Fad takes flight, butwill it plummet?
By Marni Jameson
cago, which also sells home furnishings online at jaysonhome.com. “Are feathers rising?”
“Oh, definitely,” he said. “While the feather is a classic motif that’s been around for centuries, they are definitely ramping up in a full-blown way.”
Among the new-for-fall feathered furnishings flying off the shelves at Jayson Home are framed feather prints, serving trays with imprinted feather images, and decorative throw pillows actually covered (and filled) with feathers.
“We can’t keep them in stock,” Kirk says.
“Isn’t the feather fad— like
Every year, trends seem to fall straight from the sky into our homes. I mean that literally. You’ll recall, several years back, the butterfly trend, soon joined by the dragonfly trend. The highly stylized winged insects appeared on everything from wall art to water glasses, from T-shirts to tattoos.
Then the bird trend flocked stores. And now, coming soon to (if not already in) a store near you, feathers.
I first spotted the new feather trend while traveling a couple weeks ago. I emerged from my hermit hole of work and home and, like an endangered species, made a rare foray into the real world. It was still going on. I stayed long enough to notice a flurry of feather flourishes in fashions and furnishings.
Then, while flying home, flipping through the latest Elle Décor, my eyes fell on a plume-filled page. Feathers were featured in jewelry, tableware, wall coverings, fabrics, apparel, china and pillow covers.
To confirm my suspicion that a new fad was in the air, I floated my feather findings by a top home-furnishing buyer.
“It is true?” I asked Devin Kirk, vice president of merchandising for Jayson Home, an upscale retail store in Chi- the butterfly and dragonfly motifs that swarmed homes — destined to flutter then sputter?” I ask.
“We like to think we’re working with timeless ideas that won’t be out of fashion anytime soon,” says Kirk. “But it’s always hard to say when you’re in the middle of it. We can’t tell why one trend fades while another one stays.”
He has reason to believe this feather phase won’t go the way of the dragonfly.
“There is something chic about feathers,” Kirk said. “You can’t say that about dragonflies. They may be cool, but they’re not chic.”
“Why are feathers tickling our fancy just now?” I ask.
“The economy has made consumers feel pent up for a long time. They are ready for something a little exorbitant.”
“And feathers feel fancy,” I say. Cue the light bulb.
“Feathers blend nature and glamour,” Kirk said. “The two worlds rarely collide. For some they represent flight and evoke feelings of lightness and freedom.
“Then count me in.”