The coming year in homewares will be dominated by textiles and tableware that reflect nature, says trend forecasting agency WGSN.
Speaking at the HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair held last week, WGSN senior editor Anupreet Bhui said consumers are beginning to carefully consider their purchases and are prepared to pay a premium for high-quality products.
“If you look at how the trends are perceived for 2018, you will see that there is actually an extreme shift underway in how consumers are behaving and how lifestyles are changing,” she said.
Bhui also explained that consumers are split between a minimalist approach to living that reflects elements of nature, and a more colourful approach that is all about technology and urbanisation.
Slow futures
In her talk, Bhui outlined four key themes that will influence a consumer’s path to purchase in 2018, beginning with ‘slow futures’. This is a calm, clean, minimalist approach to life.
Natural elements are a big part of this category, for example prints and patterns that reference geological formations, textures that mimic the appearance of scorched earth, or a pastel adapted from a swirl in a piece of stone.
Kinship
This is a celebration of globalisation and a connected community. Bhui said consumers attracted to this trend want to mix and match traditions from different cultures and time periods to create their own aesthetic.
Products to look for are those made of natural fibres and colours. Soft indigo shades, rope, sea grass, nautical themes and sandy tones were being used as inspirations and, in combination with design influences from the Middle East and South America, create texture, context and originality in fabrics.
Psychotropical
A ‘story about exploration’ will give rise to products that are exceptionally bright, decorated in rainbows of colour, and blended with flora and fauna motifs.
“People want to experience a holiday in a far off space without the travel,” said Bhui.
The use of dark green backgrounds lends itself to vivid colour contrasts and there will be more integration of natural elements—think feathers and wings—in lifestyle products for spring and summer 2018.
Youth tonic
Younger consumers are looking for an element of self-expression in the products they use. “For these consumers, it is less about telling people what to do with a product… but about giving them the open space where they can actually be a part of the design process themselves, and then they can modulate the product based on their particular needs.”
Designers could consider the world of animation, virtual reality and urban lifestyles when creating products for these consumers. Products might also reference the urban environment, the architecture of cities, straight lines, geometric patterns, vivid colour-blocking and functional materials that had a tactile quality.
By Ruth Cooper
