May 2018 / You're So Vain


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.

During Milan Design Week it was glaringly obvious that companies had merchandised their stands to be Instagram-friendly, having their scenographies fit neatly into 1:1 frames and selfie photo ops were annoyingly abundant. It is the modern marketing strategy. Dodging the social media obsessed, the Trendease Team has gathered together expertly curated and researched information to help your business stay on the bleeding-edge. Fresh patterns, surfaces, silhouettes, colors, techniques, marketing, and product design are here. Get inspired with the May 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 173 countries/territories in the know! Are you reading Trendease.com?

Show us what you’ve got! For editorial consideration please email editorial@trendease.com with your latest original designs. Upcoming Trendease Market Edge PowWows and Trendease.TV information can be found on the homepage.

REPORTING TO INSPIRE,
Jennifer Castoldi,
Chief Creative Director

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Features and Articles

Jennifer's May Marvels

Worldwide — We’ve titled this issue ‘You’re So Vain’ because it says so much about what has happened to society, and even design presentations. People of all ages are selfie and social media obsessed. Read up on Jennifer’s take on the contemporary marketing strategies of design businesses and also check out this gallery of images showing a noteworthy repetitive design direction in textiles.

A Pattern Millefeuille

Worldwide — There is a smorgasbord of good surface design to choose from out there. Thankfully that means that there is something for everyone. But what types of interesting movements are happening in the world of patterns and motifs at the moment? In this gallery see what Trendease calls the “mille-feuille” design direction, which stretches across rugs, wallcoverings, bedding, and one-of-a-kind weaves.

Entwined in Weaving & Knotting

Worldwide — Outdoor and indoor furnishings are getting slightly more complex in design. The handicraft movement where consumers are desiring a more human touch relating to their products is trickling into furniture production. Ornamental weaves and knots create intricate meshwork. Collections originating from all corners of the globe, from Thailand to the United Kingdom and Italy, are entering the marketplace in full force.

International Indigo & Java Blues

Worldwide — How do traditional crafts engage with modernity? The richness of culture is still valid and can be applied within today’s developments in the design world. Within this feature you can see how boundaries are pushed to challenge the perceptions in contemporary designs of ceramics, dyed leather, textiles, and inlaid wood. In Paris, Milan, Bangkok, and the island of Java indigo still reigns.

Globe Trotter

Travel, Love, and Extinct Beauty

Worldwide — Showstoppers in Milan for soft floorcoverings can be found here. Themes behind these extraordinary designs include world travel, culture, love, and extinct animals. Who ever knew these topics could add such beauty to the floor? Traditional and modern, bright and bold, pastel and neutral, relaxed and chill. Come take a look at what feet and interiors desire.

Rough & Rugged

Multiple European Cities — Leonard Koren explains, “Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional.” If you read the book and further research the topic of wabi-sabi you will find a few discussion points missing; however, for the purpose of this article, the definition suitably describes the aesthetics we are finding for tabletop items of the highest artform.

Lay Your Head Down

Multiple European Cities — Padded, quilted, upholstered. Sound-absorbing. Warm. Comfy. Velvet, leather, suede. Patterned, brushed, stitched, buttoned. When you lay your head down to a night of sweet dreams what does your headboard look like? During Milan Design Week at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile headboards were getting the designer treatment.

Anthropomorphism & Personification

Multiple European Cities — Anthropomorphism is the ascription of human appearances or actions to a god, animal, or object. At Milan Design Week, we experienced how a number of manufacturers attributed such characteristics to their products in a manner that was highly entertaining and lifted the spirit. Here are some examples of scenography and marketing to make you smile.

NEWSLETTER #608 - The Couturier & Friends

London — We love previews. The Design Museum’s private view for ‘Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier’ was no exception. It was co-curated by Alaïa himself, prior to his death last November. The exhibit showcases over 60 of the dressmaker’s masterpieces. Subscribers can see how fashion and design complement each other in London here.

'Grow'

NEWSLETTER #609 - Algae Textiles & Products

Milan — Jennifer looks forward to seeing a number of you at the annual IGI Congress that commences on June 1st in Portugal. Meanwhile, this gallery is full of some pretty inspiring possibilities around the research into algae applications within home and fashion. Sustainability reaches new depths.