Warm Metals: What’s Next?

A colleague emailed me today asking my opinion of the future of gold metallic. His perception was that gold metallic is moving ahead, but only if the finish is matte. Do I agree? And what, he wondered, was my forecast for bronze? I thought other Members might be interested in my reply.

I am truly bullish about gold. It is increasingly prevalent in every product category we follow at The Trend Curve. Gold is being used allover, as well as in accent roles, where its luster makes it really stand out. Gold has roles in contemporary, traditional, transitional and global styles. It appears in soft materials and in hard ones.

There is probably no wrong way to do gold in the next two years. Yet, from a trend perspective, the days of layered-gold finishes—using speckles of red or brown along with the metallic—are behind us. Similarly, champagne finishes that come close to gold, yet are not gold, are already taking a back seat. For 2015 and 2016, it’s all about yellow gold. Not only that, but I also feel that matte looks will eventually give way to more-lustrous finishes. When? My forecast is that this shift will be quite obvious by the time 2016 begins. Take a look at the gallery of gold-metallic products below, and you’ll notice that the move to shinier looks is already creeping into the mix.

As for bronze, it makes perfect sense within the context of color preferences. Given the movement away from grays and silvers and toward anything warm, browns are regaining status in the color palette. Bronze is a variation on the brown theme. I am behind brown for 2015 and bronze by 2016.