On-site sales and excellent performance at the Maison&Objet design fair

This year’s first Maison&Objet design fair in Paris ended with outstanding results. The five participating Hungarian product designers returned with special new possibilities. The fair mostly targeted a professional design audience. Among others, the participating interior designers, gallery and hotel owners, and gastronomy experts were interested in Hungarian creations. Besides, this year, sales were realised on the spot, and exceptionally positive feedback was given to the stand concept bringing us closer to nature.

This year’s first Maison&Objet design fair, considered one of the three determining interior design events in Europe, was held in Paris at the end of March. More than 50 thousand visitors came to the event from almost 140 countries, while nearly 2000 brands were exhibited, including 513 new brands. The Hungarian participation in the exhibition surpassed every previous result.

The five Hungarian debuting product designers – Boldizar Senteski, Concrazy, ERROR N’ MORE, Meander Kerámia Manufaktúra and Oleant – got the contact information of almost 250 seriously interested parties during the five-day event. Mostly home decorators, interior designers, showroom and gallery owners, wholesalers, and resellers participated in the event, but some institutions’ representatives also appeared at the event and viewed contemporary artworks.

During the exhibition, numerous exciting requests were made. Several agreements and negotiations started due to the HFDA’s sales-preparation processes in collaboration with the Hungarian-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry. For instance, in the case of Boldizar Senteski, a personal consultation and site visit took place with the representatives of one of the operas in Paris during the fair, and other negotiations are coming in connection with possible cooperation regarding an installation.  The brand’s products – a unique table and mirror – were exhibited in the BOON Gallery in Paris immediately after the Maison&Objet, which is a fantastic achievement.

This year’s exhibition was not only about creating professional connections, negotiations, and requests for quotations; numerous products were sold at the fair: MEANDER Kerámia Manufaktúra sold sculptures, and ERROR N’ MORE sold plates. The latter brand received a request from a renowned French Michelin-star chef, and the product designers received numerous other outstanding inquiries; Concrazy and Oleant products got very positive feedback. The interest mainly came from interior designers of hotel chains.

Those interested came to the design fair mostly from European countries, but many of them travelled from Japan, Canada, India, or Israel all the way to Paris to get to know the outstanding creators of the design world, including the Budapest Select stand presenting Hungarian talents. The Hungarian stand concept got a lot of positive feedback from organisers of different design events, and numerous guests highlighted the particular way of material handling by Hungarian creators and their products’ uniqueness. The sales representative of Galeries Lafayette also visited the Budapest Select stand, but the commissioned interior decorator of the ACCOR Hotel Group and Dubai Downtown Design staff were also present. Important international media representatives such as Le Monde, Marie Claire France, Intramuros design magazine or Home Fashion News France also visited the Hungarian stand.

The Hungarian stand was admired by the Hungarian Embassy in Paris, the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre’s staff, and some visitors came from the Hungarian-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well.

You can read more about the designers of the Budapest Select umbrella brand in the following online catalogue: View the catalogue