February 2008 / Findings for the Future
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Cairo / Furnex
Trendease covers over 100 design events a year; currently 25,000+ images in an excess of 925 reports keep 129 countries in the know! We are proud to be the exclusive sponsor of the Home Textiles Today TiAs (Textile Industry Awards).
2008 has begun with a bang! The Trendease Team has covered over a dozen international design happenings thus far. Keeping you up to date on the latest news we are happy to present the trend features from Maison&Objet, imm cologne, and Domotex along with highlights from other must-witness fairs. This month we not only publish the latest color stories, materials, shapes, and buzzwords with hundreds of fresh product images, we also incorporate short cutting-edge videos including interviews and design innovations. This is just the start of a wonderful year! Get inspired with the February edition!
February Trendease Market Edge PowWows:
- Feb 12th: Trends and Textiles;
Fashion Institute of Technology - New York City
- Feb 24th: Understanding the Market & Original Design;
China Knitwear Cotton Trade Fair (CKCF) - Shanghai, China;
REPORTING TO INSPIRE,
Jennifer Castoldi,
Chief Creative Director
Download our new tri-fold brochure as a PDF file here.
Features and Articles
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Jennifer's February FablesBirmingham — Wow! What an issue! We have oodles of inspiration for you hot off of the trade show floors. Be a sponge and soak it all up and we’ll keep overflowing with forward-thinking information. This issue pushes on even further while still trying to remain close to home. Trends which we see prevalent on the market? Read Jennifer’s column to find out and get a glimpse of the top picks from Interiors Birmingham. |
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Presque LàParis — Ghostly apparitions quietly materialize from bright white walls. Lose yourself and lose your bearings. Shapes and textures become focal points thanks to the overriding absence of color. The deficit of color, imperfect materials and uncertain lighting in this dreamlike hall opens up a desire to delve into the environment. It’s a not-quite blank slate waiting for a creative touch. |
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Trans-FormParis — You are not drunk. You are not trapped in a Tim Burton movie. This is a world radically transformed. Bookcases seemingly collapse under their own weight and distorted armchairs cast Frankenstein-ish shadows on walls. Forms are trapped in warp speed – elastically stretched, almost beyond recognition. Though the forms are misshapen, they are offset by classical motifs and florals. |
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Bizarre BazarParis — This gallery resembles the Mad Hatter’s tea party. If Alice in Wonderland were adapted into a gothic romance novel, that is. Royal purple and gold, arched stained glass windows, French poodles, and sexy grannies. Even Margaret Thatcher makes an appearance on a pillow. Surrounded by smoke and mirrors, we catch a glimpse of leg here, a whiff of the macabre there. Sex and skulls. |
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Outside InCologne — With the Outside In trend we leave our cocoons. The Trendboard at imm cologne has worked together to create the annual Interior Trends stories catering to professionals in design. Each trend presented is supported by images and themes including color, pattern, form, and material. This year the directions are Outside In, Neo Nature, Design School, and Priceless. |
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Neo NatureCologne — With its theme of Neo Nature the Trendboard at imm cologne exemplifies how we are searching for optimum design using nature as our template. As craftsmen of this digital era personal fabrications are more relevant than ever. In this gallery see supporting images and themes including color, pattern, form, and material. See how although technology forms the basis of our age we don’t necessarily need to show it. |
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Design SchoolCologne — The Trendboard at imm cologne has conjured up Design School, a theme where aesthetic training is deemed useless and rules no longer exist. Blobular and the like move forward. Experimentation is ideal and the desire to produce is sustaining. Everything is in perpetual motion. Despite the chaos direction still prevails in this gallery supported by images, buzzwords, and themes including color, pattern, form, and material. |
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PricelessCologne — Increasingly, buyers act as curators collecting and displaying design as works of art. Unique objects and prototypes are desperately sought out, bid on, snapped up and exhibited in the home. Function and price points are irrelevant. Design limitations are removed as art market rules are applied. Matching rooms are less important than growing a collection of exclusive pieces. New markets create new needs and wants: hybrid disciplines and hybrid industries work to develop an aesthetic that is timeless, luxurious, priceless. |
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From Natural Beauty to Classic ComfortHanover — Once again Ulf Moritz, the internationally renowned designer from Amsterdam, has treated visitors to his vision of the floors of the future in the floorforum at DOMOTEX. Showcasing the latest trends in contemporary carpet design and floor coverings four themes prevail. In this gallery soak up the various directions and tendencies while reviewing the images and buzz phrases. |
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Designer Spotlight: Carolyn QuartermaineLondon — Artist, decorator, textile designer and teacher Carolyn Quartermaine works from her various studios in London, Belgium, and southern France with a small team employing artisan methods. She imagines her textile collections by creating patterns or random signs in very personal colors. More of a trendsetter than a follower, Quartermaine shares her thoughts in a video interview included here within. |
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New Talent: Crème de la CrèmeCologne — An event Trendease has been reporting on for years has changed its tune. No longer “inspired by cologne”, this talent show has graduated to title of the [d³] contest. This round of the international design competition saw 534 entries whittle down to 31 to represent the crème de la crème. Out of this group the Trendease Team has chosen the sweetest (a.k.a. inspiring designs we haven’t seen already). |
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Coolito's WayMultiple European Cities — When consumers purchase sofas or chairs, the products are investments which will live in their owner's homes for many years to come. With that in mind consumers usually lean towards purchasing designs which will not come in and out of fashion within a few short seasons, but rather be long standing, representing the owner's style throughout the years. While research points to this being bread and butter business, it is still important to address the trendy products that help to drive business by giving a company a cutting-edge image. |
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NEWSLETTER #208 - It's EcoChic!Stockholm — Live from the Stockholm Furniture Fair, it’s the Trendease weekly newsletter! Design week has been hopping. We certainly don’t want to leave you EcoChic deprived this month. This week’s gallery is posted to give subscribers a fix on the latest designs in the world of sustainability and aesthetically pleasing visions. Subscribers can feel good about the products found within! |
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NEWSLETTER #209Frankfurt — In this week’s photo gallery subscribers can fall in love with the latest patterns to present themselves on the market. Although what is seen within this collection is a selection of new wallpaper releases, what makes them interesting is that the application goes far beyond the wall, thanks to the recent Rapoxy technology. Subscribers can see the scope of fresh patterns from florals to graphics within. |
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NEWSLETTER #210Worldwide — Explore the newest launches from the up and comers to the established players in the field. This week’s photo gallery will not have you running for cover, but rather, running to cover your windows. See 49 images of the latest drapery, blinds, pull backs, trim, patterns and motifs, new techniques and more! Also catch up on the latest cutting-edge tidbits from PV Pluriel to eco-chic advantages. |
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NEWSLETTER #211Multiple European Cities — We’ve been witnessing creative uses of everyday items in home furnishings. Take for example the lush, textured wall, which in fact, was made of thinly sliced paper strips, or the table and chandelier made from black plastic straws, both recently published in the ‘pages’ of Trendease. These simple and inexpensive materials take on a lavish life of their own when combined with creative minds. Coincidentally two different sources have brought to life new products with a fun twist using the same material found here. |
