Key takeaways from the Swedish-French Interior Decoration talks!

The French Design Corner initiative

A few weeks ago, Business France launched the French Design Corner in Sweden. This pop-up digital showroom aims to highlight 12 carefully selected French Design brands for the Swedish market. As a part of the French Design Corner, Business France in Sweden organized on May 27th the “Swedish-French Interior Decoration Talks.”

This webinar gathered more than 140 Nordic and French professionals within interior decoration around four iconic speakers.

• Lotta Ahlvar, design expert and chairwoman of Design Sweden, guided us through the new trends in design that came out during the pandemic.
• Matali Crasset, an iconic French designer, presented some of her recent works influenced by the pandemic.
• Oskar Norelius, architect and partner at White Arkitekter, highlighted some forefront projects within sustainable architecture with wood as a core material: ‘’Is wood becoming the new black ?’’
• Stefan Nilsson, also known as the influencer Trendstefan, pointed out activism pushing new boundaries for a more sustainable world in the interior decoration and design sector.

Those inspiring talks were punctuated by pitches from our 12 French Design companies, presenting their unique know-how:

Watch the replay of our webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0neiXHgJx-g

Take a look at the pop-up digital showroom: www.frenchdesigncornersweden.com gathering 12 French Design high-end brands: Duvivier Canapés, Fermob, Glassvariations, Grande Forge, Home Spirit, Horus France, InPlanta, Insens, Petite Friture, Sammode Studio, Sifas, Tannery Sovos Grosjean. Discover products you could be interested in for your upcoming projects or the assortment of your stores!

The three key takeaways of the day:

• The new focus on sustainability

Sustainability becomes a mandatory characteristic of the new way of living. However, sustainability is a broad concept and varies from person to person. Consumers are now more and more looking for long-lasting products made of materials respectful of the environment and created by local craft persons. Another trend growing from this newly gained importance of sustainability is the emphasis on repairing and reusing objects. 

• Habits from the pandemic will change the way we live

The pandemic has, without doubt, changed in many ways the living habits. Spending most of our time at home created new needs and revealed the necessity of taking care of our interiors. Consumers are now aware and want to invest more in quality pieces while spending more time at home. Offices and hotels have been challenged during the pandemic, and more cross-concepts are rising. A new problem also arose: the one of health and cleanliness of the interior. It is most likely that equipment and furniture that respect our well-being and health will find new publics.

• Return to more durable materials and means of production

Concrete and plastic are progressively replaced by more durable materials, like wood, glass, and metal. This change is motivated by a search for a more sustainable way of building, but not only: more natural materials such as wood convey an impression of well-being and coziness, more crucial than ever in the context of the pandemic.

Means of production are also considered as consumers, and citizens are giving growing importance to shorter production cycles. In Sweden, building and crafting with local materials such as wood appears to be a good idea. 

Thank you to our inspiring speakers Lotta Ahlvar, matali crasset, Oskar Norelius, Stefan Nilsson, AND brands part of the French Design Corner in Sweden: Duvivier Canapés, Fermob, Glassvariations, Grande Forge, Home Spirit, Horus France, InPlanta, Insens, Petite Friture, Sammode Studio, Sifas, Tannery Sovos Grosjean.

Contact us for more information or to get in contact with our represented brands.

Jeanne Blain & Soline Rémond