A football table as an interior showpiece, a mobile kitchen, furniture hanging from the ceiling and snazzy furnishing items made from waste products - at the coming imm cologne, visitors can see all this and more at a joint booth for young, innovative companies from Germany. The creative show will be presented in Hall 1, where the "European Lifestyles" segment will be showing off its totally new concept for the first time. "European Lifestyles" brings together an exciting mix: quality, highly marketable products on the one hand (such as those that will be on show e.g. in impressive national pavilions from Rumania, Estonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia) and unusual design pieces on the other, each of which, in its own way, can serve as an ideal sales booster, at least in niche markets. And all of it made in Europe!

The "wild young things" from Germany are appearing as part of an initiative by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) that aims to give innovative and enterprising newcomers the chance to present their products to a broad audience at a leading international trade show. The corresponding sponsorship programme is only open to companies that have come up with genuine new developments or at least substantial improvements to existing products. The eight participants at the joint stand have all met these exacting requirements. With its "Minim" furniture line, the Branka Blasius studio relies on a consistently minimalist design language. "Thoroughness, objectness and integrability with many different areas of everyday life are the main features of this series," explains Branka Blasius.

Table football is in. But who wants a bulky, unattractive football table in their own four walls? "Libero" by Bremen-based company Flix can help. One of the major advantages of this new tournament table for the home is that it can be dismantled and transported in next to no time - no tools required. With interchangeable frames and a wide choice of colours and patterns, "Libero" fits in with any ambience. And by the way: Flix GmbH has already won several renowned design awards for its special mobile piece. Georg Greiner-Fuchs, who will be presenting a new kind of ceiling mounting system in the "European Lifestyles" segment, is innovative in a very different way. Coat racks or laptop holders no longer have to be stood on the floor or attached to the wall. At the imm cologne, the handyman from the Steigerwald Forest in Franconia will be showing it's possible to hang furniture from the ceiling as well. Visitors can expect to see new functional approaches, a creative use of materials and a surprising design vocabulary from the other participants' too. Even before the imm cologne 2013 gets underway, it seems safe to assume that this group presentation by young and innovative German companies will be a highlight of the new "European Lifestyle" segment.

Source: Koelnmesse