this time, with a respective reduction of 10% and 20% in their numbers.
“This change in European visitors signals the emergence of a new balance, demonstrating the northern countries’ ability to weather the global economic crisis vvhile
underlining the current fragility of southern Europe, from Portugal to Greece,” said Etienne Cochet, CEO of Maison & Objet.
There was a noticeable increase in the number of trade visitors from Russia (up 23 %) and other regions, including Asia and the Middle East. This audience represents 44% of the trade shovv’s visitors, positioning the event as a key reference point in the global home-fashion market. Maison’s trend observatory members suggest that instead of excess, let’s choose the best.
Let’s go for the “Essentiel.”
For them, minimalist luxury is reestablishing a bare, serene timelessness. The contemporary spirit contemplates beauty in its most elementary sobriety. it seeks to reconcile the traditional, current and future. it is a most exciting time when discoveries in the techno-sciences are reinvigorating an optimistic vision of the future.
in September and January, at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center, the trade show brought together market leaders and emerging talents from the international creative professions working in the fields of interior design, product design, interior architecture, art of living and home styling. Its last session was held on Friday 7 to Tuesday 11 September, directly follovved by PARİS DESİGN WEEK run from Monday 10 to Sunday 16 September.
interdisciplinary and quality
Key themes of the MAISON&OBJET selectîon,
interdisciplinary and quality were put into perspective by an offer segmented into various sectors and shows optimizing the attendance of retail purchasers (64% of visitors) and specifiers (36% of visitors), both from France (53.7% of visitors) and abroad (46.3% of visitors).
At the heart of the message, MAISON&OBJET explored the broad spectrum of inspirations which feed into the fields of interior design and accessories, through the eclectic and culturally diverse worlds of ethnic chic-MIC (hail 1), textile (hail 2), la table (hail 3), cöte deco (market leaders, charm and contemporary trends on offer in halis 4, 5A and 5B) and accessories home {moving, l’enfant, objet de mode and Fragrance & Spa in hail 6), the latest sector to undergo a profound transformation
in line vvith this approach, in halis 7 and 8 the organisers had set up a center of excellence whose products were principally aimed at specifiers and niche distributors vvorking closely with luxury. scenes d’interieur, now! design â vivre are regular focal points for the sector, while MAISON&OBJET I projets I, dedicated to
interior architecture, and MAISON&OBJET OUTDOORJNDOOR, concentrating this year on outdoor-indoor design, are specific to the September session.
in the September session, the organizers of MAISON&OBJET had taken a completely new approach to hail 6, dedicated to the gifts and accessories sector. This was one of the most dynamic sectors
since it alone accounted for 30% of the exhibition space and the companies present at MAISON&OBJET. Constantly expanding, İt brings together an ever-increasing number of young creative professionals and has established itself as a vital source of innovation specific to MAISON&OBJET. No less than 1000 exhibitors will be present at this session in hail 6, particularly including the arrival of 200 ne w companies. The last large-scale reıvorking of the sector dates back eight years and several majör changes have made it necessary to carry out the overhaul which visitors found in September.
– The first concerned the diversification and enhanced quality of the range of products on display över the past few years, with the emergence of areas including l’enfant, l’objet de mode and fragrance & spa, ali three exclusive to MAISON&OBJET.
– The second was the result of the opening of hail 7, which had made it possible to physically re-center hail 6 in relation to the route taken by MAISON&OBJET visitors.
– Finally, new trends in distribution and the increasing number of concept stores had heightened purchasers’ interest in this sector of the show, at the intersection of
Simplified layout
Hail 6 was broken down into five sectors: moving, objet de mode, l’enfant, fragrance & spa and quotidien. This simplification of the themes meant better legibility of the products on offer, while also developing them. An interdisciplinary and selective vision of ali sectors in hail 6
To support this interdisciplinary approach, MAISON&OBJET launched a new 4000m2 space at the end of hail 6 which concentrated the most innovative exhibitors from the various accessory sectors. This subjective selection of 200 exhibitors has been re-
examined each year to provide visitors with an exclusive panorama of the best of moving, objet de mode, l’enfant and fragrance & spa. This showcase was destined to become an essential indicator of upcoming trends.
A tribute to creativity
Since the inauguration of hail 7, hail 6 has become a hail of transîtion between the interior design sectors of MAİSON&OBJET and the center of excellence formed by the scenes d’interieur, MAISON&OBJET I projets I , now! design â vivre and MAISON&OBJET OUTDOOR INDOOR
