Materials in Cologne

This year, the field of materials is spectacularly unspectacular. Popular are materials with character: structured fabrics, treated leather and expressive woods.

Leather displays understatement. The quality of leather and its processing becomes increasingly higher and perfect. Detail is the focus in leather processing: Special finesse emphasises the craftsmanship. A special waxing gives the leather a particularly interesting look and feel. The seams have a contrasting colour, which is a trend that has been taken over from the automobile industry and which emphasises the quality of the craftsmanship. Thus, the leather cross seams become a formal decorative element.

The dominant textiles are fabrics with structures woven into them such as cotton with viscose. Such structured fabrics show a play between matt and lustrous, which originally stems from the field of graphics. The fabrics are iridescent and have a solid feel which appears technical. It is popular for fabrics to unite the dramatic harmony – lustrous and matt. Often the fabrics have a pattern of their own and take up baroque elements such as velvet and ornamental patterns.

The dominant metals are aluminium and stainless steel. Aluminium is particularly popular for use in kitchens, but also combined with other materials such as stainless steel, granite, natural stone and glass.

A new material has been developed for kitchens: Parapan, a new acrylic material developed in particular for furniture fronts. Parapan creates highly polished, solid fronts and can be processed like wood.

The trend towards expressive woods, which has in the last years been visible in particular in the field of living-room furniture, has now been transferred to the kitchen. Expressive walnut finishes and an industrially designed finish with Zebrano structure, which creates a striking and exotic look, are now predominantly used for kitchens.

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