The grand designs of International Furniture Fair Singapore (IFFS)

Singapore's key furniture event certainly covers a lot of ground. Each March, it's the locus of the International Furniture Fair Singapore (IFFS), the ASEAN Furniture Show (AFS), The Decor Show and The Hospitality Show - as well as the Hospitality Design Furniture Luxurious Project Asia Summit & Awards.

ekonglong hign back executive chair

Those interested in the latter areas should refer to Furniture News' sister title, Hospitality Interiors - particularly for news regarding The Hotel Show Asia, a new joint venture taking place between IFFS Pte and DMG Events at the 2014 event. For now, my focus is on domestic furniture and furnishings, and the combination of IFFS and AFS never disappoints - even if some complain that the quality of the exhibitors has been watered down in recent years.

Some 466 companies are present across 60,000m2 of exhibition space this year: 40% from Asia/Oceania; 42% from ASEAN countries; 12% from Europe; 5% from America and Canada; and 1% from the Middle East. This edition sees the attendance of US giant Ashley Furniture, as well as a new pavilion of French companies - under the banner of the GEM trade mission that was present in Interiors UK in January - and new exhibitors from Myanmar and other ASEAN countries.

Unlike the majority of Far Eastern trade shows, IFFS is positively littered with design events. This is the second year of SingaPlural, a week-long celebration of home-grown design talent that features more than 350 installations and curated design spaces, symposiums, competitions and other activities, all reinforcing the event's position as the region's most design-savvy. "We wanted the vibrancy of the show to be translated into the city," says IFFS Pte chairman Ernie Koh.

The various initiatives present at the show itself include Singapore Mozaic, a Government-sponsored operation initiated by the Singapore Design Council that facilitates collaborations between local designers and manufacturers - the labours of six of which are present within a showcase area at the event.

Anyone who read my MIFF report that discussed the design community in Malaysia should know that Singapore is really going hell for leather in this regard - yet whereas the former might look to its unique traditions and history for inspiration, Singapore is a hugely diverse blend of Chinese, Indian, British - indeed, Malaysian - and many other cultures, so any notion of escaping Western influences goes out the window right away. Singapore's strength is that its designers can, in theory, pick the best from an array of influences and deploy them quickly and vocally - watch this space.