This year represents a turning point for International Furniture Fair Singapore (IFFS), confirms Ernie Koh, chairman of IFFS Pte Ltd, and concurrent president of Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC), co-owner and manager of the event. “We are re-branding the show, beginning with the unveiling of our new logo to signify a host of major changes.”

Along with the new logo, the trade event adopts a new tagline, “Design, Inspiration, and Trade’, as well as a new event colour as it opened this week at the Singapore EXPO. Ahead of the exhibition, the show’s new website was been launched to provide the public, particularly the trade, a glimpse of what to expect.

“Good designs stem from inspirational experiences, and a company with a winning product understandably receives positive attention,” Koh explains. “This, in turn, leads to higher chances of success from a business standpoint. The three elements in the tagline—design, inspiration, trade—share a synergistic relationship that ultimately promotes a thriving furniture industry. Here, IFFS plays the role as the connector that links ‘design, inspiration and trade’.” Ultimately, these changes indicate a direction that will take care of how the show will address the future.

The changes will be reflected in the physical layout of the show space. A piazza in the Design and International Brands Hall (Hall 4) will serve as hub for a range of activities celebrating design and innovation. In this area, creative product displays of furniture and accessories, focused on various parts of the house, will comprise inspirational settings.

All six halls dedicated to the show will feature innovative structural and interactive displays aimed at raising interactivity between exhibitors and visitors. One highlight in particular, the Gallery of Art Forms, will show how furniture products and accessories can be transformed into artworks.

Exhibitors offering garden and outdoor products will be located in a pavilion that is decked out as a ‘garden boulevard’. Vertical gardening and other methods of transforming indoor spaces into virtual gardens will be featured here. Adjoining the space is an alfresco lounge.

Networking and meetings will be accommodated in a series of business lounges themed according to partner countries. A program of design dialogues and business seminars will also boost the business aspect of the show.

Finally, Design STARS, formerly known as Asian STAR, will comprise participants from across the globe and their works presented in a special sector.

“IFFS 2016 will present the industry with an all-new experience, one that is not just design-centric and inspirational, but that still builds upon its traditional role as the choice business platform that connects exhibitors with buyers from across the world,” Koh adds.

Story Credits

Text By Marc Almargo

Images By IFFS

This story was first published in FORM Magazine.