At the Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany last week, I noticed an emerging color and could not stop thinking about it. Now back home, I am reviewing my slides from the Christmas World show (also in Frankfurt, just a bit earlier in the year) and noticed that I made notes about the same color at that show, too. It's a Brown with so much Red in it that I called in Red Fox in my notes. This color is going on the watch list. Below is a picture of it that I took at the Christmas World show. It's from Krebs. If you look carefully you can see my reflection in the ornaments.

I’m happy to have arrived in Frankfurt tonight. I am more than ready to fall into the American-sized bed at the Marriott.

I’ll have a day of writing and perhaps shopping along the Zeil before I hit the Messe for the Christmas World trade fair on Friday. Editorial Correspondent John Currie and I are definitely in the mood for Christmas and can’t wait to see what’s new at this important show.

Trends for Christmas used to be stand-alone topics. But as consumers have developed an interest in decorating for the winter season, rather than Christmas in specific, looks for the Holidays keep nudging closer to those found in everyday décor. That means we should see quite a bit of product that fits with the colors and themes we are already expecting for 2010.

Watch this space for updates from Christmas World beginning on Friday or, if my after-show meetings run too late, on Saturday.

The Trend Curve's Steve Borsch called me today (I'm in Paris for Maison & Objet)
and we had a brief five minute conversation about my trip thus far and tomorrow's
move to Frankfurt for Christmas World. Take a listen...

I have thought for some time that you can’t beat the functionality of vertical blinds in many locations throughout the home. We use them over the sliding-glass door and bay windows in our casual dining area at home. But on balance, vertical blinds as a category are really in need of a fashion makeover. I saw one in Paris at the Maison & Objet trade fair that caught my eye in Hall 5C.

Silent Gliss (www.silentgliss.fr) displayed vertical blinds with interestingly scalloped veins that channel rows of waves. Pieces are positioned so the points of the scallops on one vein overlap the lowest part of the next vein. The result is a window treatment that not only looks different, but also casts fascinating shadows when open. When closed it follows the trend toward wavy lines in pattern. Look at the picture below and you’ll see what I mean.

To learn more about all the trends at Maison & Objet in Paris, read the February issue of The Trend Curve. Better yet, order our Trend Album™ Maison & Objet, January 2009 for trend headlines, bullet-point observations and about 150 images. Janice (janice@trendcurve.info) is the go-to person at The Trend Curve for pre-orders. This product will ship shortly after I return from Germany and Christmas World (it begins on 1/29).

I had wondered if the worldwide economic slowdown would impact newness at the Maison & Objet trade fair in Paris, France. After my first day at the show, I can say that I see no signs of foot-dragging on introductions.

One of the big color stories here is Purple. This interest in regal, Red-cast Purples is not new, but has been building for a year. Now Purple is in the mainstream—and it looks great! Here is one of my favorite Purple hues, shown in luxurious velvet at Fendi.

I arrived in Paris this morning. After napping for a few hours, I made myself get out of bed and get going -- I need to get myself into this time zone as quickly as possible. So I set off on a low-stress mission to buy eyeliner for my friend Irene. She fell for a pencil made by Deborah and available at Galleries Lafayette the last time she came to Paris. It was my job to replenish her supply. This is not a top-tier brand, but it did have a few fun products. Here is an eye-shadow box I admired, shaped like a dog. So cute! It made me think about how one little unexpected or whimsical detail can make a product of any kind, and at any price, memorable.

I shopped through the afternoon and into the early evening, then hopped the Metro for my hotel. You can see from the picture below how tired I looked when I finally got back! My colleague Erika snapped this in the lobby of the newly remodeled Le Meridien Etoile right before I set off for my room to watch CNN and try to stay awake until 10pm.

Tomorrow I will be at the Maison & Objet trade fair beginning early in the morning. Watch for blog posts from this fashion-forward event for the next several days. I will have a huge trend report from Maiosn, including trend headlines, supporting bullet points and 150 or so pictures, available for purchase in the Trend Store about 10 days after the fair. 

I arrived in Paris this morning. After napping for a few hours, I made myself get out of bed and get going -- I need to get myself into this time zone as quickly as possible. So I set off on a low-stress mission to buy eyeliner for my friend Irene. She fell for a pencil made by Deborah and available at Galleries Lafayette the last time she came to Paris. It was my job to replenish her supply. This is not a top-tier brand, but it did have a few fun products. Here is an eye-shadow box I admired, shaped like a dog. So cute! It made me think about how one little unexpected or whimsical detail can make a product of any kind, and at any price, memorable.

I shopped through the afternoon and into the early evening, then hopped the Metro for my hotel. You can see from the picture below how tired I looked when I finally got back! My colleague Erika snapped this in the lobby of the newly remodeled Le Meridien Etoile right before I set off for my room to watch CNN and try to stay awake until 10pm.

Tomorrow I will be at the Maison & Objet trade fair beginning early in the morning. Watch for blog posts from this fashion-forward event for the next several days. I will have a huge trend report from Maiosn, including trend headlines, supporting bullet points and 150 or so pictures, available for purchase in the Trend Store about 10 days after the fair. 

It’s finished! Last night I passed off my trend report and selected images (over 150 of them) from the Heimtextil trade fair for layout. Heimtextil is the world’s largest event for home textiles, which took place last week in Frankfurt, Germany. It is the first of a series of European trade fairs I attend in rapid succession at the beginning of every year. Seeing so much, and in so many different categories of home décor (other fairs focus on furniture, decorative accessories, gifts, lighting and more), is a perfect way to set my trend sensibilities for the year.

There were new trends for colors and neutrals, including a shift to tinted, chameleon Grays. We saw this coming at The Trend Curve about a year ago, which is why we created a forecast of 20 neutrals with just this type of personality. Our Chameleon Neutrals forecast can be found under Color Forecasts if you pull down the Trend Store tab—just scroll down the page to find that product. You can see a Purple-cast Gray in a picture I took at the fair in the Gold Crest stand. This is just one example of the types of tinted neutrals found throughout the show.



There were also style trends of note. Bohemian, for example, was emerging as the new ethnic direction, eclipsing both Asian and African styles. I loved the riot of pattern and color, the decorative details and the handcrafted textures that came right along with this trend. Below is a picture of Amalfi from Granfoulard, part of the Zucchi group. They showed this pattern in their stand at Heimtextil.



Subscribers to The Trend Curve can contact Janice for special pre-order pricing on Trend Album™ Heimtextil 2009, which lasts until the 27th. Then pricing goes to the regular subscriber rate of $345 after that. Non-subscribers can order, too, but the discounted price is reserved for our subscriber family. Non-subscribers pay $445.

Today I leave for Paris and the Maison & Objet trade fair. Watch for blog posts from Maison starting on Friday. I will also send out tweets. Follow me at twitter.com/trendcurve. From Paris I will return to Frankfurt, this time for the Christmas World fair, a personal favorite. I will be traveling with Editorial Correspondent John Currie, who always brings an interesting perspective to color and product trends.

Messe Frankfurt’s press center has been closed for remodeling for about a year. I saw the revised facilities for the first time this week when I arrived to attend Heimtextil, the world’s largest trade fair for home textiles.

The rooms are nicely done. The press kits are easy to get to (even though the many of the lockers are so high up that they are not) and they have more computers for journalists to use than they have had before. Thank you!

A very nice feature is a living wall that borders the interview rooms and working desks. If you have been reading The Trend Curve, you know I have been talking about living walls, which are vertical gardens, since early last year. Now Messe Frankfurt has installed one in the press center. This foliage wall is a breath of fresh air—both literally and figuratively.

When I first saw it, I assumed this all-Green mass of was artificial. I discovered that it was not when I saw a puddle of water on the floor, and then I looked closer. If this wall isn’t real I’ll eat my hat!



This living wall was a perfect symbol for the green trend that was rooted even more deeply than last year at Heimtextil. Whether the topic was organic fibers, sustainable resources, constructions that save energy (through faster drying or finishes that mean washing less often, for example) or manufacturing closer to home, the eco movement was not only untouched by the wobbly economy, but was stronger in spite of it. Companies confirmed that we must continue on the path to conservation and environmental responsibility, not matter what.



In addition to a picture of the living wall in Messe Frankfurt’s press room, I am including pictures of a couple of eco-trend items. The first is from Yanus. These sheets are colored with dyes that take less water, and have an anti-microbial finish so they need to be washed less often. This image is above.

The bedding below is from Santens. Made of 52% bamboo and 48% cotton, these sheets will keep you cooler in the summer as they absorb moisture and are inherently antibacterial.



Vossen combined a new weaving process with pima-cotton fibers in their new Vossen Compact Collection of towels. Each one offers outstanding absorbency and excellent drying capability, but they also save up to 30% of the energy needed to wash and dry them. Other new towels offer downsized options (50 x 80 cm instead of the standard 50 x 100 cm), resulting in a 20% reduction in the energy needed to wash them. After so many years of increasing towel sizes the time may be right to go in the other direction, changing the accepted formula from big = luxury to small = eco-conscious.

Another day, another blister. I walked for 8 more hours at Heimtextil, the world’s largest trade fair for home textiles, taking place at the Messe Frankfurt fairgrounds in Germany. I began my day at 8:30 by attending a lecture about the trends shown in the Trend Forum. These are trends meant to inspire future product development and innovation into 2010.

I have been coming to Heimtextil for more than 10 years, and this was the best, most trend-forward collection of themes I have seen so far. The themes all reside under the umbrella of Expect The Unexpected.

The names chosen for Messe Frankfurt’s trends are different from those I used in FutureHome™ 2010 & Beyond (shipping this week, email Janice to order), but the directions are very similar. The ones here in Germany are simply—and appropriately—related specifically to fabrics. The Trend forum featured:

Illusionist
Time Traveler
Fortune Teller
Alchemist
Witchcraft
Enchanted

My favorite two themes were Illusionist (in FutureHome, look for Real/Surreal) and Fortune Teller (match this to Bohemian Rhapsody in FutureHome).





In Illusionist, high technology for padding, layering and folding create an illusion of mass and bulk. Fabrics stretch, morph and bend a natural human beauty into surreal shapes. Sheers are key. Fortune Teller is a free-spirited collage of recycled patterns and artsy-craftsy techniques, mixing up folklore from all over the world. Color rules.

I am including a couple of images of both trends from the Trend Forum. The Illusionist images are above. Fortune Teller are below.