Back to basics
Christmas tastes have shifted and returned to a more traditional look.
THERE are few sights more nostalgic than the festively decorated Christmas trees that are about to fill shopping malls and homes around the globe, but that doesn't mean the decorations are the same every year.
Few nations decorate their Christmas trees with quite the same zeal as Germans do, and it's to Germany that everyone turns for tree trends.
The recent fashion has been been to decorate firs and spruces with an eclectic mix of colours and decorations that had little or nothing to do with the Christmas season. But tastes have shifted and returned to a more traditional look.
Decorating trees in Germany goes back a long way, according to the Catholic Church, and began with red apples being hung from trees.
Trends expert Philipp Ferger from the decoration-goods trade fair Tendence says that's one reason classical apple-red and snowwhite tree baubles with silver and gold accents are back in fashion.
Anyone seeking something a little perkier without being too odd might want to pick the blue and green decorations also on offer. The decor company Leonardo has a range of traditional looking Santa Clauses, reindeer and angels made from glass, metal and wood to match.
Alessi has gingerbread men, luxury goods maker Villeroy & Boch has nutcracker decorations and Swedish furnishings chain IKEA has also chosen traditional red-apple decorations for its Christmas trees.
Following the retro spirit, many companies have resumed making decorations that they stopped producing decades ago, such as incense smokers.
The things have become fashionable again in Germany, according to the trend experts at the trade fair Christmasworld 2016 earlier this year, and the world may well follow suit. Wooden-looking Christmas tree baubles and nutcrackers match incense smokers perfectly.
Trend experts attribute the rise in popularity of traditional looking decorations to a return to values of homely comfort. Perhaps it's a response to the growing pace of modern life and experts think the trend will continue.
Trend forecast company Bora.Herke. Palmisano has drawn up a report looking at what decor companies are thinking of producing next year.
The slogan "delightful moment" is how they have chosen to characterise it, which, according to the report, is meant to suggest that everyone wants Christmas to provide a break from modern life and a moment for the soul to draw breath.
If that seems like too much karma for the Christmas tree, there will still be plenty of decorations in the loudest possible colours to choose from. The rule for many people, even some Germans, is there are no rules when it comes to decorating a tree.
Alongside the traditional look, the trend experts discovered manufacturers planning futuristic decorations made with "almost radioactive colours" in flashy blue, red and silver. For the children, and those who are children at heart perhaps.
The current revival of 1970s garment fashion and flower-power chic is also influencing Christmas decor, as there will be plenty of decorations coming through in 2017 in pumpkin yellow, pea green and beetroot red.
Absolute purists visiting the bauble stores next year can however still count on finding racks and racks offering simple wooden decorations as well as soft colour combinations with nuances of gold, enamel white, vanilla and honey yellow. – dpa