Trends, design and distribution
In curtains the textile editor is still the absolute touchstone
The challenge is a really hard one. Outline a profile, as true to life as possible, of the various downstream figures in the production chain of furnishing fabrics and curtains. Hard but exciting. You could almost say indispensable, otherwise you’d be missing the basis for starting any discussion about how the future of the sector could evolve; for customers of the industry, for the customers of customers and, finally, also for the perception that the final consumer has of the upholstered fabric or of the curtain. In such a complicated field, we seek out a slightly easier approach and therefore we start from the curtain, in other words from the product sphere that, in the world of furnishing fabrics, is more recognizable, is in some way traceable and perceptible by the final consumer almost as a finished product, an element apart, with its own profile and its own personality in the world of room furnishings. Let's be clear, personality that undoubtedly fabric also has but that, as we will examine later, gets hidden, almost dispelled by the “arrogance” of the furniture or design element. Something that on the other hand for curtains, unequivocal filters of ambient light, and the biggest surface available in the home for textile decoration, doesn’t happen.
Let's start with curtains then, and to accompany us on this first introductory round we have chosen Diego Vercellino, managing director of Sirio Tendaggio and president of the Consorzio Tendaggio Italiano, one of the founding and sponsoring members of Proposte.
Q. – The curtain, among furnishing fabrics, is the product that moves down the distribution chain, all the way to final consumption, almost unchanged. That is why the channels that distribute it are easier to read, but also more “ruthless”. For example, the major DIY chains, with their big curtain departments, create a lot of confusion in the market. Do you agree?
A. – Only with the first part. It’s true what you say about the fact that the curtain, among textile furnishing products, is the one most similar to the finished product. Even if the intervention of those who suggest or create pairings – usually textile editors or interior designers – and then of those who install, often and willingly change the profile. While I absolutely don't see the “do it yourself” chains – obviously you mean importers – as competitors. That type of competition takes place on the low end of the spectrum, which is certainly not ours. More than competitors, I see them as important opportunities. Opportunities how. Because precisely the big chains we are talking about tend, especially abroad, in countries where firms have already evolved to be more organized than in Italy, orientate their focus towards increasingly more stratified consumer targets and think about the higher range of these, which given the volumes we’re talking about, could carve out an important role in the landscape of interior furnishing textiles in the future, skipping over the intermediate links in the supply chain. But even if they didn't skip them it would still create a market and, consequently, opportunities for us producers.
Q. – Ok. So the overall landscape is coming into focus. There are the classic textile editors that are still the boss and then the reality of these large-scale distributors. You also mentioned installers, are they still an important reality?
A. – They are an evolving reality. Abroad the installer is always more tied to a major distribution firm – and we return to large-scale, because it's not all “do it yourself” when you go up in consumer targets – so maybe they are independent but they work for third parties. In Italy, on the other hand, the installer is often still the owner of a brick and mortar showroom, so the classic craftsman/merchant. A figure that is still important in our market, but I believe with a future in decline. Or rather, in transformation; as happens abroad, they will increasingly be someone who executes by following the indications of an interior designer, an interior decorator or a large-scale distributor that provides both services. Let's also not forget e-commerce. I believe that this channel will soon wreak havoc even in our sector: I’m already hearing talk of tons of curtain samples being sent to people’s homes.
Q. – In any case, is the trend intermediary, the mediator between production ideas and market demands, still the textile editor?
A. – Absolutely, and that is why they remain our touchstone customer. Take for example our company: textile editors represent 80% of our business. I do not foresee any major changes to this customer channel structure. The percentages may vary a little, also depending on the markets we target, but this is our outlook. But so far we have talked about residential, what I really believe will grow will be contract. In that world, really large numbers are at play and the supplier/customer relationship could even develop without intermediaries.
Q. – Would you say that European curtain manufacturing exists, or is Italy the only place left with a strong manufacturing presence in the sector?
A. – We have to agree on the concept of Europe. If you’re talking about the current geographical composition then I find it hard to still think of “European curtains”. There are good companies in Spain, Belgium, France, in the characteristic and particular world of German curtains, but the truth is that Turkey has taken on a very big role due to its ability to respond to the requests of customer partners. We Italians are still the most creative and ingenious but they are much more structured in terms of size and very aggressive.
Q. – A nod to the global market. Where are curtains done well and where could the future be?
A. – Today markets are relatively simple to read. Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States are where it’s at. In Russia the geopolitical situation is a challenge and then it’s a market that is not very reliable. China was everyone’s great hope but it turned out to be disappointing and very difficult to follow. The only possible condition is to find a local partner and stand your ground in that market for the long-term. What’s left is Asia and Australia: interesting markets with good potential, but far away, complex and very expensive to deal with. But we should get there. Fortunately, more or less in a general sense, I can say that everywhere people have understood that the unbridled battle over price, on this product range, does not pay in the end. It is an attitude that is changing: whatever your target market is, if you want to do high-end editing, you must have different, original, creative and difficult to imitate products. All that has a cost.
Q. – Last question. There is a lot of talk about sustainability. In early October Sistema Moda Italia held a conference on the subject in Milan presenting important initiatives underway in the related clothing sector. Do you think it's also an issue for curtain customers?
A. – I am absolutely certain of it. In my experience major editors are starting to look for collections that carry guarantees and certifications in terms of sustainability, both for the products and manufacturing. It will be an increasingly important topic, even becoming an indispensable condition for working in a certain range of consumer and of sensibility. It is definitely demanding and expensive for manufacturing, but I am convinced that it is indispensable and even in the rather short time.
Trends, design and distribution
A conversation with the designers: which fabric for which environment
The designer is not a mythical figure, a totem, a presence to be evoked. And yet, in the world of furnishing fabrics, often they are treated exactly like that: a sort of capricious divinity who doesn’t really love fabric, they love other materials, they could be the harbinger of great successes if fabric were (or became again) one of their favourites, but that is not the case. In any case, an entity that you have to deal with, but that it’s unclear how to approach. We’re joking of course, but not entirely. The issue starts with the fact that this creative figure is a sort of shape-shifting entity, especially in Italy, which passes with seeming levity from the creation of an object, to the design of a textile collection, to the creation of the indoor or outdoor furnishings of a building. In short, designer, architect, interior designer, graphic designer ... all that matters is thinking about form and substance. Now, in the somewhat square and rational universe of textile manufacturing it becomes difficult to relate to creatives like this. Not that there is a shortage, in the sector, of ingenuity and inventiveness to be clear, but such an exercise must somehow be “inside” the sector, emerge from within, invoking the need for (real, we agree) very deep technical, material and process knowledge. However, the question arises: when Vico Magistretti designed, in 1960, his first piece of furniture, the Carimate chair for Cassina, we didn’t believe he was a great carpenter. Why then should we expect a designer to know exactly how a jacquard loom works? Can’t their creative contribution be mediated and guided by those who are experts in the production process in question, exactly as happens in clothing, in furniture or wherever there is something “technical” to know?
The issue is very complicated and still deserves a lot of reflection, but we mustn’t miss the opportunity to start a dialogue, to understand the reasons, the desires and the needs of the design world to try to bring it closer to us, to make it more contiguous with the fabric sphere. So what better opportunity than to ask the opinion of two young Italian designers who at Proposte were in charge of the visual identity and staging for the 2019 edition and thus were able to live and breathe textiles perhaps like they had never before? We are talking about Vittorio Turla and Gabriele Rigamonti who, with Carla Scorda, form Studiocharlie, one of the most important Italian design firms (honourable mention at the Compasso d'Oro in 2004 for the Csuni typeface and Compasso d'Oro in 2018 for the Eclipse faucet by Boffi) that also works in the world of fabrics with collaborations with Il Lanificio Leo and Torri Lana, just to name a few. From the answers, in our opinion, real and possible opportunities emerge, the important thing is not to think of the designer as some sort of mythical unicorn anymore.
Q. – Let's get right to the heart of the matter: summarizing the experience gained at the last edition of Proposte, which fabric for which environment, from the point of view of style, dominates – if, anything dominates – the event?
A. – In some respects it is easy to answer – Vittorio Turla is speaking – and in others it is difficult. Let’s say that the most immediate feeling is that today furnishing fabrics respond most of all to the needs of classic environments, maybe updated and not necessarily traditional, but “classic” in their soul and setup. This inclination however is not absolutely unequivocal, it looks more like a proportionate response to the demands of customers, of the market. In short, we did not get the impression that the manufacturing sector is lagging but that, except in rare cases, it’s the sector in general that asks this of furnishing fabrics. Therefore it is easy to identify the classic as the primary field of activity for furnishing fabrics but much, much more difficult to identify the innovative potential that fabric can offer as a furnishing component.
Q. – Can you explain that a bit more: it’s not clear how much fabric can innovate, or how it can foster this change ...
A. – Traces and signs of how it can change the appearance of a furnishing object, and consequently the whole environment, there are aplenty – it’s Gabriele Rigamonti who answers. After all, the simple variation of fabrics in the home can radically change the aesthetic approach of all the furnishings. The most macroscopic and immediate signal is colour: already just with the power of the latter you can change any characteristic but also, I would even say, a general style approach. More difficult, on the other hand, to identify – because you need certain training in the field – are the material and manufacturing aspects that can make fabric more of a protagonist: we noticed a greater diffusion of bouclé as a way to highlight workmanship, yarn and in general the materiality of the fabric. All that without screaming an evident or difficult design, staying within the lines of the minimal simplicity of the uni or the faux uni, but it gives greater aesthetic weight to the fabric covering. Let’s say that the classic is the most evident territory in which fabric moves, but there are valid reasons to believe that, outside of that safe realm, it could without difficulty even prove itself with more revolutionary projects. What’s needed is more courage, on the part of manufacturers and on the part of the market. Let's say that, from this perspective, designers could bring the right dose of freshness and boldness.
Q. – So far, you have only talked about fabric. Yet curtains are a fundamental component in the world of furnishing a room. They determine the light that illuminates everything and they practically make up a sequence of tapestries repeated in every room. But you seem to me to be far removed from these fabric objects, you barely see them. Am I wrong?
A. – No, unfortunately that is correct. It's a difficult concept to explain. I recognize their importance, but I have the feeling that as a product they have a more defined personality, which is simpler to read. Therefore they are more difficult to consider in a design phase, while much more immediate to put in the final refinement of the furniture. Curtains don’t blend in with other furniture elements, they shouldn’t echo their shapes. Their contribution is purely aesthetic, not really material, so our intervention and our sensibility as designers is required less. Having said that I absolutely do not want to deny weight or importance to curtains, on the contrary. I concede everything that you wrote, it’s just that I think of them as part of the sphere of intervention that comes after the process of aggregation of the furnishing elements.
Q. – So, in general, we might see designers who work on fabric but probably not on curtains?
A. – I did not say that. They are two very different types of intervention: with fabric the designer plays a creative role but also brings together different elements and combines different materials together, while in curtains their role would be more extreme, or more upstream – in the design itself of the curtains from a decorative perspective – or further downstream by intervening on the accents of almost complete room furnishings. I admit though that we, as a cultural inclination, are very minimal in our conception and therefore often the curtains, if considered, have to follow this aesthetic tendency that you could call “evanescent”.
Q. – So, I’ll summarize, you see a lot of the classic in today’s fabrics, but they could also play well in the realm of the future in your opinion. It seems that, all things considered then, the event allowed you to form a precise opinion of the sector. But, ultimately, what more should the sector and the exhibition give you designers?
A. – Fewer products and more personality – answers Vittorio Turla, with conviction. We saw stands with thousands of swatches that in the end all looked the same, but we struggled to learn about the histories, the cultures and the stories of the various companies. What’s missing a bit is the story, there’s no room for imagination and company charm when actually, and we are well aware of this, behind every fabric company there are beautiful stories. Longstanding clients are already perfectly aware of the characteristics of each supplier, so there is no need to be redundant in the presentation of what’s new, while the creative figure or the different kind a customer who doesn’t know you wants to be, in an almost shapeless ocean of swatches, attracted and won over by a story. From this perspective there is a radical difference with the world of furniture, where today history, the narrative, are fundamental.
PROPOSTE 2019
PROPOSTE 2019 – FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The twenty-seventh edition of Proposte has just closed with an increase in visitors and the satisfaction of the exhibitors.
A very large number of operators, especially on the first day, visited the event in Cernobbio to discover the excellencies in the fields of furnishing fabrics, curtains and trimmings.
There has been a +3.5% increase in foreign visitors who represent over 70% of the total turnout. There have been significant increases in the number of operators coming from the United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Switzerland and China. The number of North American clients has remained stable, while that of Italian clients has slightly shrunk.
MEETING WITH THE PRESS
On the morning of Tuesday the 16th, at the press office, a conference was held in which the President of Proposte Mauro Cavelli, the Director Massimo Mosiello and the Director of ITA Italian Trade Agency Roberto Luongo, met with the Italian and foreign journalists who showed special interest in the environmental sustainability feature of the fabrics. Indeed, most of the enterprises exhibiting at Villa Erba presented new “green” products this year.
THE GALA EVENING
The traditional gala evening was held on Tuesday 16th. In view of the success enjoyed last year, the format has remained the same: a dinner with swing music in the background followed by a DJ set and a light-installation created by Olo Creative Farm, all set against the wonderful ambiance of Villa Antica.
WOVEN STORIES
Great acclaim for the project created by Studiocharlie for the 27th edition of Proposte. The installation, that pervaded the entire exhibition centre, narrated the unique story of furnishing fabrics through the voices of its operators, the Fair’s exhibitors.
SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ITA
Our special thank you goes to the ITA agency for - once again - organizing the large and important delegation of 11 foreign journalists coming from United States, Ukraine, Turkey, Germany, Russia, Spain, Arab Emirates, Hungary, Japan and Mexico.
Studiocharlie for Proposte 2019 with the project Woven Stories
On its constant quest for new projects with figures from the world of Design, this year the Fair has decided to work with the Italian designers of Studiocharlie who have created the image of Proposte 2019 and who will be in charge of the decoration of the pavilions on the days of the fair. The choice stems from the will to bring a new outlook on textiles at a time when the proclivity for fabrics is favourably changing.
Studiocharlie, who are famous for their rigorous methods and strong concepts, at Proposte 2019 will illustrate the uniqueness of the history of furnishing fabrics through the voices of its actors, the fair’s exhibitors, by means of an installation that will be set up in Villa Erba. The name of this installation, and of the next edition, is “Woven Stories”.
PROPOSTE 2019 | DATES (VIDEO)
The Board of Directors of Proposte Srl, after much debate, has established that the 27th edition of Proposte, the World Preview of Furnishing Fabrics and Curtains, will be held on the 15th, 16th and 17th of April 2019. Confirmed once again as venue for the event the exhibition centre at Villa Erba in Cernobbio.
“Considering the national and international calendar of the various civil and religious festivities”, says the Chairman, Mauro Cavelli, “the upcoming edition of Proposte should have been held in late May, a date we considered too far along for our market of reference. This is why we chose to anticipate the event to April, in the wake of the Salone del Mobile. This means that the famous event will close on Sunday in Milan and the gates of Villa Erba will open on the following Monday. We believe that by placing the date of our exhibition so close to that of the Salone del Mobile we will make it easier for our foreign visitors to attend both events in a short time and on a single trip”.
Another important aspect is the change in the days of the week on which Proposte will be held. This year, the Fair will open from Monday to Wednesday and no longer from Wednesday to Friday, like in past years.
The opening hours of the event remain the same:
15th and 16th April: from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., 17th April: from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m..
Proposte 2018 - FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
75% of the visitors came from abroad: a 5% rise compared to last year. This fact - symbol of the 26th edition of Proposte – is proof of the Fair’s leadership at international level.
The first places are taken up by the usual visitors, UK, Germany and France, but other significant increases have been observed as well: +10% USA, +27% Poland and Japan which, despite being faraway, show a 4% increase.
PROPOSTE 2018 TOGETHER WITH THE ARCHITECT MARIO BELLINI
The twenty-sixth edition of Proposte, to be held on 2-3-4 May 2018 at Villa Erba in Cernobbio, will feature an important collaboration. The world famous award-winning architect and designer Mario Bellini, on the occasion of Proposte 2018, thus returns to the exhibition centre he designed back in 1987.
“We are very happy about this new collaboration with Mario Bellini”, the President Mauro Cavelli says, and continues: “The decision to involve the Architect in the preparation of the next edition of the Fair was taken because of his high standing in the world of design and architecture and for his close bond with the centre that has been hosting Proposte for the last twenty-six years”.
The Mario Bellini Architects studio is already working on the design of the settings for the Villa Erba pavilions during the three days of the Fair. A preview of this installation shall be partly visible in the advertising images of Proposte 2018. To complete the Architect’s artistic contribution, a lecture will be held in 2018 during which Mr. Bellini will illustrate the project and his personal experience with the world of furnishing fabrics.
“I accepted this collaboration in order to underline the importance the use of fabrics has in architecture and in design, a theme that one can never emphasize enough. At the same time, however, it is also an opportunity for returning to one of my dearest architectural projects” Mario Bellini commented.
Mario Bellini is an internationally renowned architect and designer. He has been awarded the Premio Compasso d'Oro eight times and 25 of his works are in the permanent collection of the MoMA of New York that also dedicated to him a retrospective in 1987. He has been the director of the magazine Domus (1985-1991). He has designed countless art, design and architecture exhibitions over the years, both in Italy and abroad, the most recent one being the first ever complete exhibition dedicated to Giotto in the Royal Palace of Milan (2015). Since the 1980’s he has dedicated himself almost entirely to architecture, and the various kinds of buildings he has designed include the Portello Trade Fair district in Milan, the Villa Erba Exhibition and Convention Centre in Cernobbio (Como), the Tokyo Design Centre in Japan, the Natuzzi America Headquarters in the United States, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the Deutsche Bank Headquarters in Frankfurt, the City History Museum of Bologna, the Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris, and the new Milan Convention Centre, the largest in Europe. Projects currently underway are the new Forum Museum (Antiquarium 2014-2017) in Rome, the refurbishing of the International Air Terminal of Roma-Fiumicino (2014-2017), the Science and Technology Park in Genoa (2006-2017) and the “Generali Academy“ in Trieste (2015-2017). He has various projects at the design stage, among which the “New Eco-City” of Zhenjiang in China (2013-2018) and a large Residential, Cultural and Sports Complex in the Gulf Area (2014-2022). In 2015 the Triennale di Milano awarded him the ‘Medaglia d’oro alla carriera per l’Architettura’ (Gold Medal for his career in Architecture) and in January-March 2017 dedicated to him a major retrospective.
The lecture Textures matter will be held on Wednesday, 2 May, by the architect Mario Bellini who, in addition to explaining the idea behind his textile installation at the Central Pavilion of the exhibition centre, a signature feature of Proposte 2018, will also talk about his personal experience with furnishing fabrics.
please confirm your attendance at pressoffice@propostefair.it
Proposte 2018 - Dates
Two months have passed since the conclusion of the last edition of Proposte, world preview of Furnishing Fabrics and Curtains, and, after reaching the important milestone of the twenty-fifth edition, we are thinking about organizing for a successful 2018 edition, the twenty-sixth.
Bearing in mind the calendar, the holidays and the other international fairs, the Board of Directors of Proposte Srl, chaired by Mauro Cavelli, decided that the next edition of the Fair will take place from Wednesday 2 to Friday 4 May 2018 and will be held, as always, in the modern exhibition centre of Villa Erba in Cernobbio and in the picturesque Villa Antica.
Like in the last three years, taking place alongside the historic Fair will be, in adjacent locations, the International Observatory, now a regular event together with Proposte.
While you wait to find out who the exhibitors will be and what new developments will characterise Proposte 2018, keep staying connected to the Fair through the social networks Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and the website www.propostefair.it.