“Refine the style and touch the spirit” is the credo for trends in the coming season
Silent dignity, geometric gravity, shaded modesty, dazzling beauty – restrained, delicate styles to celebrate the festive moments of life
What colours, materials and shapes will be with us in future at the festive occasions of the year? Design consultants bora.herke.palmisano outline some reliable prognoses for the entire decorations sector: the trends for Christmasworld 2014/15 go by the names of ‘silent dignity’, ‘geometric gravity’, ‘shaded modesty’ and ‘dazzling beauty’. These will involve a shift away from unequivocally in-your-face boldness to a more subtle, emotionally touching restraint. The deliberate calm engenders a new creative power, increasing the desire for carefully selected decorations – and this applies to all the festivals in the year and especially to Christmas and Advent.
Our design researchers derive the relevant trends for the festive and seasonal decorations sector from current trends in society, fashion, architecture and design. “With the general acceleration and constantly increasing complexity of life, people have a growing desire for peace and quiet, for serenity, for restraint and a concentration on the essentials. The subtle and careful approach, specifically to decorations as well, turn festive occasions into special moments,” explains Annetta Palmisano from design consultants bora.herke.palmisano. Accordingly, the mission statement in the Trend Book runs: “Refine the style and touch the spirit.
‘Silent dignity’ – organic shapes, elegant materials and oh-so-delicate pastel shades.
This is a clearly differentiated, elegant and cultured look. A central feature of this style is a yearning for harmony and formal simplicity – complemented by restrained Asian influences. Dominant colours are apricot, lilac, mint and light blue. Almond white, dark brown and black lacquer emphasise the quiet authority of this trend. As for decorative globes, vases and trinkets, it is round, flowing shapes, which take their cue from the perfection of the organic, that are the order of the day. These go well with delicate materials such as Japanese lacquer work, ceramics with a craquelé effect and delicately tinted woods in a variety of wood grains. Graceful grasses and tree branches lend a sober, decorative note. The artistic designs are reminiscent of Asian high culture: traditional kimono patterns, gracefully drawn flowers, delicate ink and charcoal drawings as well as traditional Japanese motifs are spread over elegant papers, silk, satin and taffeta ribbons, and work together with shiny surfaces to produce their effect.
‘Geometric gravity’ – stark contrasts, blocks of surface colour and vibrant patterns
Accentuated, formal, logical – this is a style with crisp features, developing the beauty of starkly geometrical forms in an interplay with severe black and white contrasts. Minimalistic beige and grey tones create exciting shading. Powerful, full colours appear mainly in plain, even surfaces. A shade of deep blue and intense yellow emphasise the severity of the style. From lines, circles, points, rectangles, squares and rhombi there emerges a rich and varied array of designs, including mosaics, cubes, stripes and linear motifs. At the same time, these repeating line patterns and sculptural reliefs, elaborate grids and criss-cross designs as well as some surprising op-art effects, appear to be moving. Nature, too, is integrated, with leaves and blossoms impacting on the designs. There are some translucent patterns that serve as a basis for printing ideas and these are attracting a lot of attention. The overall design is complemented by the use of brushed metal, lacquer, plastic, glass, ceramic, chrome and steel. The combination of mat, shiny and transparent materials heightens the visual impact. High-quality, toughened textiles complete the overall effect.
‘Shaded modesty’ – expressive materials and dark colours aspire to inward and outward balance
‘Shaded modesty’ also reflects a natural way of life – relaxed, unpretentious and down-to-earth. Here, materials with a strong haptic quality meet calm colourways in misty shades. The style harmonises earthy loam and ochre colours with a dark night blue, burgundy and chestnut. These are offset by cool shades of violet and reseda green. When it comes to materials, it is the tactile surfaces of stone, concrete, marble, unworked slate and even woven or knitted leatherwork that carry the day. These are matched with specially selected textiles such as felt, mohair, jute, coarse-knit fabric and flannel.
The deliberate restraint is also in evidence in the patterning, which affectionately brings out the beauty of simplicity – like, for instance, in the delicate graining of wood, the veining of rock or the broken shimmer of shiny surfaces.
Blossom from meadow and hedge-row, fruits and grasses bring with them a note of great comfort and tenderness. To create sparkle, there are ceramics and turquoise and stone beads. And, to create some elegant accents, too, there is chrome, bronze and copper.
‘Dazzling beauty’ – a kaleidoscope of intense colours with floral patterns and symbolic motifs
‘Dazzling beauty’ is a dynamic style, full of imagination, exultation and youthfulness. This provocative look is all about the unexpected, the surprising and the quirky. Bright, complex colours appear as if over-saturated. This includes sunshine yellow, salmon, carmine red, lavender blue, cool turquoise and shades of petrol in contrasting combinations. Exotic blossoms and flowers, together with classical figures in strong colours, attract attention to themselves and appear in the form of, say, painted porcelain, embroidery work and prints.
There are hardly any limits to the materials used: textures with a strong tactile element, loose weaves, course lacework, as well as hand-made and carved pieces, create contrastive tensions with coloured glass and plexiglass, iridescent foils, confetti and rhinestones.
Important elements for this style are photo real prints, shimmering light reflections, fantasy prints and lasercuts, all going to emphasise the modern slant on this off-beat and thoroughly ironic trend.
Photos: Koeln Messe Press
