Do you ever wonder how trends are set or who gets to set them? The sources of some trends are easy to spot. When the TV show Friends was popular it seemed like all the girls were getting the Jennifer Anniston hairstyle at the salon. But who gets to decide that shag rugs are back in style or what colors we should paint our walls? Hey, I just tore out my wallpaper and applied a faux finish and now you tell me wallpaper is coming back? Is this just a big conspiracy to make us buy new stuff because what we have is out of style, or is it some internal drive to continually alter our environment for personal pleasure or perhaps to vainly stay one step ahead of the Jones’s?
I heard someone say the other day, “history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”
I remember when we mercifully left the 70’s behind us I was sure it would be the last time we saw bellbottom jeans and that avocado green that still makes my gag reflex kick in a bit. Of course we all know that look started coming back a couple of years ago whether we wanted it or not, like another installment of the Halloween movie series. The colors were not the same rust and green of the Carter years, but they were close.
There are two big shows a year in High Point, North Carolina, where all the home furnishing manufacturers showcase their wares and unveil what’s new. The spring market is in April and the fall market is in October. I spoke to one of my upholstery manufacturer reps last week who just returned from a meeting where they were selecting the fabrics for the spring market mere weeks after the fall market closed! Conspiracy!
To be ‘in style’ is a decision you must make and, once accomplished, must be actively maintained else that status will be lost as fast as a New Years resolution. It’s much easier to pick one of the established traditional (or not so traditional) styles and stick with it. For those of you who have to be on the cutting edge, here are a couple of sources that can be used to keep you the envy of the neighborhood.
Pantone is a company that makes its livelihood through color. You can go on their website and see what is predicted this fall to be the hot colors for spring. Print out the color spectrum. Keep it around until March and compare it to those gorgeous “I wish I had that room” photos in your newly delivered home magazines. My guess is that you will be stunned, and then feel really cool that you know something most people don’t.
Understand that the new colors presented each season are typically not a fresh and random selection, but rather an evolution with perhaps one or two new introductions. The aqua that was so hot with chocolate a few years back has mellowed, gotten dusty, and separated into two colors, green and blue.
Pantone makes predictions of what they expect to be future color trends, but there’s another organization just down the road from the CIA in Virginia that makes predictions of what colors should be used to sell products more effectively. (CIA? Conspiracy?) The Color Marketing Group is a not for profit collection of experts that help decide what color car you are going to want to buy three years from now, or more accurately what color the automakers should use that we would find more attractive. They make predictions for nearly every segment of the marketplace. (How the heck do they do that?)
From what I understand, the cosmetics and fashion industries are the first to jump on these trend predictions, but the home furnishing industry isn’t too far behind. Actually, the edgier accessory companies are right in step with the fashion folks and if blue iris is the new hot color you can bet there will be blue iris lamps and pillows pumped out of the factories around the world. Even the more traditional manufacturers will incorporate hints of the newer colors in their product offerings, but it may not be as obvious. If a new product gets hot in the marketplace, they throw gasoline on it and let the fire of desire burn until it runs out of fuel. Then the committee meets to decide what you will buy next.