Furniture

 Proposte 2008: the stylistic cipher sums up today's trends in textiles. A fairly complicated framework in which the affirmation of an industry that guarantees quality, efficiency, style, creative skill and respect for the rules of the game appears to be necessary.

If last year the stylistic cipher of the industry was bent on the continuous fusion of diverse and innovative materials with widespread indulgences for a chromatic play of reflections and transparency, this year everything seems more opaque, more reassuring, more sophisticated in its simplicity. Surfaces become the tangible base for a play of textures, there is a comeback of a woven three-dimensionality, substance overshadows form and creativity seeks its maximum expression in the eclectic capacity of meeting the client's needs.

Not by chance do the presentations of the collections frequently appear as exemplifications that are totally changeable and adaptable to the requests of the buyer; the collection seen as a treatise on textile expertise, constructed with the purpose of exhibiting potentials rather than specific decorative solutions. And so we have a return to the essence of the history of this industry: natural fibres that make up bases and armatures with high textile density, not necessarily roughed out, a more exclusive use of lurex yarns for bright effects, and a profusion of glossy viscose with some use of heat-shrink fibres to highlight embossing and the 3D effects.

The fleeting “borderline” forays into other textile worlds are stimulating and striking: from the unmistakeable braids borrowed from knitwear, to the increasingly delicate and precise laser cut-out work, creating real high-tech tracery work on unusual surfaces and faux leathers, to evident, dense weaving destined not only to dress “soft” shapes but especially intended for a more technical use leaning towards the “hardware” of the design element.
The play of translucence and iridescence continues to be important in the printed collections, and here, also, Proposte 2008 offers a chance to examine the application of high creative value: printed creations of such precision and quality that they emulate and integrate loom work, also capable of suggesting a certain three-dimensionality. The trend of large floral prints continues, and is manifest in the most diverse possibilities of expression; but there are also stripes in every size and direction, large and small geometric patterns (some of ethnic inspiration) and plaids.
Also in drapery textiles, iridescence and large decorative background patterns that allow glimpses of transparencies and ethereal decorations are still the trend of the moment, but now we can trace a tendency towards constructing the decorative element with simplified strokes.

We see less chromatic repetitions in the same creation, leaving way to particularly sophisticated tone-on-tone or two-tone elaborations so that the reflected tone the draperies leave to the light is pure and soft, creating, in its own way, a sense of reassurance.
As for the palette of colours, it remains wide with no rampant monotonies. We see a frequent use of crimson red, violet, pink in all of its shades, from the lightest to the darkest, brown. White and grey are still “in”, frequently combined with black in a chromatic contrast par excellence, but also absolutely elegant and refined. If we must point to a recurring tone, pastel tones are abundant, recalling light, spring-like atmospheres.
Synthetic fibres are not lacking and are used to construct and complete an unexpected interwoven effect. The Proposte producers are always in search of special effects born of complex chains, of innovative structures and of frameworks that give rise to highly valuable three-dimensional surfaces with a great sense of movement. We especially note the return of wool as the base material for several proposals and the confirmed importance of finishes in highlighting the aesthetic content of the collections. 

In a class by itself, and of absolute importance, the widespread search for materials, fibres and yarns that totally guarantee eco-environmental friendliness: organic linens and cottons, guaranteed by international certifications, mainly by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the most important international body the certifies products cultivated without the use of pesticides and chemical preparations. These are collections and textile creations that add the values of sustainability and qualitative coherency to a production that intends to remain a leader in the high end of the market.

In short, Proposte 2008 once again offered an edition full of aesthetic, matter related content of textile mastery and each of these qualities serves to mark the diversity of the Italian and European industry with respect to a global competition strong in quantities but weak in guarantees and values. A diversity that is not intended to remain a privilege for the select few in the “luxury” customer bracket, but which - whenever possible - is placed at the disposition of anyone in search of real, guaranteed value even in the decorative textile article.

In addition to quality and variety, the quantity of the collections presented by the Proposte producers was also significant. The producers not only concentrated on the search for different themes to fully meet the demands of the market, but also for variations in design and colour, this year particularly abundant.

The manifestation in Cernobbio was the stage for the industry's affirmation of the importance of fabric in the composition of furnishings and home design: a centrality which the world of furniture seems to have in some way hidden, and perhaps never in the way as they have this year.