Buyers soak up knowledge from trend series

Trend tracker highlights hot hues in ColorWatch
Christine Chow knows color.

The director of membership for The Color Association of the United States consults with a range of clients, from Lacoste to Godiva to Colgate-Palmolive, on upcoming design trends and brand marketing.

Chow, who has lectured around the country for the association, addressed attendees at the opening day of Summer 2007 Las Vegas Market about hot color trends for the American furniture industry.

According to Chow, color impacts consumers in a conscious and subconscious way. She said the association’s forecast shows there will be no one or two hot colors to watch for in the 2008-2009 color forecast. Instead, it will be a more varied approach featuring color families. “It’s a world of multi-color. Colors do not exist alone,” she said. “Full spectrum color is a new direction for 2009. And, as Americans embrace more color in everyday lives, they’re more adventurous about color combinations and unusual color effects.”

Chow said fine art and the booming art market stokes interest in a more artistic and colorful aesthetic. She pointed to a focus on surrealism, with a sophisticated approach toward design, giving the examples of the Mae West Lips sofa by Dali and Oppenheim’s Ostrich Legs Table.

Chow said a cool, clean, Asian-influenced aesthetic is inherent in the forecast. Watch for blackened hues with a new alternative to black and whites in indigos, deep plums and purples on more fashionable, high-end products mixed with whites, off whites and browns. Yellow has been a rising color in many variations, including mango and wheat hues.

An example of styles and colors from around the world:

• Far East: Watch for “eastern cool” and aged neutrals from the landscape — stone gray, moss green, deep indigo — accented with lacquer red and sky blue. Chow said the forecast shows a continued interest in metallics, particularly with special finishes such as blackened patina or hammering. Also look for what Chow referred to as purity in design, leading to natural forms and materials. For example, Project Import Export makes modern furniture using rattan and even water hyacinth. 
• Indian Market: An earthy, saturated palette is reflected in the emerging Indian market, with vibrant colors related to fresh fruits and vegetables, showing the growing strength of the natural food movement. Look for ethnic prints, modernized either through bright colors or oversized scales. Chow pointed to sensuous natural forms in handmade goods, such as Michael Aram’s India-made metalwares. 
• New England Shores: A sophisticated take on preppy, with moody mid-tones such as classic camel in the luxury market. Look for beachy, dreamy hues out of an Edward Hopper painting. Sandy taupes punctuated by barn red, salmon pink and grass green. This color palette reflects a rustic elegance that show consumers’ thoughts are increasingly turned toward nature.

ConsumerWatch speaker imparts consumer, home, design trends
Home furnishings buyers attending Las Vegas Market had a chance to discover hot trends on the horizon through the generations from Maxine Lauer, president of Sphere Trending, a marketing, trend and design firm dedicated to converting consumer insights into product innovation.

Lauer spoke about happenings that cause consumers to shop, think and live differently, and how they will impact the future. With a background in trend merchandising that spans more than 20 years, Lauer has guided strategic planning for clients at her own company since 2000. Lauer led her audience through a fast-paced preview of consumer trends in furniture.

She started with identifying different categories of buyers, separated by generation labels, including Digital from Birth, Generation Now, Generation X, Zoomers and Prime Timers, all complete with different styles and preferences. While trend appeals to consumers across the board, it is particularly tied into Gen X’s core values, a generation that is not afraid to mix and match. Lauer said to think more tailored then the traditional looks of the past, with clean lines and crisp styling. Generation Xers love to entertain, are entrepreneurial and blend work and home. They find appeal in items such as IKEA’s new Stockholm store, which features lines that are more expensive than the usual IKEA lines.

Zoomers are fueling the luxury market and are buying second homes. They are “de-cluttering,” even using eBay to get rid of excess stuff. Zoomers are increasingly environmentally conscious, Lauer said. These consumers expect beautiful design merged with sustainable or recyclable materials, and the calming qualities of bringing natural elements into everyday environments. Lauer said 76 percent of the nation’s net worth is in the hands of Zoomers. “You have to be really compelling to get this group to buy,” she said.

Of interest to the furniture industry is that second homes now represent 40 percent of all home transactions, and there is a rise of single households. Consumers are looking for ways to segment their homes into public and private spaces, and many consumers are living in small spaces but still want big style. Loft living is also on the rise as consumers look for ways to segment space.

As a result, the market for smaller-scale products has been expanding at a rapid pace, as consumers begin to downsize and have a growing need for multi-tasking product. “It’s about how our homes feel that has become important,” Lauer said. She showed examples of shared offices for multiple family members where parents and kids can work together. While the kitchen has always been the heart of the home, technology is changing home design, with seating and technology being built into shared family spaces. Lauer showed photos of sofas on the backs of kitchen islands.

Today’s consumers multi-task in their everyday lives and are beginning to expect and demand the same out of the product choices. “Consumers are saying, ‘Save me time. Does the chair turn into a shelf for my laptop?’” she said. “They are also craving relaxation and downtime in their homes. It’s all about the happy, healthy home — not just excess for the sake of excess.”

In addition, there are also more and more multi-generational homes than ever before, and design for children is becoming more sophisticated. Kids today have many more choices than kids of previous generations, and there is no question that today’s teens expect more choices in technology, design and décor. Design keeps pace with teens’ high energy lifestyles as it becomes more sophisticated for a design-savvy youth.

Advising retailers on how the look and feel of their stores influences prospective customers, Lauer said that drive-by and walk-by “editing” by consumers can make a big impact on choices of where they shop. “How does your store look from the outside in?” she asked attendees. “Is it fabulous?” She also pointed out the huge importance of well-designed bathrooms in retail stores. “As goes your bathroom, so goes your business,” she commented. Lauer spoke of what she termed “experience retailers” who host events in their stores, supporting causes and contributing time to the community.

Trend expert shares forecast for 2008, 2009
Michelle Lamb began the popular TrendWatch Live! seminar at Las Vegas Market with something a little different: A tour of the color wheel.

The senior editor of The Trend Curve and contributor to Accessory Merchandising said, “When I talk about trends I always start with color, because it’s so significant to everything else that is going on.”

Lamb, who is also founder and chairperson of the Minneapolis-based Marketing Directions Inc., provided snapshots of what the trends are for 2008 and 2009, many of which she took at Las Vegas Market, noting that there are so many trend worthy things happening at World Market Center.

Lamb discussed the direction of color as well as the direction of color combinations. Starting with blue, she showed how blues are taking off in new directions.

“Blues are never truly out of fashion, but different types and different personalities cycle back and forth. Through 2010 we expect many more blues in an upcycle than we have had in years, all of them exciting and immensely sellable.”

Water-based and saturated midvalues of blue have the potential to be best-sellers in everything from bed and bath to upholstery and even Christmas and holiday. Navy blues are being pushed to the red side along with denim-inspired blues.

Going around the color wheel, she highlighted purple with red casts, pale and midtone purples, and fuscia-inspired purple. Pinks will stay cool, with the exception of a hot coral.

While browns and oranges will stay the same course for 2008, Lamb said to get ready for a very different green-cast yellow to pop.

“It isn’t horribly edgy, just enough green to make a difference,” she said. “We will also see neon-flavored yellows in 2009. This is going to be a parallel trend with ready-to-wear. It also looks great with gray and silver.”

The parallels with apparel are becoming more evident. Lamb pointed out that home and apparel are coming closer and closer all the time. One of the biggest trends for both is metallics.

“Gold is the freshest way to tell that metallic story,” she said. “Gold is showing up in all sorts of thicknesses. Think of those little threads of gold in the fabric and then contrast that with something that is nearly viscous. There is no wrong way to do metallics right now.”

Other trends that are popping up in both home and apparel:

• Warm grays. Look for a mixture of warm-temperature grays in 2009.
• Skin-tone neutrals. The transition will be made from shades of pinks and peaches to desert neutrals, such as khakhi browns and gold grays, perhaps accented with white and black.
• Paisley is back. Bohemian or Morrocan themes update this traditional pattern.
• Crowns. This icon can be a little edgy, from the counter-culture point of view.
• Stripes. They’ve been off the trend-radar for several seasons. New combinations of colors and thicknesses energize stripes in a new way.
• Art nouveau. In the coming years, art nouveau will have the potential to be a replacement for glamour looks.

Lamb said buyers will see more intricate weaves, fine and elaborate textures, and lustrous overtones in fabrics.

“Complicated approaches are what’s going on right now. Visual and textural variety are what’s important,” she said. “It’s also a reminder of the relentless increase of consumer sophistication that makes companies compelled to make something special in almost every fabric and every piece.”

Patterns fit well into the area of fabrics. Lamb also said to look for patterns in décor and tableware. New interpretations of fine point illustrations are decidedly decorative. Patterns such as Greek keys, camphor leaves, medallions, iron work patterns, scallops and architectural elements are making their way onto tableware and accessories.

Wood remains the leader in materials right now, which is great for the eco-chic trend. Buyers can expect all newness of the green movement to become the new normal.

“We still like the found wood and the reclaimed wood. There is also going to be shift to lighter finishes that is really going to keep this category going. Look for gray wood. Dark is not done, but we’re evolving,” she said.

Glass also fits into the eco-chic trend. Buyers should be on the lookout for bumpy textures, or textures that are reminiscent of water or ice. There is a shift away from plain, smooth glass toward glass with facets, scoring, and handcarvings. Facets also make pieces more functional, which is what consumers still want. Functionality is now becoming more edgy. Sofas can be assymetrical to create spaces that work for consumers. Chairs convert to tables and wall hangings. There is a concerted effort to be less gimmicky in the functionality.

Lamb touched on the Asian and African influences still being big, but never looking as fresh as they do for 2008. “There is a youthful rhythm to Asian style that is contagious,” she said.

Consumers love the traditional black and red lacquer, but new, unexpected colors such as white, aqua, coral and lemon are giving the trend a fresh look.

As for the African trends, rocks, fossils, horns can be high-end with a metallic coat. Leopard and tiger skin patterns are paired with unnatural colors to make them feel new. Moroccan motifs, such as grillwork, stars and paisley, work well in sheer and lustrous tapestries. Tapestries are coming back in a very different way.

“We’ll see other architectural elements being used on products,” Lamb said. “Add in exotic grasses and metal and lacquered wood to round out the look, and you have an African trend to reenergize the global mood for the balance of the decade.”