My family knows that I am working in Frankfurt and in Paris. They can tell because I come home with lots of press kits and digital images from the fairs—and lots of blisters, too. But every fall between Tendence and Maison & Objet I spend a few days trend spotting in London. That’s the time they begin to question whether or not I am really working. This is even true of my husband, who has known me for all of my 21+ years in trend and really does know better by now. I think he just likes to tease me.
This year I shopped London for both home and apparel. I always look at color, fabrication and style. On the home front, I took notice of the dark Teal and Red-cast Purple velvet upholstery at Habitat. I also noticed that the flocked silhouette giftwrap was nearly gone at John Lewis. Selfridges had a Black and White story that drifted from home to apparel and back again, touching bedding, dinnerware, glassware and more. Designers Guild showed lots of pales and especially neutrals while Conrans offered a large open weave knitted throw that I also saw later in Paris at the Maison & Objet fair.
Mary Sausen, who was writing for The Trend Curve™ at Tendence and joined me for London trend spotting, agreed to see two plays with me. The Woman in White was a wonderful musical with amazing staging. The use of projection and doorways made this play memorable. I recommend it. But Billy Elliot was an absolute hit. If you love music and dance, you must get tickets for this one any way you can (it was sold out the night we went). Then sit back and enjoy.