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Forecasting Interior Trends by Milou Ket (Part II of II)

By Milou Ket

Furnitex Australia’s resident trend forecaster, who is also advisory member of the MoOD Brussels’ Trend Board and founder of Milou Ket Styling & Design, reveals the trends to expect in 2010.

The final two interior themes expected to surface in 2010 are:

5. Cross-Cultural

This style direction is determined by global, cross-cultural influences. People travel more, they are like modern urban nomads, and bring home interesting products from foreign cultures, to be integrated in their interior. We see influences from the Mediterranean area, especially Morocco, and the Orient, in lacquer black and red. We see warm vegetal coloured tartans from Scotland to be mixed with kilims, and paisleys. We also see African influences. Mysterious colour schemes from the orient are influencing western homes. Indigo remains an important theme.

Texture is important, especially in rustic interpretations of brown. Leather, suede, unfinished wood, cork and braided materials add interest. There is a feeling for luxurious materials such as taffeta and heavy silks. Metallic and glass products are used as an accent.

There is a sustainable theme in green colours, based on the jungle and the rain forest, also with an interest in matte/shine combinations. This range consists mainly of warm colours, from ochre to orange and deep red, ending with warm browns. Sometimes the range is mixed with some very colourful accents from the bright range. It also shows the beige colour from our first range for a refined, neutral effect. As colours we see: olive green, green sulphur, brick, warm red, wine red, deep magenta, saddle brown and warm brown. Often oxidised metals are used as an accent. Indigo from our dark colour range is also important here.

6. Clair Obscur

In this style direction we see deep dark colours, often in combination of shadows with light shades, hence the name Clair Obscur as used in classical painting. Luxury, dramatic fabrics, precious materials, but less decoration than before will play a role. We see some decadency in the use of over-dimensional products especially furniture and vases, and the obvious luxury of shiny silks, metallic and (fake) furs. Rich fabrics like velvet, damasks, embossed metallic, crinkle lacquer and taffeta add to this luxurious effect. Often we see historic references and the revival of old techniques for walls and structures. Smooth shiny materials are opposed to products with tactility and texture. Especially embossed reptile patterns are popular.

Grey is enlivened by shades of silver and bronze. We will see less baroque shapes and exaggerated baroque patterns. We see more quiet, large shapes and the interest in luxury materials with a sustainable character will remain. We also see industrial elements. In this theme we see a range of very dark colours, to be combined with lighter, and brighter colours.

As colours we see deep aubergine, deep blue green, indigo, deep purple blue, violet, deep brown, mid grey and jet black. Gold is added for effect. Black with extreme shiny and absorbent effects in matte and shine combinations remain important. Also black in combination with white is again present. Black is often the base to combine with red, or white with red. Blue combines well with brown.

Trend Forecasting In Furnishing

Manufacturers should be able to develop the collections by themselves with the stylebook as a reference. Sometimes they ask me for special consultancy – designers ask for my help, because it is sometimes difficult to judge how certain colours work, or because they want my confirmation that they are on the right track. My travelling, experience and knowledge allows me to give a fresh and honest opinion on their collection and I am able to compare their products with those of others.

Sometimes it is a rather lonely job for the designer. They have to think ahead of everybody else, and have another perception of time. Often, sales people and the management are so focused on sales, that they neglect to show encouragement to their designers. It is important to trust the intuition of the designer.

As a manufacturer it is important to define who you want to reach: who your customer is, his/her profile, his/her mentality and to what target group he/she belongs to. Is your product in the price range that your customer is willing to pay for and can he/she afford it? How about the distribution? As soon as you have a manufacturer with clear idea about this, it can develop its collection with the help of a designer. A designer knows how to interpret such a styling book, or decide to do research on his/her own.

When the company has defined an answer to all these questions or knows which customer it wants to focus on, it can start developing its collection, and look for the specific colours, materials, weaves, or print designs. A styling book can be an invaluable help to supply inspiration, ideas and suggestions. It is the expertise of the designer to interpret all these specifications and to design or develop a product that meets the taste and other requirements of the customer. It is important to trust the designer and to leave him the free hand to design. Also, the designer can play an important role to promote the collection even further, for instance in a catalogue, in advertisements and on fairs, or actually in all the literature of the company.

Working with a styling forecast bureau should not lead to copying other people’s ideas, but may be a source of inspiration. That working with a styling office results in the development of very different products, is illustrated in the following anecdote: Last year I held an exhibition in the Netherlands under the name “Meet My Colours”. I asked a few companies to lend me some of the products that they have developed with my book and colours in mind, and displayed them in this exhibition. There were paper napkins and runners from Duni in Germany, curtain tassels and ribbons by Castellano Beltrame in South Africa, jacquards from Baumann Dekor in Austria, and some of the coloured components that I advised for Swarovski. To my surprise the products were all so different and aimed at different target groups and price levels, but they had one thing in common: my colours. It was wonderful to see how they had all developed in a different way their products, but that they still fitted very well together.

 Part I of the article, together with the prior three trends for forecast 2010, appeared in the previous issue (July 2009). Access articles from past issues free at www.FurnitureAndFurnishing.com/html/archives.html. Download options are also available.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Milou Ket (www.milouket.com) is the resident trend forecaster at the Furnitex (www.furnitex.com.au) held annually in Australia. Every year at Furnitex’s seminar series, Ket unveils the interior trend for the next year and beyond. She explores emerging design themes for the home, and uses her 30 years experience to reveal material, structures and form to inspire future product development. She has a broad variety of clients including: Volvo Cars, Ikea and Esprit Home products.

Ket is also an advisory member of the Trend Board of Decosit, Belgium (now known as MoOD Brussels) and has lectured for the International Colour Marketing Group in New York.

Working with the industry, Ket produces “Innovation Lab”, a special issue of the Milou Ket Trend Service. It is an inspiring vision for the future, directed towards development of future products; showing materials, structures, designs, form and their potential application.

Ket spent some time studying in the US before returning to the Netherlands to start her career where she became an advisor and buyer. In 1980, Ket started her own company, Milou Ket Styling & Design. Her main role is putting together fabric and print collections as well as new product development for a range of different retail and buying groups.