I have attended over 20 NeoCon events plus multiple industry conferences over my career, all within the borders of the US. When offered the opportunity to travel to the September 2018 edition in Shanghai, I jumped at the chance. One can not accurately capture the size, scale and breadth of the show as experienced in-person.
Originally conceived as the primary showcase for the China furniture industry, starting in 1998, it has evolved over the past several years as the primary vehicle to showcase the furniture industry for both residential and contract markets in China and the APAC region. Whereas there has historically been a perception that these shows exhibit an abundance of “knock-off” offerings, the emergence of a robust design community and efforts to create original product offerings now yield a show robustly presenting the depth and breadth of the current state of furniture design and manufacturing in the region.
The show, organized by the China Foreign Trade Exhibition General Corporation, this year adds co-sponsorship, and participation from Red Star Macalline Group Corporation Ltd., a company that operates and manages home improvement and furnishings shopping malls. Under the Red Star Macalline brand name. It is estimated as of late 2017, their portfolio includes 256 shopping malls, offering approximately 20,000 brands across 177 cities in 29 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in the People’s Republic of China. The Shanghai venue is the National Exhibition & Convention Center, in the Hongqiao district of Shanghai. Sheer size and Described as the world’s largest exhibition venue, I do not doubt that it meets that description. It took our bus about twenty minutes to circumvent the building to place us at the drop off to the main show entrance. Configured in a four-petal configuration with concentric circulation both vehicular and pedestrian, a map in hand was a constant necessity. Fortunately, color-coded way finding made it easier to find the pavilions and bi-lingual signage was essential. For comparison to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, and equally imposing building, I kept wondering how many Merchandise Mart’s would fit in this location!
There were thousands of chairs, what was most interesting was the scrutiny of design and detail by attendees – Image courtesy of CIFF
A few caveats about our coverage. The show is most definitely geared to buyers from the wholesale market, both domestic and international. There were limited opportunities to converse with exhibitors due to the language barrier, almost universally, flashing my media credentials yielded an entry to the manufacturer’s booth, but no option to find out more about the product. Conversely, this was almost freeing, in that my observations and impressions are woven into a story based on what I saw relative to the design, materials, quality, and presentation based solely on my own experience. I think this is important because the world is getting much smaller and the global influences on design are much more prevalent on the market(s) here in the US. As more businesses operate on the international stage, and design firms are not necessarily limited to do work in their home cities and countries, it is imperative that we become more informed by what is going on outside our borders.
The kick-off banquet on Sunday evening included the awards for the best in design, The Pinnacle Awards Asia-Pacific, an awards program that is a joint effort of CIFF and the American Society of Furniture Designers (ASFD) and the High Point Furniture Market. The winning products and manufacturers are prominently featured throughout the show. As the only international furniture and home furnishing design award in the region, this moves the ball forward to put these products and manufacturers in the global spotlight.
Additionally, there were a few exhibitions, within the larger event, notably the “Design Dream Show” and the East Design Show and Chinese Design Trends, which promulgates the notion that “good design is good business.” These events, geared to promoting and heralding the development of Chinese design, presenting them at CIFF Shanghai demonstrates the continued importance of this event for the Chinese the furniture design, manufacturing, and retailing community. It gives international attendees a broad overview of product design and development in this critical global market.