February Newsletter

• In-line With Online
  - Ecommerce know-how and can-do,
• All Aboard
  - Beating the winter blues with games and puzzles that offer innovative play.
• Lets Be Crafty -
  - What’s hot in DIY arts and crafts.
• Just for You
  - Mother’s Day Inspirations.
• Soft Furnishing Trends for the Year Ahead
  - 2011 and 2012 seasons are expected to explore new beginnings.

Soft furnishing trends for the year ahead

Words By Soraya Nicholas.

While recent home textile collections have been rather muted, perhaps as a reflection of the global economic crisis, the 2011 and 2012 seasons are expected to explore new beginnings. The word recession has been buried beneath boring tones and shades, and soft furnishings in particular will be reinvigorated with bold colours and detailed textures.

At the recent 100% Design London festival, animal prints and outlines were incorporated within neutral tones, to add an extra dimension to more muted colour palettes. United Kingdom based Trend Bible confirmed animal silhouettes as a key future design trend in soft furnishings, along with the emergence of geometric textiles.

In the United States, international authority on colour and design trends in home furnishings, The Trend Curve, has stated that there is more optimism in upcoming home collections. “Trends will draw their influence from the past,” says Michelle Lamb, Trend Curve editorial director, “and it is expected that as the economy picks up, there will be more colour and lightness, including bright-toned colours and accessories. There will be a lack of embellishment, with more clean lines and a geometric feel.”

It is also anticipated that texture will influence all soft furnishings and other homewares, including frayed edges, patterns, woven-in ribbons, embossing and prints. Classic elements will emerge with contemporary details, with “texture used as a counter-trend to formality,” says Lamb.

Style that combines with longevity will become a key design feature.

Christchurch-based interior designer Marion Freeman, director of New White Interiors, agrees that textures will be popular, as will bolder colour choices. “For 2011, think rich brights – fuchsia, citrus green, purple, indigo, ruby and turquoise. Add these to your neutral furniture in upscaled patterns, pixelated prints and tribal designs,” she suggests. “For fabrics, use the casual texture of linens or lush velvets, along with the honesty of wool.”

New Zealand trends usually follow international trend examples, although often in a slightly less bold manner. For the upcoming season though, it seems we will be closely in touch with the Trend Curve predictions.

Prudence Lane, of Prudence Lane Design, comments that textures are very strong, “whether linen, silk or man-made fibre”. She also notes embroidered silks and cottons, in addition to velvets in silk, linen and viscose for luxury, as being popular, as well as casual-look Italian-style washed linen.

Alison Nottingham, director of linen ware company Bianca Lorenne, says their upcoming range perfectly embodies the concept of Italian-influenced style. “Our Bianca Lorenne Uccello collection introduced ‘Crellini’ – a 100% natural creased linen range in bed and table linen. Made from 100% natural fibres, it has that easy, relaxed, shabby chic, lived-in style that is very popular.” The New Zealand-based company also identifies with the shift toward luxurious fabrics, such as velvet. “We will be releasing our ‘Sontuose’ collection from April 2011, which has a feel of sumptuous luxuriousness, with rich antique coloured velvets and exquisite hand-finished quilts and bedspreads,” says Nottingham. “Trends are leaning toward the old look, but in a modern way . . . colours and prints are making a comeback as we slowly come out of recession. Neutrals are still prevalent for bed linen, yet accentuated with colourful throws, comforters and cushions, or gorgeous bold prints.”

Neutrals and whites are still popular in New Zealand and abroad, but it is expected that they will now be paired with bold accessories, such as bright or textured cushions and throws. “The colour trends in the home are moving away from the dominance of taupe and chocolate shades that we have had over the last few years, and moving into cleaner, fresher colours,” says Kiran Robb of Lilyfield Ltd. “Expect silver greys, duck-egg greens, buttery creams and nudie pinks, mixed with lots of white.”

While Robb feels that the economy will still influence consumers – they will continue to seek functionality with style – trends are changing, she says. “We are seeing a return to a vintage, homely style – the comfort of the past rather than the slick, minimalist look: striped duvet colours, textured Matelasse bedspreads, floral cushions and cotton sheets.”

In-keeping with global and local trends, simple colour palettes mixed with bold accessories and textured details will be key for the coming seasons. As international fashions become bolder as the global economy recovers, so too will the trends within our homes. Consumers will still seek quality and an element of classic in their soft furnishing purchases, but with texture and accents of colour to reinvigorate the sense of optimism within their homes. As the economy reignites around the world, a sense of optimism will be further enhanced with bolder textures, colours and patterns as they endeavour to dominate soft furnishings.