Hannover. Running from 14 to 17 January 2017 in Hannover, Germany, the DOMOTEX tradeshow will once again serve as the epicenter for all things concerning floor coverings. As the leading trade fair for the international floor coverings industry, the event showcases innovations and trends that set the tone for the coming season. "A full four months before opening day of the show, the signs of a dynamic and highly international event are already apparent," reported Dr. Andreas Gruchow, member of the Deutsche Messe Managing Board. "In particular, many international enterprises are investing in their appearance at DOMOTEX by enlarging their stands, thus ensuring a good start to the new business year. This underscores the significance of DOMOTEX as a global marketplace and idea-giver for the industry," he continued. Some 1,350 exhibitors from more than 60 nations are expected in Hannover for the event.

Young designers hone in on latest trends

DOMOTEX is focusing more strongly than ever on the latest floor coverings trends, honing in on what consumers can expect in 2017 with its Young Designer Trends Table. This new DOMOTEX format features presentations by up-and-coming young designers from Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Turkey, who will unveil the latest big trends. A highly personal take on the flooring trends of the future will be offered by Bilge Nur Saltik, based in Istanbul and London, Jane Briggs and Christy Cole from Glasgow, Klaas Kuiken from Arnhem, Hanne Willmann from Berlin and Victoria Wilmotte from Paris. These young designers will present their findings in Hall 9. DOMOTEX visitors can draw inspiration and be part of a roundtable discussion with the designers. The project is supervised by the award-winning Munich-based industrial designer Stefan Diez.

Forum for year’s best innovations

The Young Designer Trends Table is a new feature of Innovations@DOMOTEX - a successful showcase of innovations being staged for the fourth season in 2017. A special highlight will consist of the Innovations@DOMOTEX areas in halls 6, 9 and 17, featuring staged presentations of a prizewinning selection of exhibitor innovations. These special displays will be a focal point of the trade fair and a key attraction for visitors, who can get a quick overview of the most noteworthy floor coverings innovations and trends, with products they can see, touch and get first-hand information on.

Big-name speakers tackle latest industry topics

The format will be rounded out by talks and discussion rounds ("Dialogues") featuring high-caliber architects and designers from Caramel (Vienna), Sauerbruch Hutton (Berlin), Peter Haimerl. Architektur (Munich), Plajer & Franz Studio (Berlin), the Interior Park online shop and designers from the Young Designer Trends Table. These designers and architects will speak on architectural tendencies and developments where flooring plays a key role. A central focus of the presentations will be the topics of "Future Living", Trend Spotting", "Space & Acoustics" and "Consulting & Sustainability". These talks and discussion rounds will take place daily at the Innovations@DOMOTEX area in Hall 6.

Trends discussion with star designer Alfredo Häberli

The internationally known designer Alfredo Häberli will be a special guest at DOMOTEX, where he will share his extensive expertise and provide added inspiration to his audience. The Swiss design icon is known for his diverse array of designs and high-class labels. His versatility ranges from designing furniture, lamps and living accessories to conceiving the interiors of stores, restaurants and hotels. And the designer has frequently demonstrated his competence in the area of floor coverings. Häberli’s clients include companies like Alias, Camper, Georg Jensen, Kvadrat, Iittala, Moroso, Ruckstuhl & Vitra, BMW and Fürstenberg. Häberli’s keynote on the topic of "Future Living" on the first day of show is guaranteed to be stimulating for everyone in the audience.

Visitors can gain additional information by taking part in the guided tours offered on themes covered in the "Dialogues". The tours will take place directly after the panel discussions, which run from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. They are especially geared to architects, interior designers and designers in attendance at DOMOTEX to research new approaches to the use of floor coverings. In addition, architecture and design experts will take their tour groups to view choice product innovations, as selected by the Innovations@DOMOTEX jury. These tours will take place twice daily from Saturday, 14 January to Monday, 16 January (morning tour: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon; afternoon tour: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.) The starting point for all tours is the Innovations@DOMOTEX area in Hall 6.

Well-known carpet designers and innovative labels

Hand-made carpets are not passé, but rather a design element which gives a room its distinctive character. Designers and innovative labels are allowing their full creativity to flow into exciting new items. This will be especially visible in Hall 17, where innovative designers like Creative Matters, Hossein Rezvani, Rug Art, Rug Star, Wool & Silk Rugs and Zollanvari will showcase their lavish carpet creations. Particularly outstanding innovations in this product category will be eligible for a Carpet Design Award - the world’s leading awards competition for modern hand-made carpets and an annual magnet for carpet aficionados. This coveted award will be presented this year for the 12th time at DOMOTEX.

New jury for Carpet Design Awards

Next year’s jury will consist of new experts from the international rugs and carpets sector. The jury will be chaired by multiple award-winning carpet designer Stephanie Odegard from New York, with the other jury members consisting of Vanessa Brady, founder of the Society of British and International Design based in London, Wilhard Kühne, carpet specialist and buyer from Dogern, Kistaa Saksi, artist and designer from the Netherlands, and Hadi Teherani, Architect and Designer based in Hamburg. The Carpet Design Awards jury will select the best three designer carpets in a total of eight different categories, which will be displayed during DOMOTEX at the Innovations@DOMOTEX area in Hall 17. The winners in each category will be honored at an awards ceremony on Sunday, 15 January 2017.

Product and material diversity in 12 exhibition halls

With a trade audience from retailing and wholesaling, architecture, interior design, skilled trades and the furniture and home furnishings sector, the DOMOTEX product offerings range from textile and resilient floor coverings for residential and commercial property to machine- and handmade carpets, parquet, laminate flooring and floor coverings for outdoors as well as installation and application technology. International market leaders from all of these categories will be represented at the Hannover event. Apart from Germany, the biggest exhibitor nations (in terms of display space) are Turkey, Belgium, India, China, the Netherlands and Iran, followed by Italy, Egypt and the United States.