With trade shows falling on hard times, this year Stockholm Furniture Fair set itself on a new path. Dezeen editorial director Max Fraser explores whether other fairs can learn from the Swedes' approach.
Stockholm's annual design showcase took place this month against a backdrop of recession in Sweden when many are questioning the efficacy of the traditional trade fair format and the Stockholm Furniture Fair itself is set to be sold.
"How do we activate the fair for the future"" asked the fair's director, Hanna Nova Beatrice, at the opening. "How do we instigate new energy" And how do we do so in a recession""
Fair director Hanna Nova Beatrice aims to "instigate new energy". Photo by Martin Brusewitz Once considered the main launch platform for Nordic design, Stockholm Furniture Fair has contracted in recent years, with its momentum broken by the Covid-19 pandemic.
And like many fairs around the world, it has suffered as brands' budgets have tightened and they have become more selective about the fairs at which they exhibit.
"Many of us have questioned the need for fairs"
Meanwhile, the concept of shipping bulky products around the world to be displayed on temporary stands is coming under scrutiny amid increasing concerns about the design industry's environmental impact.
"Many of us have questioned the need for fairs," designer and environmentalist Emma Olbers told Dezeen. "I think we'll continue to have ...