Images property of Chute Gerdeman
NeoCon World’s Trade Fair is where the design world comes together—three days of pure energy, bursting with new thinking, resources, and products. You can discover thousands of innovative solutions for corporate, hospitality, healthcare, retail, government, and residential interiors from more than 700 showrooms and exhibitors, so I, of course, had to be there!
Here are my top five highlights from NeoCon.
1. Bernhardt
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
My favorite image from the show is from the Bernhardt Design showroom. They took a small, lower cost item (lower cost compared to some of the products available), and showed it in every color! The repetition made great impact, and the wall behind the display was a beautiful focal. I loved that it was clean and simple.
2. Designtex
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
Designtex was one of my favorite showrooms. Their product is fun, sophisticated, and fashion forward, which the showroom definitely reflected. The textiles were made into coats and displayed on mannequins for a bold, playful statement. Another plus was that they showcased a huge portion of the textiles on the back wall, but organized them by color rather than collection. Props, such as floral arrangements, coffee table books, and clear containers filled with buttons or pins broke up the wall and added visual impact.
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
I was drawn to the Carnegie showroom because of the amazing chandelier made of tiny glass rings. At a closer glance, the rings were actually magnifying lenses suspended from the ceiling! How clever! They placed magnifying glass lenses next to the textiles so attendees could really see the depth and texture. Another great thing they did was place the artist’s inspiration next to the finished product. I love seeing the design process and it really brought personality to the collection!
4. Haworth
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
The furniture showrooms at the Merchandise Mart are huge! This year, they were completely packed with visitors and clients having meetings, tours, and of course, socializing. Even though CG doesn’t typically specify a lot of corporate office furniture, I loved walking through these showrooms to feel the excitement and buzz from the crowd.
Haworth had an amazing showroom on the third floor of the Mart. One overall observation I made while at Neocon was that people were not afraid to use color, and that was very apparent in the Haworth showroom. Starting from the left, the pink and orange combination on the floor really drew me in. I loved the pops of yellow off-setting the neutral gray and white of the central showroom area. The right side of the showroom had a water feature which included a blue sculpture suspended from the ceiling. At first, I thought I was in a different showroom, but it was because each area was designed to have its own personality. Haworth really hit the entire color spectrum making the showroom feel up-to-date and fresh.
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
Also, I really appreciated that Haworth passed out a take-away with all of the new introductions for Neocon. Since I am not familiar with the product offerings, it was nice to have something that highlighted the latest and greatest.
5. THINK: Material
The seventh and eighth floors of the Merchandise Mart are reserved for companies who do not have permanent showrooms. My favorite was the THINK: Material exhibit, which offered new and innovative materials from all over the world. Their product offering was truly unique and unlike anything I have ever seen. I took pictures of my favorites:
Mayser, the 3D fabric impregnated with resin to give structure.
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
Touchy-Feely, which was sculptural ceramic tiles that were very high gloss.
Image property of Chute Gerdeman
I love the dimension in both products—so beautiful.
There was so much to see at Neocon! For more pictures from the show, click here for a photo gallery.
