Growing optimism and hope for the future at Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair

The Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, the world’s foremost venue for Scandinavian design, concluded last Saturday. This year's edition bubbled with energy and breathed optimism. Many exhibitors gave positive signals that the economy has turned.

“The mood at the Fair was very good. Many exhibitors gave positive signals that the industry is seeing better times and reported good business. We are also very pleased that a number of visitors as well as the press and media spoke of the show’s maintained high standard, that it has a concentration of profiled companies in a manageable format, personal appeal and proximity to the designers”, said Cecilia Nyberg, Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair event manager.

This year's fair had a total of 35 654 visits from 90 countries. There were 756 international visitors, which is about 27% of the trade visitors. There is continued great interest from the press and media, with a total of 1129 accredited media representatives, including 339 from abroad. The fair drew 5036 design enthusiasts from the public, compared 4745 last year.

Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair’s social media activity and appeal have grown steadily. Together with Stockholm Design Week, the Fair has nearly 12 300 Facebook followers. There was about one tweet every two minutes about the Fair and around 5800 photos were posted on Instagram.

Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair 2014 presented several innovations, including morphing of the Design Bar into a top-class restaurant created by designer Jens Fager and chef Tommy Myllymäki. Another successful innovation was the Stockholm Design Talks seminar series, which included several packed talks under the theme “Moving Forward”.

"The response has been fantastic. Both with large crowds at the debates and afterwards from the industry people who took part online/via video. The discussions were informed and very interesting every day, with topics ranging from the latest on the Scandinavian design scene to how to create a living furniture collection in 2014”, said Hanna Nova Beatrice, Editor-in-Chief of Residence magazine and moderator to several of the seminars.

The Fair's new Twelve area – where 12 established designers showed what was typical of their design language and conceptual vision – attracted much positive attention. A new trend was also in evidence: that of designer’s taking their fate into their own hands as entrepreneurs. Other trends talked about at the Fair were the prevalence of wood, muted colors, skins and updated classics.

In addition to the activities at Stockholmsmässan, Stockholm Design Week attracted many visitors to about 100 different events around the city.

The next Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair will be held on the February 3–7, 2015 at Stockholmsmässan.

For more information, please visit www.stockholmfurniturefair.com or contact:
Cecilia Nyberg, Event Manager, tel +46 8 749 43 86, cecilia.nyberg@stockholmsmassan.se
Lotta Signeul, Press Officer, tel +46 708 19 99 19, lotta.signeul@stockholmsmassan.se

Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair is the world’s largest meeting place for Scandinavian furniture and lighting design. Domestic and international visitors will find the most comprehensive selection of Scandinavian furniture, office furnishings, design, textiles, lighting and other interior furnishings for both homes and public spaces. Stockholm Design Week also runs parallel to Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. www.stockholmfurniturefair.com, www.stockholmdesignweek.com