Flooring fashions

Domotex Hannover 2007 attracted over 44,000 trade visitors, from more than 100 countries last month as the latest trends and innovations in flooring were unveiled. Exhibitors showcased products in the areas of carpets and rugs (both hand-made and woven machine-made items); textile and resilient floor coverings; fibres and yarns; parquet and other wooden flooring; laminate; applications technology, laying equipment, cleaning and maintenance; natural stone and ceramic tiles.

Over 60 countries were represented, with a staggering 80% of the 1,360 exhibitors hailing from outside Germany. Belgium was the most prolific foreign exhibiting country, with Turkey and the Netherlands the next biggest international exhibitors.

Running concurrently to the show was a superior supporting program that included the Carpet Design Awards, where Greek Carpet firm, Pantelis Pashalidis picked up the special Visitor�s Prize for its ‘Checkers� rug. The exhibitor initiatives Loom Lounge and Floorforum proved popular, the latter featured a comprehensive collection of contemporary textiles by designer Ulf Moritz including the ranges: ‘Poetic Tradition�; ‘Natural Romantic�; Chic Frivolity� and ‘Cosmic Lounging.�

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Contractworld proved an invaluable networking resource for visiting interior designers and architects. A total of 481 entries were received for the Contractworld.awards, with entrants from Austria, Spain, Poland and Portugal claiming the coveted top spots. The contractworld.congress attracted 2,500 delegates to hear speakers such as renowned designers Kengo Kumo from Tokyo; Prof. Hermann Hertzberger of Amsterdam; Almut Ernst from Berlin and Antonio Ortiz of Seville talk on a range of topics including the latest trends and developments in the commercial design of offices, hotels and shops.

The scale of this exhibition emphasises the possibilities for the second Middle East Domotex held in Dubai, and the exhibitors we canvassed on this topic certainly seemed convinced of the success of Domotex Middle East. Laurent Messara, from Messara Trading (the agent in the Gulf for Alsorayai Carpet Factory) told CID that they believe that Domotex Middle East has even replaced Index for floor manufacturers in the Middle East: “We had a good quality of clients at Domotex ME 2006 and found new prospects as serious decision makers in the flooring industry attended, it was all about quality rather than quantity which was great for us.� He continues: “The new trends I�ve noticed at the Hannover show are bright colours (mauve & lime green), patterns and monochromatic black and white.�

This observation is echoed by Assad Ahrarli, marketing manager, MEGA Carpets, who told us: “The show has been great, we�ve gained new customers and seen our existing ones, plus we�ve launched new trends here consisting of new bright orange and green colours, along with earth colours and yet we�ve found the shaggy and long pile ranges are still very popular. We�ve got a new range with shiny silver thread woven running through it that we buy from Turkey, which we twist in with our own heat guns - this gives the shine effect throughout the rug rather than fibre optics just on the top. All our ranges that we�ve showcased here will also shown on our stand at Domotex ME this year too.�

The innovation in materials and colours seen at Hannover coupled with the industry excitement at our own Middle Eastern version suggests that the future looks very bright for the regional flooring industry.