On 9 – 12 March 2016 the ‘Modern Danish’ pavilion opened its doors to Chinese trade visitors during the four day long Design Shanghai fair – offering Chinese audience a chance to sneak peek at modern Danish lifestyle.
The Danish Trade Council’s design and retail sector team had this year partnered up with fast-growing Chinese design firm WoWdsgn and selected some of Denmark’s best contemporary brands in an effort to showcase a good balance of hip, urban, upcoming, innovative design products along with Danish design icons. Among the Danish companies in participating in “Modern Danish” this year were Muuto, AYTM, HANDVÄRK, Aida, Lindberg Eyewear, Danerka, Flexa, Jacob Jensen Design, JYSK, Louise Roe and Manostiles.
Design Shanghai is Asia’s leading design event and was again this year getting massive media attention from within both design as well as business press. The event is primarily trade oriented with a large amount of design retailers, interior architects, department stores and other design opinion leaders among it visitors.
In addition to organizing the Danish pavilion for the Danish companies, The Danish Trade Council in China had organized match making with new customers, a press event, an educational retail field trip and a VIP networking event during the 4 days.
The ‘Modern Danish’ pavilion was officially opened by the Danish Ambassador A. Carsten Damsgaard, Design Shanghai CEO Lee Newton, WoWdsgn Founder and Chairman Mr. BO Xi and Aida CEO Peter Maae Jensen and thereby marked Denmark’s participation with “Modern Danish” pavilion for the second consecutive year.
“Functionality, attention to details and simplicity are strong elements of Danish design. This philosophy has strongly been reflected in Danish design products,” said Ambassador Damsgaard and added: “Danish design is not only significant to the national identity of Danes, but also part of Danish life. This year, we are planning to hold more events, where the public can experience Danish design in different Chinese cities.”
Head of Danish Trade Council’s design & retail team Casper Freddie says: “we believe that now is a very good time for Danish design companies to enter and grow in China – the Chinese economy is changing to become more consumer-oriented with growth rates still exceeding 10 % per year and we can see with the massive interest of Danish design the last couple of days at Design Shanghai that a high number of Chinese consumers really have an appetite to tap into a lifestyle where designed products are becoming more and more relevant. This is a golden opportunity for Danish design”
Embassy of Denmark, China
