Paris, France — “There is a strong digitalized design direction among Indigo exhibitors, especially in bed linen and coordinated pillows,” according to Gilles Lasbordes, exhibitions director for Premiere Vision, the creator of Indigo.

“Creators of these designs have digitally mapped their creations so it is easy for the manufacturer to do the coordinated products,” he said. Indigo Brussels exhibitors create designs for upholstery both print and jacquard; printed bed linen and wallcoverings. “The bedding business is accelerating, especially online,” he noted. All of the designs presented at Indigo are geared to residential and contract markets. “Designs for the home as opposed to apparel are bigger in scale and have a longer life. Buyers are used to paying more for their design in the home industry and less for fashion designs,” he said. The Indigo Team: Elsa Seris-Ranel; Gilles Lasbordes and Marie-Odile Verrier

Indigo exhibitors will be showing in Hall 9 near the main entrance of the Brussels Expo this year, a new location alongside MoOD in September. MoOD itself has been more efficiently laid out in three halls instead of four this year, Halls 11, 7 and 9.  Those who shop Indigo typically are vice presidents of design for home textile companies; designers, and principals of small to medium sized companies who are more hands on in the design arena, Lasbordes explained.

Indigo, Premiere Vision’s only entry into the home furnishings design market consists of 100 exhibitors. Lasbordes thinks there are about 200 design studios involved in the various trade shows. “Our show is a sell out and we are limited by exhibition space.” Indigo grew out of the fashion business and eventually became a free standing presentation.

“Prices for individual designs are stable. In 2009 and 2010, prices actually decreased. Markets seem to be a bit better for the studios currently. The big ones are all represented at Indigo.

Approximately 40 percent of Indigo exhibitors are producing designs for upholstery; 40 percent for bed linen and 20 percent for wall coverings. About 90 percent of the exhibitors are based in Europe, principally Italy, UK, Germany and Holland. “The German designers are strong in home but not fashion whereas Italian is strong in both lines. We see some Korean designers getting involved in home,” Lasbordes explained. “There are also strong fashion links between European design and Japanese buyers,” he said.

Premiere Vision runs 10 shows a year including New York (3X); Paris (2X); Moscow, China, and Brazil   for the apparel industry and Indigo is its only entry in home. Indigo started in the late 90’s and became a part of Decosit, the forerunner to MoOD in Brussels. The Lille Chamber of Commerce that founded Indigo in 1974. Première Vision SA (the company that organized Première Vision and Expofil ) bought the Indigo exhibition in 2005  from the Lille Chamber of Commerce. From that day forward, Indigo has been one of the shows organized by PV, along with  Direction by Indigo as well and some others like Expofil, Preview New York  and Premiere Brasil.   F&FI