Hit list: 5 launches at IMM Cologne to look out for

Kicking off the calendar year of monumental design fairs is IMM Cologne (15-21 January). The German city’s annual event is entering its 69th year, with a host of product releases and inspiring installations from a roster of global players. From ethereal Australian lighting to Danish woven modular benches, here are the new launches we are most looking forward to...

The Danish textile company is releasing ‘Runner’, a series of benches, ottomans and daybeds that see carpets and rugs elevated to new a height.
(Image credit: TBC)

Kinnasand LAB Project

The Danish textile company is releasing ‘Runner’, a series of benches, ottomans and daybeds that see carpets and rugs elevated to new a height. Launching as part of the brand’s LAB project initiative, it appointed designer Katrin Greiling who aims to bring the connection between rugs and humans closer by creating architectural structures for the textile to wrap around.

Rakumba

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration this year, Australian lighting brand Rakumba has tapped Studio Truly Truly for a unique Cologne showing. Their new lighting system ‘Typography’ hang like mobiles creating endless possibilities in its configuration. For the stand at the fair, the Netherlands-based design duo will present a dynamic arrangement for the stand, displaying the lighting’s poetic energy at its finest.

Hanging lights from Australian brand Rakumba


(Image credit: TBC)

Brdr. Krüger 

OEO Studio’s ‘Ferdinand’ chair is getting an update for 2018. The wood-turned chair retains its 20th century aesthetic, but this time the Danish brand is giving the seat an enriching and textured smoked oak finish, plus a brown leather seat for a sophisticated match.

OEO Studio’s ‘Ferdinand’ chair


(Image credit: TBC)

Valerie Objects 

The Antwerp-based brand continues its collaboration with Belgian duo Muller Van Severen with a set of subtle additions this year. A new decadent brass edition of ‘Shelf n°1’ joins a rocking chair version of their signature frame seating, while their minimalist drawing-style hanging lights elegantly rise to ceiling heights.

A new decadent brass edition of ‘Shelf n°1’ joins a rocking chair version of their signature frame seating, while their minimalist drawing-style hanging lights elegantly rise to ceiling heights.


(Image credit: TBC)

Petite Friture 

As part of Villégiature P.F, the French brand is partnering with emerging designer Max Enrich for the first time on ‘Thin’, a range of geometric coffee tables that play with scale. Sleek steel tops (available in an array of enticing hues) are placed on bulkier tube legs to almost appear as balancing anxiously on top.

‘Thin’, a range of geometric coffee tables that play with scale


(Image credit: TBC)

IMM Cologne; Koelnmesse, Messepl. 1, 50679 Köln, Germany

Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.