IMM COLOGNE 2025 – PREVIEW
Partnership on the Horizon
The imm cologne wants to break new ground and is looking for solutions as how the traditional furniture fair can continue to be an inspiring driving factor for the industry in the future – in terms of both topics and business. The team recently provided an insight into the strategy in the Blox multifunctional building in the centre of Copenhagen. The biggest innovation: Denmark will be the first partner country at 2025 edition. Blox is home to the private-public partnership Creative Denmark, which has already represented Denmark's creative industry at trade fairs around the world. "We are entering into a true partnership between two sides that share the same values," says Majken Kalhave, Executive Director at Creative Denmark. The cornerstones of Danish design are quality of life and sustainability. Three current trends reflect the essence of Danish design: it is human-centred, "less is more" and craftsmanship and durability have top priority. "It was an easy decision to choose Denmark because Denmark is known for its outstanding design and countless successful brands in our industry come from Denmark," emphasises Bernd Sanden, Director of imm cologne.
The trade fair hopes that this new concept will bring a breath of fresh Nordic air to the Cologne halls. And this is certain: with two group exhibitions in the Home and Pure sectors, Danish novelties will be curated on the one hand and a themed show on the other – the choice of the person responsible is just about to be finalised. In addition, the joint programme will include talks, discussion panels and events where the essential topics of the industry will be examined and discussed from all sides. Lise Thomsen, Head of Creative Industries at Dansk Industri, emphasises the importance of this partnership for her association: "The collaboration is a crucial moment for us, as we aim to showcase Danish design, creativity and innovation. Setting new benchmarks for the industry on a global stage, imm cologne provides us with un unparalleled platform to reach international markets." As Denmark's largest business and employers' organisation, Dansk Industri represents over 20,000 companies from all sectors. Up to forty companies are expected to exhibit from the vibrant kingdom. Kvadrat, for example, will be presenting new products during Orgatec 2024 and imm cologne 2025. At the flagship store in Copenhagen Nordhavn, one could already take a peak at the manufacturer's new textiles. This much can be revealed: Kvadrat remains true to its forward-looking endeavours.
A foretaste will already be available at Orgatec 2024 in October: The Danish Design Makers have come up with a concept for generating new ideas and bringing designers together with new manufacturers. For the "Blind Date", major Danish manufacturers were asked to create a briefing for a product of their choice. These briefs were anonymised and drawn from a total of twenty designers – without knowing who they were designing for, they set to work. The results will be shown in a special presentation at the imm cologne on 22 October 2024, revealing to the participants and the public who the partners are.
Even though Jan Kurth from the Association of the German Furniture Industry and Matthias Pollmann, Vice President Trade Fair Management at Koelnmesse, emphasised in their speeches at the Louisiana Museum that the industry has not yet got off the rollercoaster ride it has been on since 2020: the promising partner country, the international orientation and the energetic euphoria of the players give reason to hope that Cologne will be able to welcome many exhibitors and visitors in January 2025 with creative ideas, sustainable concepts and new presentation offerings. "After all, Germany is still the largest market in this sector and, with an annual turnover of 30 billion euros, is of primary interest to German and international companies,’ says Jan Kurth.
