January 2019 / The Future Starts (W)here


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.

Designs coming into their own begin when exactly? Is it when a new process is discovered, a new market forms, an influencer tells you so, or a merging of all of the above? Where does it start: with a scientist, a manufacturer, a designer-maker, a stay-at-home mom, a pimply teenager? In the West, the East, through collaborative efforts, or those who keep themselves inside a creative bubble? Discover different strokes for different folks here. Get inspired with the January 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

Download our informative tri-fold brochure as a PDF file here.

Features and Articles

Jennifer's January Jots

Bangkok — Here in this edition, there are many kick off points to consider. Is it raw material? It is a process? Is it new technology? It is grassroots movements and creative commons? Perhaps future progress comes from ideas that were formed in the last century that have been layered upon with new perspectives? Does it begin from the top, or does is trickle up from the bottom?

The Secrets of Natural Dyes and Felting

Bogota — The Trendease Team discovered the research project and social enterprise of Maria Lucia Londoño, founder and designer of Ata Felting Design, during our new talent scouting in 2018. We invited her to participate in the Launch Pad at MoOD, where her work was very well-received, and now we asked her to share with our readers her secrets behind natural dyeing.

HP latex prints with surface designs from Poppy for Heimtextil 2019

Heimtextil Sneak Peek: Digital Design Innovation

Frankfurt — Heimtextil’s Stefan Jakob interviews Jennifer Castoldi of Trendease to discuss digital printing, sustainable material innovations, and the some of the changes at the exhibition. You can find the full interview on the Heimtextil blog (https://www.heimtextil-blog.com/en/make-lemonade-from-lemons/), and subscribers can find some exclusive sneak peeks of the designs here.

Smart curtains that track human emotions

The Future is in Our Hands

London — This exhibition took place at the V&A Museum and displayed developing technologies, the ways in which they will touch our lives in the near future, and what choices we have, as citizens, to influence their progress. Upon entering the exhibit, beneath ‘The Future Starts Here’, there was an intriguing quote from Paul Virilio, French cultural theorist, urbanist, and aesthetic philosopher, “The invention of the ship was also the invention of the shipwreck.”

Gaetano Pesce's Up Chair was packaged in a 4-inch disc that transformed into a giant chair when opened.

The Reality of Home Futures

London — Explore today’s home from the viewpoint of yesterday’s imagination with the Home Futures exhibition at the Design Museum through March 24th. Are we living in the way that revolutionary architects and designers during the 20th century forecast, or has our idea of home proved impervious to drastic transformation? Here 200 furnishings and social movements deliberate that question.

The Pet Market is Booming Around the World

Worldwide — With so many households considering their pets to be family members, it is not surprising to see the expenditure figures rise. Statistics show the average dog owner spends upwards of $30,000USD over the lifetime of (wo)man’s best friend. For the design sector the product ranges are expanding. Pet furnishings blend better with interior design than ever before; pet beds are growing market, and the accessory divisions are seeing major diversification.

Cuddly Sleeping Arrangements

Worldwide — The modern-day Sleeping Beauty could have a lot more hair. With trade shows like STYLE Bangkok and Heimtextil adding special areas within the exhibitions catering specifically to the pet market, there is supporting evidence that this niche is gaining momentum. Here are some market trends that are key drivers. In this gallery have a look at some of the new product launches for the pet bed market.

Pet Fashions: Adorable or Too Much?

Bangkok — Many end consumers believe that pets are people, too. A huge majority of pet owners categorize their pets as family members. Not unexpectedly, treating their pets as if they are their own children, these pet owners are often open to spend excess funds to spoil their pets. Fashion and accessories come in all forms for pets these days, from frilly wedding ensembles to rock-n-roll jackets, to track suits and dresses that humans can now coordinate their wardrobes with their furry family members.

From Tecnografica

NEWSLETTER #628 - On the Move at Heimtextil

Frankfurt — Happy 2019! May you all have a healthy, joyous, and prosperous new year. It is that time of year again where the trade show madness kicks off in Frankfurt Germany at the messe. This week everyone can watch the ‘Trendease on the Move’ videos from Heimtextil at the following URL: http://www.trendease.tv/on-the-move.html

NEWSLETTER #629 - Excuse Your French

Paris — It has been a full week of design events in Germany, like imm cologne and Passagen; followed by a trip over to Paris for Maison&Objet and Paris Deco Off. This week’s photo gallery showcases 85 images from the 2019/2020 inspirations zone at Maison&Objet under the theme of ‘Excuse My French!’.

NEWSLETTER #630 - 5 Trends Toward Utopia

Frankfurt — Three more trade shows at Messe Frankfurt this week are keeping my daily step count high and regular dose of inspiration on point. ‘Tis the exhibition season! For those of you yearning for the Heimtextil trend coverage, we’ve got your fix in six new galleries containing descriptions from the exhibition’s Trend Council, summaries of which can be found below, with the reporting commencing here.

Heimtextil 2019/2020: Embrace Indulgence

Frankfurt — "Rich materials and colors, modernist style and skilled craftsmanship combine to offer a utopian vision of the future of luxury. In these troubled times, we look back with rose-tinted glasses, remembering the comfort and indulgence of calmer eras, seeking to return to them and surround ourselves with serene, inviting beauty. Intelligent combinations of materials and tangible expression of creativity are as much a part of luxury today as straightforward opulence."

Heimtextil 2019/2020: Escape Reality

Frankfurt — "A new utopia can be as rooted in the digital as in the real. Our appetite for media seems insatiable; in 2016, according to Nielsen American adults spent an average of 10 hours and 39 minutes per day consuming various media and that figure increased by a further half-hour in 2017. According to Citi GPS, the augmented reality and virtual reality hardware market will be worth $692 billion by 2025."

Heimtextil 2019/2020: Go Off-Grid

Frankfurt — "The modern utopia explores new physical dimensions as we turn to off-grid experiences to re-establish a connection with nature. People are rewilding their lifestyles, seeking out connections with humanity’s primal roots and trying to work with the natural world rather than against it. Today’s off-gridders aren’t looking for ease or comfort..."

Heimtextil 2019/2020: Pursue Play

Frankfurt — "Responding to tumultuous times, we are using play as a way to make sense of the chaos. Learning through playful processes has become a positive preoccupation for people of all ages – not just the young – and a healthy dose of play is key to any modern utopia. ‘To play is to be in the world,’ writes Miguel Sicart in his book Play Matters. ‘Playing is a form of understanding what surrounds us and a way of engaging with others. Play goes beyond games; it is a mode of being human.’"

Heimtextil 2019/2020: Seek Sanctuary

Frankfurt — "People living hyper-connected, intense lives are looking for ways to disconnect. Essentialist consumers are stripping back and prizing concepts such as time, family, friendship and the sense of living meaningfully. Essentialism doesn’t mean rejecting products – rather, it involves seeking out and appreciating simple, beautiful, functional, finely executed pieces and concepts."