Trends & Traditions is a design trade fair that seems to be, after just a couple of years, a strongly-established and important event in the annual calendar for design in Copenhagen.

The venue is the old workshops in what was the railway yards and repair shops of DSB - the Danish state railway - and is out to the south west of the city centre. Most of the railway works have gone and this is now a major redevelopment area but curiously, although it is alongside the main railway as it runs out of the central station, for trains heading for Roskilde or for the airport at Kastrup and then on to the bridge over the Sound and then to Sweden, it is not the easiest site to reach by public transport although the event laid on shuttle buses. Because it was a warm and sunny day, the walk is pleasant and fascinating as a chance to look at the abandoned railway buildings.

There were just under 130 design companies listed on the event web site for this year and, although I did not take a check list to tick them off, all the big Danish design companies were here and a fair few from Sweden and elsewhere including Vitra.

Trends & Traditions is promoted as a furniture design “meet and greet” and certainly seems less competitive and more relaxed than the very big international shows. Generally, the area for each company is small and the stands themselves relatively simple with furniture set on the floor but usually with a few good information panels or display counters. It really is a good chance to meet designers and representatives from the companies.

The locomotive works has a good area outside and there were food and drink stalls there and a lot of coffee carts inside and many of the companies offered snacks and drinks so it feels like a fairly relaxed and very friendly set up.

There were also talks and discussions arranged through the day and this year speakers included Tom Dixon and Svend Brinkmann.

Several companies used the event to present newly-launched designs and there were some clear themes with several of the stands focusing on sustainability and reuse. The furniture consultancy and trade furniture supplier HolmrisB8 had a large area at the centre of the space to show reutilised office furniture and table tops and so on made from recycled wood or recycled textiles. Several companies showed solutions for sorting materials to be recycled from the home or in the office.

Trends & Traditions
Lokomotivværkstedet
Otto Busses Vej, Copenhagen
3 May 2023