Trendspotting: how it’s done
‘‘People used to buy furniture and homewares out of necessity.’’
Each season, department stores and boutiques are filled with a range of new products, a fresh palette of colours and textures, and we’re inspired to change up the look of our home - even if it’s just with a few selected accessories.
We asked a few trend spotting experts for insight on how they transport design directions from around the world into their stores and then into our homes.
Mark Prusher, group merchandise manager for Farmers says the job has changed significantly in the past fifteen years, and being on-trend has become much more important.
‘‘People used to buy furniture and homewares out of necessity. Actively following the latest trend was something that just applied to clothing,’’ he says. ‘‘But all that has changed. More often than not, our customers are changing the look of their home, rather than furnishing it from scratch,’’ he says. ‘‘Retailers need to stay ahead of the trend in order to meet that demand.’’
For Dennis and Dayle Bygrave of Seneca Textiles, trendspotting begins in Paris at Maison et Objet; and Ambiente, the furniture and homewares exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany. Both industry events take place at the start of the new year.
Dayle Bygrave says, ‘‘At the fairs, we discuss the colour and design projections with our suppliers, and we also get a sense of the overall trends in decor from walking the exhibition halls.’’
Each event attracts hundreds of designers and manufacturers, and thousands of attendees. She says, ‘‘After a few days, you get a sense of the direction things are moving. It all comes together into a fairly clear impression.’’
But trend-spotting doesn’t just take place in trade shows. Both Prusher and the Bygraves say that walking around the streets of Paris, Frankfurt and London and taking in the latest fashion plays a role, too.
‘‘The line between apparel and homewares is blurring,’’ says Prusher. ‘‘In many ways, our homes have become a fashion statement in their own right. They’re part of the way we express our taste, and our individuality.’’