Nov 6, 2008

Christmasworld presents the trends in decoration for the coming festive season

(FRANKFURT, Germany) — Fashion leads the way: every season there are different colours, new cuts, changing patterns. And every year the same question arises with the Christmas tree, too: how is it to be dressed? Answers to these questions are provided at the start of the year by the exhibitors at Christmasworld, the leading international trade fair for celebration and festive decoration in Frankfurt am Main. The trends for Christmas 2008 are as follows:

Elegant, top-quality and monochrome
Companies are offering simple baubles with a matt or shiny finish in every shade. In combining the colours, attention is paid to the use of colours that complement each other harmoniously, or to ensuring that all colours come from the same colour ranges. The 2008 Christmas tree appears particularly elegant in white. Ice crystals made from clear or frosted glass, wire stars, sparkly baubles and other decoratively sprinkled hanging decorations bring a ‘white Christmas’ into the living room. Tree decoration is elegant and ethereal. Adding to this effect, there are, for instance, delicate little birds in filigree glass that perch on the branches. White is combined with silver, grey, champagne or gold. These colour tones feature in the ‘Silver Nature’ collection, for instance, from Drescher, a Christmas decoration manufacturer from Lower Franconia. In addition, there are woven rattan stars, wooden baubles and tree hangers, which add touches of nature.

Top-quality baubles, decorated with rhinestones or glitter, or with velvety surfaces give the Christmas tree a festive look. Inge’s Christmas Décor, a company based in Neustadt near Coburg, offer Christmas baubles and tree icicles in various shades of grey in their ‘Fashion Grey’ collection. The surfaces are flocked with spots and stars, providing an experience that is both visual and tactile.

Red, the perennial favourite, in all its shades
This classic among Christmas colours is once again high in the popularity stakes in 2008. The palette of reds from the long-established Krebs Glas Lauscha company ranges from pale pink to classic red and dark purple. Decorated in gaudy berry tones, the Christmas tree seems as fresh and trendy as it is traditional and festive. Krebs & Son from Austria are also focusing on red and berry tones. “Many customers have a traditional image of Christmas. It’s therefore particularly important to us to keep on finding new ways of presenting perennial Christmas themes. Beautiful detailing, special effects and innovative motifs contribute to the reworking of an age-old theme,” says Thomas Böck, Marketing Director at Krebs & Son.

A culinary note for the tree
Colours such as cream, beige and brown are, on the one hand suggestive of a link with nature and, on the other, also bring sweet treats to mind. Inge’s Christmas Décor draw their inspiration from them too and, with ‘Café Espresso’ and ‘Chocolate Chillout’, they have created two collections which bring the gourmet pleasures of coffee and chocolate to the tree. Baubles have coffee beans painted on them or are shaped like them. Furthermore, angels, reindeer and Father Christmases, which look like chocolate, add to the range of tree hangers in the shape of cream-filled and chocolate cookies. Krebs Glas Lauscha, the Christmas tree decoration manufacturer, are also set on ‘sweet seduction’. “Our absolute highlight is the ‘Chocolate Frost’ theme, where we combine cool colours such as white and aqua with warm brown tones. It is not just the colours that bring together the contrasts but the shapes and figures too. The tree is decorated both with chocolates and with polar bears,” says Grit Gerlach from Krebs Glas Lauscha.

Christmasworld 2009
Companies are already working flat out on their collections for 2009. Exhibitors will present their latest decorations at Christmasworld in Frankfurt am Main from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3.

Messe Frankfurt is Germany’s biggest fair and exhibition company. The corporate group has a global network of 29 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 48 international sales partners, which represent Messe Frankfurt in over 150 countries of the world. Events ‘made by Messe Frankfurt’ are held at over 30 venues worldwide. In 2007, the Messe Frankfurt group organised a total of 112 fairs, 68 of them outside Germany. At present, the Exhibition Centre can boast 322,000 square metres of exhibition space with nine exhibition halls and a congress centre. The company is publicly owned with 60 percent being held by the City of Frankfurt and 40 by the State of Hesse. Further information: www.messefrankfurt.com.