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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
Ready for Heimtextil 2019
With just a few days before Heimtextil 2019 opens at Messe Frankfurt, there’s once again optimism in a new year. That’s in spite of economic volatility and political unrest globally. One reason is the theme for the 2019/2020 design trends, always one of the most anticipated presentations at the … [Read more...]
Smitten by Texture at GHFW
After years of focus on minimalist simplicity, consumers began to crave product designs with a different sort of character. Mixed media combinations were the market’s first response to that need. The next step was texture. And once consumers got a look at what texture could provide, they were … [Read more...]
These Ideas Are On The Fringe
For so many years fringe has been thought of (when anybody thought of it at all) as down-market. It had a reputation for being thin and scraggly, and it always got tangled in the wash. No wonder fringe faded from view long ago. But now fringe is back in a big way, and it has a growing following … [Read more...]
New Christmas Critters
When you think of the animals most likely to show up in Christmas décor, deer, moose and squirrels are probably top-of-mind. But at the Christmasworld trade fair, things were changing. In the Loft trend area, for example, dogs were more prevalent than any other creature in the displays. In stand … [Read more...]