July 2013 / Are Anomalies the Future?


Located throughout the world, the Trendease Team continues to deliver our subscribers around the globe must-know market information and inspiration straight to their computer screens.

New product developments lead us to believe that deviating from the status quo is what secures a successful future for the market leaders. In this month’s edition we see unique material combinations, product innovations, a new chapter in storytelling, along with an emphasis on color and raw materials. We present a case study on how a local family business transformed into an international design brand and take a look at previews for the Autumn/Winter 2014-15 season. Also, contact us if you think you have a textile or wallcovering worthy of display on an innovation platform. Get inspired with the July edition!

We attend over 100 design events a year on your behalf to bring you trend insights and design movements to help you maintain cutting-edge knowledge of the lifestyle and design markets. Currently we keep readers within 171 countries/territories in the know! Are you reading Trendease.com?

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REPORTING TO INSPIRE,
Jennifer Castoldi,
Chief Creative Director

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Features and Articles

Jennifer's July Jargon

Worldwide — Are anomalies the future? Perhaps not for every business, but it certainly does not hurt to help get your brand noticed. An anomaly is like the 80/20 rule when it comes to a trendy merchandise mix for market leaders. Twenty percent of your products on offer should be trend forward or innovative. These products may not necessarily be best sellers, but they help position your brand as a first mover and tend to boost sales of the core 80%. Find a carefully-curated selection of examples here.

Ultra Bright

Raw Materials for 2014/2015

Paris — As many people prepare for their vacations there is another side to summertime, groups of trade show organizers around the globe who are getting ready for the fall exhibition season. It is in this period where we are fortunate to get some very special sneak peeks and avant premiere looks at the directions to be taken in this new season of product launches. Here Le Cuir à Paris shares with us its preview of the Winter 2014-2015 inspirations ‘Matière Première’ – raw materials.

P is for Passion

Insights into the A/W 14-15 Season

Paris — We have taken a look at the four themes and material directions for Le Cuir à Paris’ Matière Première forecast for 2014/2015. Now let’s hear about the inspirations directly from the exhibition’s stylist, the visionary behind the seasons yet-to-come. We will also take some visual clues from the alphabet, a key mode of communication for September’s trend unveiling.

A collaboration with Missoni

It's a Family Affair

Stockholm — There are some histories worth studying, and certain dates worthy of celebrating with a glass of bubbly. Bolon is our case in point. This year marks a special occasion for sisters Annica and Marie: ten years ago they took over the reins of the family business from their parents. Now in its third generation this Swedish flooring firm is unlike any other. One of the company’s tag lines reads “The future alternative to textile flooring.” We will go out on a limb and say the future is here.

It looks like a rigid seat, but when you sit the material gives under your weight, creating a more comfortable seat.

Not Your Common Chair

Worldwide — How many times have you heard a designer or someone from the design community complain about another chair model, that there are only so many ways this seating instrument can be designed? There are probably infinite ways to develop new chairs, especially given today’s technologies. But it is not limited to the digital era; our hats also must be tipped to the talented craftsmen and women we have encountered. In this gallery both of those worlds collide.

Unexpected Pleasures

London — We like uncovering unexpected things in our adventures. One of our latest discoveries caught us off guard in a pleasant way. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word ‘quilt’? Chances are it is not a description such as avant-garde or innovative; at least it wasn’t for us. But we like to keep open minds, and for this we have been rewarded.

Dwell on Storytime

Los Angeles — Today, stories about a product and the people that created them help to bring us together as a global community. We become interested in the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ a product was conceived. The story helps us to know the designers and artists behind the product and to cross boundaries of space and time by interacting with other people, and that makes us feel connected. With all of the technology in our global economy sometimes something as simple as a story can make us remember our similarities to bridge the gap of our differences.

Laura Kishimoto, Yumi Chair

What's in a Name?

Los Angeles — The Furniture Society hosted its 2013 Faculty Selects exhibition at this year’s Dwell on Design Show. For the Faculty Selects exhibition, Furniture Society members, who are instructors in furniture, art, and design programs across the United States, nominate up to three works by their students and finalists are picked by jury. Trendease is happy to present the finalists in our July issue; we are particularly fond of many of the names of the entries.

Project in collaboration with porcelain manufacturer Vista Alegre

New Talent: Ceramic Picks

London — Part one of New Designers, the place to find emerging talent, took place during the last week of June. Over two weeks, the Business Design Centre in London is where to find fresh graduates from the UK’s top universities convening to show off their final projects and prototypes. During the first half of New Designers the Trendease Team has selected some of the crème de la crème working with ceramics.

NEWSLETTER #442 - Free Access to Trendease

Multiple European Cities — If you only receive our weekly newsletter, but you have always longed to access Trendease premium content, if you are a subscriber who would love to get some extra time added to your subscription, or if you are a kind soul who just wants to help me gather data for a PhD paper, if you help with this 5-10 minute anonymous survey one or more of your above ambitions will come true! We need wallcovering specifiers, interior designers, decorators, and architects to complete the (mostly multiple-choice) questionnaire here.

NEWSLETTER #443 - Last Chance! And Lighting.

Worldwide — Thank you to all who have participated in the survey. If you are a wallcovering specifier, interior designer, decorator, or architect you are not too late to complete the questionnaire here. The next 17 people to respond will get a FREE month’s access to our premium content. Ooooooo! We are also sharing the love to people who refer the link and are mentioned at the end of the survey. Now let’s get down to business; this week’s gallery is chock full of lighting inspiration from around the world.

NEWSLETTER #444 - Ceramics & Motifs

Barcelona — Barcelona is home to some pretty impressive architecture. This week’s photo selection showcases some inspirational ceramic creations from the master, Antoni Gaudi. Florals, arabesques, and geometrics transform on the surface of his organic structures. In this time of economic strain and importance of waste management, Gaudi-like creativity can be an aspiration in today’s creative endeavors.