The organiser of the world’s largest consumer goods show, Ambiente, has announced exciting plans for the February 2017 event, which will feature Great Britain as the next partner country, highlighting British design excellence in all its different forms.
Messe Frankfurt board member Detlef Braun explained at a press conference held in London yesterday (May 19) that: “The partner country is an essential concept for Ambiente, we are extremely excited that the UK plays such a special role in the 2017 show and I am very happy to be here in one of the outstanding nations for inspiring design.
“The United Kingdom is a country of great diversity, a beacon of good taste, connecting tradition with the avant garde to stimulate new product development and design excellence, and I know Great Britain will be a highlight of Ambiente 2017.”
The partnership alliance is a fantastic way of connecting people across borders and brings a major boost of media attention to exhibitors in that area. Great Britain was preceded by Denmark (2011), France (2012), Japan (2013), USA (2014) and Italy (2015) as partner countries.
137,000 visitors from 143 countries attended the 2016 edition of Ambiente to see new product launches presented by 4,387 exhibitors from 96 countries. 138 of those exhibitors were from Great Britain, with 3,248 British buyers making the trip to Frankfurt in February.
The partner country programme, now heading into its sixth year, has seen top political figures and outstanding personalities representing their countries at Ambiente, including Catherine Deneuve for France and Martha Stewart for America.
Scottish designer Janice Kirkpatrick, OBE, a professor at the Glasgow School of Art and co-founder of internationally renowned design consultancy Graven, will provide direction and styling for the UK presentation at Ambiente next year.
While plans for the event are still in the early stages, Janice said it was “Wonderful to be asked to design this exhibition for Ambiente.” During her presentation she remarked that she was “interested in global perspectives viewed through a local lens” and was keen to “find out what’s special and different about a particular locality….I am very interested in provenance and will really be looking for products that express their origins in interesting ways.”
In addition to the presentation, there will once again be a café in the styleof the partner country and, on the Monday of the fair, the traditional theme day. The ‘Great Britain Day’ is being organised by UK exhibitors who will invite Ambiente visitors to a variety of events and presentations.The day will be rounded off in style by the Partner Country Reception, during which the next Ambiente Partner Country will be officially announced.
The show will take place from February 10 – 14 in Frankfurt.
Watch this space for more updates!
