Notes from High Point Market-Fall 2009
One of my favorite sayings is that history doesn’t necessarily repeat itself but it certainly does rhyme. I used that line a couple of years ago in an editorial, well really an editorialita, I wrote for a magazine a couple of years ago lamenting the return of the seventies in home fashion. Even though I was only in my teens during the Carter administration, I was painfully aware of the dreadful nature of the avocado appliances, hard rock hair styles, and nasty shag carpeting. I couldn’t wait for that era to end knowing it would never return. Fast forward a few decades and there I was in the home furnishing/interior design industry when, like a bad shrimp, the seventies style returned. Fortunately, we have grown smarter as a society and our flirtation with that genre quickly passed as our preferences continued to march back in time. Retro has always been fringe cool, like James Dean and the youn
g Elvis, and was clearly the attention grabber along with the clean lines of the transitional look this month at the fall market. But wait! Retro may not be retro enough as I saw pieces like this channel back sofa that reflect the glamour days of the 30’s and 40’s! Going back in time at this rate, we will be showing the Little House on the Prairie collection next spring and medieval by fall.
By the way, some of the shag rugs out there right now are really cool, and there are countless choices in color and texture. Adapt and improvise, they say.
The manufacturers put the same amount of effort in both the spring and fall markets, displaying new product to impress their accounts. The difference is that the warm weather gracing a North Carolina May makes that market feel like an invitation only outdoor party while October is the time the buyers get serious about placing orders in anticipation for the following spring decorating frenzy.
I arrived in High Point with the temperature reading 57 degrees with light rain and a stiff breeze. It was chilly. I had to chuckle as I strolled past an outdoor furniture showroom that was set up for a warm weather soiree on the patio. The one man band was doing his best Jimmy Buffet as a few hearty patrons sat bundled up in their comfy outdoor chairs, trying to have fun.
The decline in the housing market over the past couple of years has certainly been felt in the furnishing and décor business and it has been interesting to watch the evolution of an industry as manufacturers try to make adjustments to maintain market share. Because of the downward price pressure from Chinese imports, the US companies either had to become more custom or more efficient in an attempt to buck the trend or keep pace, respectively. Last market the green movement was in full force as every showroom, it seemed, touted the real or perceived earth friendliness of its product in hopes of opening wallets.
This past week I noticed a couple of things in particular as I spoke to reps and executives. One, there was a little teensy skip in the step of the merchants. A ray of hope. The bartender at the Embassy Suites told me, and you can always count on getting the real scoop from the bartender, this was the first time in a long time they had sold out their rooms for market. Orders across the board were up slightly over last fall, but as one rep told me “that might be more indicative of how bad last fall was”. Party killer. What I did see was that rather than a collective movement towards a similar style and color direction, this year many manufacturers started doing their own thing again. Some who presented color like a Barnum and Bailey circus in spring went all neutral for fall. Others who were trying to cut corners to keep up with negatively trending prices decided to get back to doing what they did best and returned to crafting top quality products. However, as I mentioned before, the transitional look with its clean lines was consistently a winner wherever it was presented, and classic retro was a show stopper.
Check out these chairs. Don’t they look like they came from the set of The Jetsons? Fun, huh? There was a whole room full of these chairs and a lot of them spin around!
How about these office chairs? These are from a classically traditional manufacturer that decided to try something for shock value.
Swivel chairs were everywhere. Wives don’t like recliners, but they must be ok with swivels. This one was my favorite.
When people ask me what color trends I saw, the answer was it really depended on the showroom I was visiting. I would say that in the mainstream upholstery lines, the word “spice” comes to mind. Paprika’s and cinnamons accented the neutral and natural settings, but before you go change all your pillows, I saw a lot of apple green fabric and leather, too. Classic bright yellows, tomato soup reds, and rich sky blues were prevalent. The one color consistently shown, but due to it’s very nature didnt catch the eye right away, was gray. Gray fabric or leather in the right application is sophisticated and elegant. A common accent color to gray was yellow.
Vignettes were not necessarily organized by product lines, but rather by color. What this said to me was, “we are not going to try to predict a trend, putting all our eggs in one basket this year, nor steer you towards one. So, what’s your favorite color? Great! Mine, too!”