When it comes to Christmas, conventional wisdom holds that the most salable color story is red and green. I’m here to tell you that while this may be absolutely true for core products—the bestsellers you repeat with success year-after-year—nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to … [Read more...]
Tabletop Eye Candy
Hands down, the most exquisite tabletop presentation at the Maison & Objet trade fair in Paris was seen at Legle Legrande Lebouc. The feature was a black table of over 20 feet in length, which was styled by Vietnamese designer Axel Huynh. This dramatic, turned-leg table was layered with the … [Read more...]
A Marriage Made in a Garden Paradise
Pierre Frey teamed up with 200-year old tableware maker Faiencerie de Gien to create a dinnerware pattern inspired by Frey’s new Le Jardin du Palais wallcovering and fabric. Gien’s new Jardin du Palais collection debuted at the Gien showroom on the Left Bank. It was unveiled during … [Read more...]
Down With Denim Blue
Many Portuguese towel, rug, throw and bed-linen makers exhibiting at the last Guimaraes Home Fashion Week agreed that blues are key. Antonio Salgado characterized this color family as being, “on top.” Coton Couleur said sales of their blue products were rising. One mill, Domingos de Sousa, projected … [Read more...]
Time For Less Trend Product?
Is our obsession with color trends killing the planet? A Fast Company article by Elizabeth Segran asks just that question. The piece chides us with numbers that reveal our wastefulness—like how many times we wear an item before banishing it from our closet (down 36% to seven to 10 times since 2000), … [Read more...]
Party Product Trends: Birmingham Spring Fair
The Trend Curve team has gone from one trade show to another since the year began. Today, Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf is at Spring Fair Birmingham. She is trend-spotting many categories, including party products. I spoke with her this morning about her top party-product trend takeaways: Bridal is … [Read more...]
A Mix of Horror and Fun Midsummer Scream
Because I forecast color and design trends, consumer shows are not normally on my radar. After all, the products shown at consumer events come way too late in the trend cycle to be of any use to forecasts for the industry. But I have learned that this is not necessarily true of Midsummer … [Read more...]
Keeping Embellishments Simple at GHFW
Guimares Home Fashion Week is a showcase for Portuguese manufacturers of towels, rugs, sheets, comforters, throws and more. The fourth annual edition of GHFW took place June 26 and 27. One of the biggest trends at this year’s fair came from embellishments. This was not because they were opulent … [Read more...]
Color at the Chelsea Flower Show
The Chelsea Flower Show, held May 19 - 23 was a visual delight. Color always leads the way at this Royal Horticulture Society event, and this year was no exception. Nonetheless, along the Main Avenue show gardens, there was an overwhelming sense of green. Towering trees, quiet under plantings … [Read more...]
Sustainable Textiles at GHFW
The fourth annual Guimarães Home Fashion Week was held June 26 and 27 in Guimarães, Portugal. At this year's fair, ways to minimize the impact of home-textiles production rivaled interesting materials as top innovations. Fátima Sousa, Commercial Manager for Domingos de Sousa & Filhos, … [Read more...]