April 2009 / Inspiring Feel-Good Designs


Located throughout the world, the Trendease Team continues to deliver our subscribers around the globe cutting-edge design information straight to their computer screens.

We attend over 100 design events a year on your behalf to bring you leading-edge insights to help you maintain and strengthen your competitive advantage. Currently we keep readers in 5,814 cities within 146 countries in the know! Are you reading Trendease.com?

This issue of Trendease is full of feel-good design! Our moving designer spotlight will warm your heart. Our new talent feature will have you reconsidering fabrics and furnishings. Come experience tabletop in an entire new way. See the great outdoors embellished in great design. Enlighten your month with cutting-edge interiors, innovative wallcoverings, hot motifs, and jewelry for the body and home. And join us in celebrating the Year of Natural Fibers in our EcoChic feature! Get inspired with the April edition!

Show us what you’ve got! For editorial consideration please email editorial@trendease.com with your latest original designs.

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REPORTING TO INSPIRE,
Jennifer Castoldi,
Chief Creative Director

Download our informative tri-fold brochure as a PDF file here.

Features and Articles

Jennifer's April Antics

Multiple European Cities — Spring is here! The sun is shining and flowers are beginning to bloom. And they are not the only ones. Innovations are growing all around us at a constant pace. Here read Jennifer’s thought on the new edition and fly away with this gallery of images. After examining the products scouted during the recent rush of trade shows, it is evident that birds are flocking to the latest designs. As elegant as a peacock or as simple as a chickadee, this array of winged creatures is decorating the latest goods.

Persian Pickles or Twisted Teardrops?

Worldwide — “Persian Pickles.” “Welsh Spears.” “Twisted Teardrops.” “Those little amoeba things.” These motifs were found in abundance at recent trade shows around the globe. This decorative element is experiencing an unplanned and multicultural collaboration, which is loved by people worldwide. Discover designs as diverse as their history within this gallery of product images.

Decorate with movable dots

Put'em There!

Multiple European Cities — The wonderful world of wallcoverings is not what one may expect. It is not full of hard to mount, hard to remove materials. It is not drab in color or in style. In fact, it is just the opposite. This is a fresh new frontier of innovation in function, design, application, and even entertainment! Day or night, young or old, living room or bedroom, a plethora of options are available to decorate the wall.

Outdoor Furniture & Fabrics

Multiple European Cities — What if someone built furniture designed to withstand the elements? A table created not with squeeze-mustard and sunblock in mind, but glamorous outdoor dinner parties instead. A sofa where invitees could sit, comfortably drinking their martinis and exchanging small talk. How nice it would be to combine the civility of being inside with the freedom of being somewhere with no walls or windows. It’s all here in this feature.

Swarovski Bathroom made by Kludi, detail

Jewelry for the Body & Home

Worldwide — Even the less trend-conscious people can see that crystals abound in jewelry, apparel, and are splashed across home fashions: towels, wallpaper, ceramic tabletop, glassware, lighting, bath fixtures, window coverings, carpets, and even architectural features. Keeping an eye on the latest trends could lead to new product innovation. In this feature take a look at crystal trends for A/W 09-10 and a collection of various crystal applications.

A Filigree of Food and Flesh

Paris — There are dinner parties and then there are dinner parties! You’ll definitely want to RSVP for this one. Dessert might usually be the most self-indulgent, luxurious, hedonistic part of a meal, but the sensuality that Philippe di Meo gets out of it is on a whole new level. This article features his erotic tabletop collection, created in collaboration with Baccarat, Christofle, Raynaud, L‘Orfèvrerie d’Anjou, and Domeau&Peres, complete with a sensuous how-to video.

Lounging Just Got Greener

New York — With the state of our environment today, most of us believe (and pray) that being green isn’t just some fad, but rather a movement that is here to stay as long as we are. Now that the severity of our ecological problems has dawned on us, turning a blind eye might actually be harder than accepting that our collective lifestyle is due for an adjustment. If your lifestyle involves visiting the occasional club, this is a hot spot not to be missed.

Designer Spotlight: Luisa Leonardi Scomazzoni

Riva del Garda — Dreams do come true and each and every one of us can make a positive impact on this planet. Those are two inspirations Trendease takes away from our encounter with Luisa, a woman to admire. From the streets of Brazil, to the production in a favela, which helps to improve the lives of 40 women, to sales at fashion and design shows around the world, this is where the spotlight shines in April 2009.

New Talent: The Allure of Home

Margate — Zoe Murphy is a young British designer who finds her inspiration at home. She hails from Margate, a seaside resort town in Kent, England. In an effort to both preserve her home’s aging landmarks and the environment, Zoe captures Margate’s unique scenery and applies it to tables, stools, and wall pieces, all of which are made of recycled materials.

EcoChic: The Year of Natural Fibers

Paris — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibers. An unfortunate myth is that natural materials are flimsy and don’t have as many applications as synthetics. However, as more manufacturers take advantage of the high strength, low-cost, and light weight fibers, natural products shed their reputation of fragility. Learn about cutting-edge fiber applications here.

NEWSLETTER #262

Paris — Yesterday was a big day for Jennifer. It marked her 6th year of being based in Paris and what’s even more important is that it marked the 5th year of Trendease.com premium content on-line! Today members of the Trendease Team went to Planète Durable, an exhibition of products to “find the solutions for a better world,” as their slogan states. Many things we saw were status quo; however, there were a couple of things that knocked our socks off.

NEWSLETTER #263

Guebwiller — Continuing with this month’s feel-good design vibes is the Trendy-Tub featured in today’s newsletter gallery. Large tubs recovered from industrial facilities are reincarnated as storage, desks, console or end tables, cabinets, chairs, stools, lamps, and decorative frames. Multi-functional, customizable, and eco-friendly; this range is just what the doctor ordered. Also read up on Jennifer’s tidbits on new product development.

NEWSLETTER #264

Multiple European Cities — Who knows, in the future the air may be so polluted that we all move around in our private, plastic bubbles. This week’s gallery looks at a future direction of motifs. The product images found within are influenced by technology, i.e. computer graphics. From outright computer inspirations to pixilated florals and houndstooth, subscribers stay in the know with the images found in this gallery.

Helix chair by Karmelina Martina

NEWSLETTER #265

Milan — Death of a trade fair? I think not. But there is definitely change in the air. Whereas in the past the design-savvy would explore the fairgrounds of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile before venturing into the untamed and wildly growing Fuori Salone (off-site events), the reverse is true today. Fuori Salone hot spots like Zona Tortona have made it to the top of the ‘to do’ list.

Eco-friendly and organic

NEWSLETTER #266

Worldwide — This color is represented as energetic, playful, festive, or even cool, sophisticated, and serene depending on what it is coupled with. But there is no doubt about it; this color is still coming on strong. A part of the peacock colorway, this hue abounds on bedding, wallcoverings, towels, upholstery, and more! See it in this gallery and read up on the latest tidbits!