The redesigned DOMOTEX – with its easy-to-navigate site and hall layouts plus the eye-catching "Framing Trends" showcase – has been warmly embraced by the market and is now entering its second season. The new lead theme has been announced, and registrations for DOMOTEX 2019 are already pouring in, with more than half of the available space already booked. As such, DOMOTEX is living up to its reputation as the place to be for floor covering professionals from around the globe. As a networking hub, DOMOTEX is ideal for meeting up with one's international clientele while at the same time generating scores of promising new leads. The show's clusters display categories in an optimal way so attendees can quickly find everything of interest to them. The event's lead theme puts the spotlight on innovation and a sweeping trend affecting the entire industry.

Lead theme in 2019:
"CREATE'N'CONNECT": New Designs for a Connected World"

The lead theme of the upcoming DOMOTEX 2019 – "CREATE'N'CONNECT" – refers to today's connectivity megatrend. Connectivity is affecting every aspect of how we live, work and interact. Technology and digital change are accelerating this development, and new cultural patterns and habits are manifesting themselves in new approaches to how things are designed. The theme of "connectedness" also has strong symbolic and emotional aspects. With their numerous design options, floors play an important role here: They provide the very foundation for the rooms in which we live and work. We are in constant contact with floors and flooring, and are consciously or subliminally always aware of what is beneath our feet. Floors are integral design elements. They inspire us, give us orientation and set the stage for human interaction.

DOMOTEX 2019 to enable exhibitors and visitors to connect more effectively than ever

Once again in 2019, exhibitors and creative designers are invited to participate in the special "Framing Trends" showcase at DOMOTEX where they can show off their innovative products and designs in style. Registrations are now being taken. Companies from the flooring industry are invited to stage extraordinary product presentations as part of "Flooring Spaces", where the connectivity lead theme will receive major emphasis. For example, flooring no longer needs to be limited to a single material or texture, but instead can make use of flowing transitions or distinct contrasts, thus allowing the same surface to support different purposes and environments. There are no limits to creativity. By highlighting technological connectivity, new cultural patterns or emotional aspects, companies can leverage their creative flooring designs and the chosen lead theme to make a high-impact, lasting impression on their target audiences. As at this year's event, exhibitors can take their product as the starting point and stage it in an overall space, or else team up with designers and interior decorates to freely interpret the lead theme and make an even more unique statement within the Framing Trends display.

Exhibitors and visitors delighted with the new-look DOMOTEX

Exhibitors and visitors have very enthusiastically embraced the innovations launched at DOMOTEX 2018. Maurizio Battiolissi, owner of the Galleria Battilossi in Turin, sees the changes as a big step forward because they "enhance the interaction between exhibitors and visitors and help them share their experiences". Fritz Langauer, owner of the Oritop company in the Austrian town of Brunn am Gebirge, rates the new DOMOTEX concept as "even better" than before. Everything is more clearly structured, he says, and "since we also have customers from China and the United States, the fair's highly international flair helps us." Gerhard ter Hürne, Managing Director of ter Hürne from Südlohn, Germany, attests to visitors' "keen interest" and "strong willingness to be exposed to new ideas" and derive a great deal of enjoyment from them. At the same time, ter Hürne's company was able to "generate strong impetus for foreign sales" like nowhere else. Even on the very first day of the show, many exhibitors were impressed with significantly more visitor traffic – a phenomenon also attributable to the show now starting on a Friday rather than a Saturday.

Visitors, too, were full of praise for the 2018 show, with architect Jürgen Mayer H finding "many things of special interest to architects" at Framing Trends. He reported discovering not only valuable inside information on new materials, but also learning about "the influence of digitization on materials and production techniques". Technical designer Mohamed Sheriff from London said he was inspired not just by the range of manufacturers' products, but also by the university studies on future trends presented at Framing Trends. Mathias Eichhorn of the Dagli Atelier d'Architecture in Luxembourg saw a "great opportunity for scouting new trends and learning about new textiles" which he said appealed "not just to the intellect, but also to the senses". Karen Kühl, interior designer at ECE Projektmanagement, was surprised at "the positive and profound enhancement of the fair," which offered architects and interior designers "many good reasons to attend." She reported seeing Framing Trends as a "solid and central platform" for putting manufacturers, developers and planners in close touch with one another. Architect Julia Erdmann from Hamburg discovered "seldom-seen products" employing cork or sporting interesting surfaces made of recycled materials. She said the event's excellent overview of new products was made even richer by manufacturers from abroad who were otherwise "less strongly represented in Germany".

DOMOTEX 2019 will be held from 11 to 14 January (Friday through Monday) in Hannover, Germany, with approx. 1,400 exhibitors from over 60 nations expected to participate.