Llamas may be on-trend, but dogs are not giving up their share of the whimsical-animal pie without a fight. At the High Point furniture market, dogs appeared in framed art and on trays, as the inspiration for the shapes and surface designs on rugs and embossed onto hardware for kids’ furniture. Dogs were appliquéd onto […] Read more...

FURNEX & The Home is the largest trade fair in Africa. Held annually in Cairo, Egypt, it hosts the top Egyptian furniture manufacturers, exporters and traders serving domestic, regional and international markets. This year, it was also host to a student exhibition called Soft and Hard. The challenge to students from German University in Cairo […] Read more...

I just finished writing Trend Album™: Christmasworld 2018, The Trend Curve’s trend report about the Christmasworld trade fair that runs about 80 pages and includes more than 150 images. Among the noteworthy surface-design trends for Christmas was dots. Dots are trending for Christmas because they are trending in everyday décor. And they’re going to be […] Read more...

Showcase was founded by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland 42 years ago. Today, it is among The Trend Curve’s favorite trade fairs. Why? Because most of the products found at this annual Dublin-based event are designed and made by Irish crafters, so the quality is high. Even better, these are products you can’t […] Read more...

Those who create retail assortments rarely get a full view of what happens to products they develop and select at the fateful point of purchase. Which items really made cash registers ring? Which in-store displays actually swayed customers to buy? Not knowing the answers to these questions can feel like sending a message in a […] Read more...

It seems that designs suggesting outer space can always be found in décor. But lately, they are being seen more often, and in a larger variety of interpretations. And although lighting seems to have a particular affinity for the topic, space-themed designs are also cropping up in a greater range of product types, from furniture […] Read more...

I recently finished writing a retail reconnaissance report, along with my licensing-genius colleague, Leigh Ann Scharzkopf of Lookout Marketing. While we have created an entire series of these store-check reports, called Taking Stock of Retail™, the subject of this version was Halloween 2017. Scouring through thousands of pictures snapped by our team at retail to […] Read more...

Dots started to attract The Trend Curve’s attention at the beginning of 2017. The reason they stood out was a new level of sophistication that made polka-dots look positively dated. At December’s Showtime textiles market, dots grabbed the eye again, this time because of a hand-drawn character that made them feel soft and approachable. They […] Read more...

Heimtextil is the biggest international trade fair for home and contract textiles, and because it’s the first trade fair of the year for its sector, it acts as a barometer for the new business year. Interestingly, however, the next edition of it (to be held from January 9th through 12th 2018) will emphasize space, as […] Read more...

One of the biggest trends for home décor fabrics features a hand-stitched look that The Trend Curve has been writing about for the past year. Whether woven in for upholstery or done by hand as an embellishment on items like cushions, embroidery and crewelwork looks are experiencing a pile-on of popularity, and there’s no end […] Read more...

Ultra Violet may be Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2018, but a quick glance around the Showtime textiles market in December revealed that Ultra Violet is not the only purple trending for next year. From amethyst to royal and from lavender to plum, purples made surface designs look fresh. Seen in both printed and […] Read more...

While most collections were exploring a Boho revival for décor (driven in great part by the success of Justina Blakeney’s book, The New Bohemians), an American West theme was quietly emerging at the Showtime textiles market. Showtime was not the first time a Western trend got noticed. Hints of this look were also visible at […] Read more...

The Light + Building exhibit is the leading world trade fair for Lighting and Building Services technology and the Spring 2018 edition of it is sure to become a hotspot for design. Running from March 18th through the 23rd, this Fair will be focused upon various styles, which incorporate the latest designs for the home […] Read more...

Although the majority of my time is spent looking far into the future, a portion of it is always spent at retail looking at what’s happening in the here and now. I believe that retail reconnaissance is absolutely vital to the business of trend. It provides a real-world view of how color, shape, style, materials […] Read more...

The Ambiente Trade Fair in Frankfurt, Germany sets the pace for the world of consumer goods. However diverse, these products fit into the categories of Dining, Giving, and Living. This is the fair where business and creativity come together and where visitors place orders with international exhibitors. There were 4,469 exhibitors from over 94 countries […] Read more...

Embed from Getty Images With this year’s centenary celebration of Ettore Sottsass’s birth, exhibitions and books focused on this artist’s work have made his design sensibility a topic of conversation yet again. At the forefront of recollection is Memphis. This short-lived design movement was founded by Sottsass as a collective of designers and architects. This […] Read more...

Before yesterday, I had never heard of the National Building Museum. Now I feel obsessed with seeing this cultural institution devoted to interpreting the history and impact of the built environment. A new exhibit opening on November 18 looks particularly intriguing: Making Room: Housing for a Changing America. This installation addresses changing demographics and lifestyles […] Read more...

Orange is a color that can get noticed fast when it’s intense and bright. But going forward, it will get noticed in tamer personalities as a trend statement. That’s because a preference for clay colors—solid and plain or filled with texture—is emerging. Some of the best new clay tones are saturated, terra-cotta inspired hues that […] Read more...

Cersaie is the international tile and bath exposition held annually in Bologna, Italy. Editorial Correspondent Elaine Markoutsas was there. She offered these insights about on-trend color. At this year’s Cersaie tile fair, metallics continued to shimmer like jewelry. Warm-and-burnished gold and bronze, pewter-like silver and occasional soft coppers led the way. Many of these metallics […] Read more...

At September’s Casual Market Chicago, trends in outdoor living were on display in collections from about 250 leading manufacturers, who filled more than 350,000 square feet of exhibit space at the Merchandise Mart. A major theme at this year’s event was making outdoor environments as comfortable as those inside, with carefully designed products that encourage […] Read more...