There are few cities in the world that inspire creativity as strongly as Paris. The beauty of being in Paris is from trawling the fair grounds at Parc de Exposition, galleries and boutiques around the city that fills the heart with design enthusiasm. No wonder the Maison & Objet Fair held in Paris is more than just a trade show, being the pole of attention for every professional involved with design, fashion, home, objects, and art. A creative epitome, the fair renews ideas, changes perceptions, inspires and motivates to create something new, something unique… Smita Arora, a home fashion designer, talks to a few exhibitors on the trends that emerged…”
This year’s edition of the show held recently was once again filled with colour, texture and a good mix of old and new techniques. Designers used unusual combination of patterns, texture, and fabrics to create imposing collections. New products with green initiatives featuring environmentally conscious designs edged past the rest.
Neons and pastels dominated the show and looked fabulous together. Since Pantone had announced Tangerine Tango as the colour for 2012, everyone expected orange to clearly dominate the show; however, yellow from last year was still dominating – especially in one of the hottest colour combinations, yellow and grey. Rust and green were also seen in many collections.
Key trends were block colours, clashing colour combinations, geometric and small motif prints, natural fabrics – linen and wool making a comeback, coarse fabrics and knit structures, retro look, old leather look, vintage inspired designs, unusual products such as sequined wall papers…
India was represented by 13 participants at the fair that included names like Bakero Zoha, Condor, Heirloom Naga, Inka, Mariko, Maspar, Neeru Kumar, Paul Salon, Rangotri, Sarita Handa, Sarla Antiques, Sasha association for craft producers and The Mansion. These very trend forward companies showcased products in a wide collection of bedding ranges to cushions to drapes, table linen, to bags and scarves. “Being a part of Maison & Objet is a matter of pride. For us Maison is always been an inspirational trade show and it’s an honour to be at Maison as there are very few Indian companies who can make it to Maison every year,” says Vikram Joshi of Rangotri.
The Indian exhibits attracted a good mix of retailers and wholesalers looking for a good design and fairly priced products. “We have been exhibiting in Maison since 2009; this certainly was the best so far,” admitted Vikram. Right from the beginning Rangotri has been showcasing printed home furnishing range and this time the focus was only on cushions inexpensive fabrics like silk and linen with very detailed high quality hand embroidery. The range was based on the old block printing/hand painted large panels called ‘Palampore’ which used to be printed in India in the 18th Century. “We had used one large ‘Palampore’ as the backdrop of the booth, which was the highlight of the collection. The buyers were attracted by the display and when they came closer, they saw our range of printed and embroidered cushions,” says Vikram.
Handmade in Britain and Handmade Interiors, participants from UK who showcased an elegant range of cushions and other home accessories were appreciated by buyers from Europe and US alike. Piyush Suri, Creative Director of Handmade in Britain and Handmade Interiors found the show inspiring. Some key developments that he observed and feels will be the trends for the future were block colours, clashing colour combinations, geometric and small motif prints, natural fabrics – linen and wool making a comeback, coarse fabrics and knit structures, retro look, old leather look, vintage inspired designs, unusual products such as sequined wall papers, surreal baroque feeling, curious mix of flowers and plants and Bohemian style full of humour and fantasy.
Nitin Goyal, from London too presented his home furnishings collections namely cushions throws bed covers. The techniques used were layering and handcrafted look using hand work techniques. They had international buyers looking for their products and he feels that Maison & Objet is no more a French or European show. “With participants from many countries around the world, the fair has a very global feel and for the buyers too it is an opportunity to see various techniques and cultures reflected in the collections,” says Goyal. Even the buyers are no longer from European countries only, many Japanese and American buyers were spotted at the fair.
Some new trends that were spotted at the fair were hexagons, octagons and multi-faceted shapes, honeycombs, geometric and triangle based repeats, open structures, white with texture finishes, ridged and linear surfaces, tile-effect wallpapers, concrete and paper-like dainty porcelain. Interpreting the trends seen at the fair Vikram concludes, “The upcoming season would largely be the classic look but the scale and colours will be big and bold. The other trend which will be widely appreciated will be bright colours with some fun elements like pictures of pets, etc.”
