M&O ASIA 2015: Spain exports its creative verve to Southeast Asia

MUEBLE DE ESPAÑA keeps on promoting the warm feel and the creative verve of its furniture offer in Asia and its Southeast region, where Spanish brands are already a strong presence in main showrooms and in the interior design market. The participation of a group of Spain’s leading brands in the new edition of MAISON & OBJET ASIA 2015, give visitors, and therefore new Asian potential clients, the chance to experience a concentration of high creativity and quality. Let’s explore more the market…

Singapore, the new capital of home-fashion in Southeast Asia, has become a major player on the international scene. A business platform, a creative center and a gateway to new urban consumers, the modern city-state is a focal point for the growing wealth of the entire Southeast regions.

Its GDP per capita exceeds $49,000 for a population of 5.2 million people and its open economy (foreign trade accounted for 3 times the GDP) is characterized by the weight of re-exports closely related to the prominent role of its port (2nd in the world for transshipment containers).

In addition to this, in a recent market research, CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies has also predicted that world furniture consumption will grow by 3.4% in real terms in 2015, with Asia and Pacific seeing the biggest growth (more than +5%).

For all these reasons, and for the number and relevance of architecture and interior projects carried out in the region, in the latest years Singapore has been targeted as an important market for the Spanish furnishing industry. Major Spain’s brands have already an outstanding presence in the main Chinese commercial centers, such as Home Value in Shanghai, while some leading design furniture firms has opened its own flagship in main hubs, like Hong Kong, Shanghai or Beijing.

Among the exhibitors at the current edition of M&O ASIA, GANDIA BLASCO owns a flagship store in Hong Kong and is regularly distributed in Singapore by P5 PTE Ltd. Its distribution network includes also Kuala Lumpur, Japan, Bangkok, Taiwan and India. The brand has made a name of itself and recently its stylish outdoor furniture has been chosen for the rooftop swimming pool area of the prestigious Marina Bay Hotel.

Luxury good and high-end furniture are highly appreciated, but normally they reach the market through architects and interior designers, who acts as consultants and play a key role in specifying products in many Asian countries and not only in the local market. For companies like Colección Alexandra and Guadarte the relationship with architectural and interior design studio is therefore crucial.

COLECCIÓN ALEXANDRA has three showrooms in China (Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu) and over the years has grown fruitful collaborations with specifiers of all Asian majors hubs, who have specify their contemporary furniture for many residential and hospitality projects in the Middle East and Asia.

GUADARTE is another of the company that uses the interior design channel to cover the Southeast Asian market. Recently, their outdoor wrought iron sofas have been specified for the five-star Beach Hotel of Singapore, which is due to open by the end of 2015. Through its participation at the Maison & Objet Asia, the firm aims to strengthen and increase its business contacts in the area.

Stay tuned for more information...