Guimarães Home Fashion Week is a gem of a trade fair. This compact event, held in April, welcomed 230 attendees from 30 countries. They met at the historical Pousada de Santa Maria da Costa in Portugal’s birth city of Guimarães. More than 55 Portuguese home-textiles companies, representing 60 … [Read more...]
Trending at Maison & Objet: Valets
At the trend-setting trade fair in Paris, the rise of personal-luxury items spoke to how wellness has expanded in scope and extended its reach during the pandemic. One category in particular stood out: valets. A new crop of valets offered more than elevated designs and flexible functionality. … [Read more...]
Updating Neutrals for Christmas
When the pandemic began, the black-and-white duos that had been so popular just a year or two before dropped off fast. So did angular geometrics. That’s because—suddenly—high contrast and hard-edged motifs felt too bold for a population that had been whipsawed by Covid. As high contrast looks … [Read more...]
Japandi: On-Trend and Growing
Scandinavian sensibilities have been influencing shape, texture and surface design ever since mid-century modern looks returned a decade ago. Today, they are immensely familiar. Japanese elements are more recent, but nonetheless established. Think lotus leaf motifs and sho sugi ban, the charred-wood … [Read more...]
Cottagecore & Grandmillennial Trends Find a Home in Food
The Specialty Food Association announced its annual sofi™ Award winners last month. A glimpse at the honorees shows how some brand marketers are flaunting their farm heritage. This caught the attention of The Trend Curve team because it connects with a growing consumer interest in living a … [Read more...]
Kids’ Trends at Las Vegas Market
At the April Las Vegas Market, the latest directions for kids’ products looked fresh and fabulous. COLOR Kids are always drawn to bright colors. In Las Vegas, however, bright color stories were delivered in more nuanced ways. In some cases, color application included watercolor, gradient or … [Read more...]
Cool Christmas
Anyone who attended my Holiday-season webinars in the past two last years may remember that I emphasized the rise of green for Christmas. The big winner in this color family was mid-tone eucalyptus, a shade that has now been fully embraced. Fast forward to 2021, and the market is ready for the … [Read more...]
Pets, the Pandemic and Holiday Décor
Pets, especially dogs and cats, are trending as a topic in fourth-quarter seasonal décor. Why? Because for many consumers, they were already valued members of the family. They truly deserved a role for the Holidays. During the pandemic, pets have become even more important. These furry companions … [Read more...]
The Housewares Connection to WFH
From the earliest days of the pandemic, everyone realized how essential a pleasant and comfortable work-from-home space is to efficiency, productivity and creativity. Those factors are still top-of-mind for consumers, since the number of people working permanently at home is expected to double this … [Read more...]
Halloween 2020 is Really BIG!
The National Retail Federation’s annual purchase intent survey, fielded in September, revealed that Halloween celebrations will be fewer this year. Compliments of the pandemic, only 58% of Americans planned to participate, down from 68% a year ago. Still, a Harris poll conducted on behalf of the … [Read more...]