A long-time subscriber to The Trend Curve wrote to me a couple of days ago to ask my opinion of Farmhouse collections going forward. I told her that I haven't seen Farmhouse as a trend for some time. Farmhouse is a core look. The same is true of Mid-Century Modern. It's a basic, not a trend. But … [Read more...]
Color for Outdoor Living
Nature-inspired shades of green and blue always attract attention in outdoor assortments. That said, not all green and blue hues are on-trend. Some of them are core colors. This designation doesn’t take anything away from the basic shades. Instead, it clarifies that they can be counted on day-in, … [Read more...]
SoCal Halloween
Since moving to Southern California from Minneapolis a few months ago, I have discovered that many elements of décor remain consistent across the miles, yet some things are different. Take Halloween decorating, for example. It turns out that kids here in SoCal love decorating their homes just as … [Read more...]
Gingham? Check!
If you count yourself among gingham’s adoring fans, get ready to be wowed. A revival of these cheerful checks is emerging for tableware and décor that feel breezy and lighthearted. Assortments debuting at Dallas Market Center in June, and AmericasMart in July showed off a range of sizes, colors … [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...]
High Point Had a Lot of Dogs
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 … [Read more...]
Dots are On-Trend for Christmas
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 … [Read more...]
MADE/Slow at Showcase Ireland
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 … [Read more...]
Halloween 2017 in a Few Words
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 … [Read more...]