A look back at Ambiente 2020 in Frankfurt am Main

We have been preparing for this year's exhibition for several months to once again showcase the best of the Czech porcelain school. Our team in primary production (where the porcelain mass in liquid or solid state creates a porcelain product in its naked beauty, i.e. without decoration yet) under the leadership of Mr. Vladimír Suchý, but also the team in species production (where the porcelain is decorated by hand-applying prints or hand-painting) under the supervision of Šarka Potůčková could not complain about the lack of work in the period before the exhibition, although this period is usually colder in terms of orders.

Our graphic department, which is directed by Hana Jeřábková, has prepared several novelties that we would like to hit the taste of our customers. Apart from one collection from an external designer, our in-house decor development department is behind all the new products that have been presented.

Because of the breadth of our range, one novelty can mean dozens of hours at the computer to create print segments that fit perfectly on the curved or even more rugged surface of our products. The decor dresses the curves of each product literally to the letter. Further hours are spent testing different colours, which after baking at temperatures of around 800 degrees Celsius and when mixed with other colours often do not look as they do on paper or in the minds of their creators. Appropriately chosen paint decoration also plays an important role.

On the day before the opening of the exhibition, a "preparation team" consisting of our main decor developer and arranger in one person, the previously mentioned Hanka Jeřábková, two female saleswomen who are present at the exhibition from the first to the last day, who are happy to help prepare the exhibits, and last but not least, one male representative with the task of safely transporting the entire team and help with the installation of the stand. As such, the stand has been erected by an external company over the previous few days, the job of the preparation team is to breathe life into the structure, shelves and presentation tables. On the opening day of the show, the company director joined the booth crew and also stayed until the last day while the developer and a colleague left the booth and the show after seeing the most interesting displays and returned to their home country.

It was obvious from the first day, and probably could have been predicted earlier, that this year's show would be different. The exhibition always reflects the mood of society, we have become used to that, so we won't find two identical editions, but this year the meaning of the word different is a little stronger than ever. It's perhaps not surprising that the thing that so influenced the show was the Coronavirus. Even when setting up the stand, our staff were already experiencing some members of other teams protecting themselves and others with cloaks. This was most evident with the Asian exhibitors. The organiser of the fair did not issue any safety rules in this respect, so it was up to each person how to approach the situation. It was evident that some exhibitors cancelled their participation and in the following days it was confirmed that neither the professional nor the general public arrived in such large numbers.

Another aspect that may have played a role, and in our opinion did, was the passage of Storm Sabine through Germany, which was reported by all the media, which also recommended keeping outdoor activities to a minimum. It is true that on the way to and from the exhibition centre we experienced strong wind gusts on Sunday and Monday, but on the middle floor of the exhibition hall we had no idea that the elements were raging outside during the day.

In "our" hall on "our" floor the situation was fortunately probably the best, the decline in visitors was not so noticeable and the interest in our exhibition confirmed that we really hit the mark. The new decor of a hand-painted tulip that we developed for our original Antonia shape, which was the central motif of our exposition, as its detail was displayed on the canvases forming the back wall of the entire exposition, caught the attention of almost everyone who passed by our exposition. There were two canvases, each approximately 4 x 4m in size. This collection was presented in all its glory on one of the presentation tables, so that visitors could imagine the table spread with this collection. On the second presentation table we introduced a new decor on the Sonata shape, tiny pink flowers in ornaments with a turquoise background. A television was hung between the screens, on which we showed a video spot about the production of our porcelain and other video material. The wall carried a text with the main features of our production, namely that it is 100% Czech production, in a traditional manufactory, with premium quality with original design.

On the central three-storey table, which was dedicated to the Leander Fresh collections, we presented the Angel wings collection on the Heather shape, designed for our company by Lenka Sarova Malíská from Studio Malíská. You will be able to read about this collection in another of our blogs. On the middle floor, the RoseLine collection, which we introduced to you last year, has found its space. On the bottom floor we showed a brand new collection on the shape of Hank, however, this time in ivory glaze colour. A subtle Nordic decor in muted colours, which is sure to find its fans and will be added to our shop among other collections. By the way, we are still looking for a name for this decor, any ideas?

On the side walls, we have shelved collections that we feel are most relevant to our customers' contemporary tastes and the best we can offer them. Under the Leander brand, these are the collections on the Sonáta shape, new products from last year's fair that caught our eye and which we have refined to offer with a wide range of complementary products. We could not miss the collections on pink porcelain, as we are already the only traditional producers of this type of porcelain. In the collections under the Rudolf Kämpf brand, the most luxurious collection of not only our own but also world production, Antique Medailon, has its firm place. There is also the Cobalt Flowers collection with platinum on the Kelt shape by sculptor and ceramicist Ales Werner. The largest area here was devoted to collections on the shape of Antonia, such as Dots, Roses Under the Stars and others.

We kept our eyes open at the show and tried to capture the trends of today to compare with our perception of them. The world leaders such as Rosenthal, Meissen, Villeroy Boch once again demonstrated with their elaborate displays and rich accompanying programme that they can sell their products to a high standard, but we did not see any significantly different or innovative products than we are used to from previous years. Some manufacturers played on the note of environmental initiatives, as porcelain is generally one of the most ecologically interesting durable materials without a negative impact on the ecosystem. Glass companies were a little more adventurous, for example Crystalex celebrated 10 years of new design at the fair, introducing new collections and screening a series of very impressive promo videos. Riedel presented a collection of special glasses for 7 different types of wine, which combine the function of a decanter for proper decanting of wine.

As a result, we evaluate our participation positively, we were visited by most of our traditional customers, with whom we could discuss open topics and present our news. There were also companies with whom we are in talks about possible cooperation, but there were also potential new customers, for whom it remains to be seen in the coming weeks and months whether our cooperation will develop further.

Fingers crossed...