The Soul of Retail

I've just returned from my annual trek to ICFF, (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) my overriding thought about it all is: despite the niche, niche world we live in, building brand is essential. As usual, ambling the streets of New York is so much more instructive of the trends - trends definitely come from the streets, retail is the latest instructor these days.

From the windows at Barney's and Bergdorf's that entice us to go to the Metropolitan Museum and see the Alexander McQueen show to Ralph Lauren's flagship stores on Madison Avenue, we see what is happening in the world. It is the trade shows that are fantasies today, and retail the reality. Most recently, trends came from the streets, before that from the luxury markets, today the trends are firmly in the hands of the trend-forward retailers, they have the megaphones and are using them well - they have it all - storefronts, catalogs and online presence. The biggest coupe of all, came to someone who hardly needed it, a full hour on the last week of Oprah went to Ralph Lauren. If you have anything to do with retail furnishings and didn't see this show, beg, borrow or steal a copy of this show. It is a textbook on what makes for success in this business!

In this recent trip to New York, and the aisle after aisle of soullessness that is the contemporary design world, I fully understand the success of the Ralph Lauren brand and even the dark underworld appeal of Alexander McQueen. The recent royal wedding garb aside, these two represent the flip sides of the human soul - McQueen is all uncomfortable darkness, while Lauren with this season's laces and sheer fabrics in natural materials is about the light. In our hyper-competitive world, it is possible for everyone to get the shape, line, color and texture of products relatively right. What these two gentlemen have done is superimpose their products with stories that resonate. Lauren entices us with the beauty of the familiar and comfortable, while McQueen shows us things that we think we have never even imagined as something that we would wear near our bodies - hair, feathers, horns, branches of trees; yet we do wear furs, wool, leather and sleep with feathers in our down comforters.

These men tell mythic stories that make us pay attention and that is ultimately their appeal. My bet is that the story of the comfortably familiar lightness will win, but the dark side, as always, is tempting and is influential.

The familiar: Natural fibers, leather, nostalgia and escaping to a world we create at home is the story that Ralph Lauren tells in his current home fashions.
Alexander McQueen in tartan plaid looks down on the netherworld he created in the windows of Bergdorf-Goodman.
High-end retail connects to the cultural landscape by promoting the Metropolitan's McQueen show.
Although lighter and brighter, McQueen's influence can be seen in the spring fashions in the windows of Ralph Lauren's flagship store with the Rhinelander mansion's reflection.
The streets of New York were jam-packed and as many people as were fascinated by these windows, and for those who think the middle has disappeared, ultimately the biggest crowds at retail were lined up outside the Aberchrombie and Fitch store waiting patiently for the privilege of going inside. The appeal of a beautiful human body in both image and reality trumps all. Creating a brand is all but essential in today's marketplace, and these are just a few of the success stories - examples of the soul that today is the essential component of brand and that many of the start-ups in both fashion and home furnishings would be smart to use as a how-to lesson.

Fractals in the design world

Surface detail from subBlue on Vimeo.

Another followup to the "Geometric" trend in my 2010 report - the explosion of fractals in art and design. This is a fantastic video, even showing some softened edges - not as harsh and edgy as all the straight edges that we have seen up until now. The scientist/designer,Tom Beddard's website promises to offer software to create your own fractal designs soon.

New Inspiration/Mosaics

The ancient domesticity of the Mediterranean basin has long fascinated me, what we learn about the thousands of year old living arrangements continues to inform our styles from Moshe Safdie's early condos which bring to mind hilltowns to the mosaics of Bisazza and Sicis. With each new find and subsequent exposure of the past, a new generation of companies and stylists again become inspired.

The Metropolitan Museum currently has a show unveiling a trove of mosaics accidently discovered during road constuction near Tel Aviv in 1996. It will be interesting to watch how these detailed images will influence the new. (If you can't get to the show in time, read about it here.)

Interesting pespective on Materials

Vegans aside, who knew that the designer Christien Meindertsma has created such an interesting take on materials. Her perspective on the "pig" in PIG 0 5049 takes us to material use both in and beyond the built environment. I was hesitant to even look at this video until I realized that her crocheted rug was a part of my recent trend report. This thoughtful, creative and charming designer speaks to us with an interesting voice and her vision is one to watch in the future.

Inspiration from Memory

Who wouldn't want to hire the Hanger Design Group for all their design needs after seeing their website? Designboom.com introduced me to this firm in a posting about the firm's latest prefab mobile homes. Hanger's website presents their firm's offering in an interesting, informative and interconnected way. (Do however, turn off the sound - they obviously have no "ear" on their staff.)

Hanger's exquisite "Joshua Tree" design for the mobile home is a reminder that design inspiration comes from memory, and that in order to sell - design in all areas of endeavor must make some connection to the familiar. The inspiration page of the website follows our "memory" of transportable homes from the tepee to the Airstream to Hanger's current design.

Each culture has its own memory, but is there anyone in that was schooled in the Western culture that did not draw a house that looked something like this when they were in the first grade? The Airstream may be iconic, the flat tin can mobile homes ubiquitous, but this simple outline holds memory in the Western canon.

Corporate Marketing that elicits smiles

Yes, as a photographer, I admit to being biased, despite that - I find that the Thonet 150th Anniversary photography contest is a brilliant stroke of marketing. Thonet created both a focus on their most famous product and engaged their customers at the same time. This is crowd-sourcing at its best.

As an icon, the design community is well aware of the "Thonet chair," yet everyone can use an occasional memory jog and this contest does the trick. Each of the winning photographs of this classic chair is nothing short of charming - as daily hectic life becomes more and more devoid of that quality, we enjoy the little snippets of charm that we find and happily remember.

Design Influences for fashion and home

Not having seen the last screen on the video, I rushed to the nearest Target store to the see the "Liberty of London" Collection. You can imagine my disappointment when it was not yet in the store. I was anxious to see it because I noted in my trend report that influences were leading to classic designs, floral patterns and oversize scale. The Liberty store is always one of my first stops on any trip to London This is how the producing agency describes this collection on the youtube.com site: "Outrageously intricate Liberty patterns are featured on the fashion and home décor or inside the garden, becoming truly iconic through the use of oversized scale and giving the viewer a look at the products in a uniquely modern way."

My trip was not wasted, a trip to Targee is always an object lesson in design. The cheap-looking bizarre Goth remnants of the Rodarte collection were in evidence on various racks - this collection was certainly no replacement for the successful and on-target Isaac Mizrahi Collection. In his collection of several years ago, Mizrahi took simple tees and gave them a neckline that took them out of the ordinary - mading them fresh and special. Each of his pieces updated classics with a simple tweak. That is good design for the Target market - as a matter-of-fact that is a philosophy that works for any market. Most consumers don't want to look like those oddballs coming down the runway, nor do they want to look as dowdy as this week's killer professor.

The Rodarte Collection rather reminded me of the baby collection that Philippe Starck designed for Target several years ago - just simply wrong. There is more to the design process than simply hiring a "big name" and thinking that is enough, the consumer is amazingly design savvy these days...yes, that includes the Target customer. I predict that the Liberty of London Collection will be successful because it beautifully taps into today's zeitgeist.

How long does it take for design ideas to travel?

Like anything else in life, the travel of design ideas and products can be rather serendipitous. Luck, timing and the right alignment of people play a great part. I revisited this thought because I just ran into my favorite product that I discovered in the Passagen section of Design Week in Cologne in the winter of 2002 on 3rings a contemporary product blog for design and architecture. The original designed by Tilo Gnausch, that I saw in a gallery was shown free-floating directly against a mirror. The "Ammonite" sink is indeed a magnificent piece of sculpture, I’m surprised it took this long to make it across the pond.

The sink is made of concrete and distributed by Bagno Sasso. In Cologne, the original design was in basalt and was paired with a simple but stunning basalt shower. While the sink took 8 years to be noticed in the American market, basalt became an important interior finish material within just a few years. Currently, the sink is also available in what appears to be Blue Jura Limestone, but it is hard to tell from the pictures. Actually it is not clear to me that it is even available, as the supplier is Swiss - maybe someone just saw a picture of it and wanted to blog about it.

Basalt took off here within 2-3 years, but the sink - I still don't have an answer to my own question of "How long?"

Sometimes pretty pictures confuse

What do people see, when goggling kitchens? House Beautiful has a wonderful archive available, but by far the most viewed kitchens are those of Nancy Meyers in her movies. They get play not only at the local theater, but in the shelter magazines as well. Traditional Home featured the Tuscan-inspired kitchen from the recent Boomer romantic comedy "It's Complicated." Lately, just like in this kitchen, the most featured countertop in kitchens seems to be carrara marble. For a functioning kitchen this has to be the most un-functional choice of materials for a countertop that is used everyday. Unless it is kept meticulously sealed, it will stain in no time. That is why I recommended that Corian® create a look inspired by carrara marble for a much easier maintenance choice. It was introduced several years ago and is called Rain Cloud , a part of the Private Collection. It is the job of designers, architects and retailers to make their customers aware of material properties. Pretty pictures - whether in the movies or magazine are just that, but consumers will have to live in and use their kitchens...theirs are usually not just for show.

Ever Popular Silk Road Show

Today, the British design and home furnishings troika of Sir Peter Osborne, Tricia Guild and William Yeoward discussed their personal connection to the Silk Road and how it has influenced their products. All three make annual pilgrimages to India both for inspiration and manufacturing. They certainly inspired the room full of designers who came to look and listen at the Boston Design Center. A historical perspective was also offered by moderator Pamela Parmal, David and Roberta Logie Curator of Textile and Fashion Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Know for brilliant saturated color,Tricia Guild based her first collection, created almost 40 years ago, on the recoloring of hand-blocked Indian textiles. (In the 9/11 post below you can see one of the printing blocks that I found at Brimfield.) Her showroom is a must-visit on every trip to London, one can always expect to see trends being developed there.

Although Osbourne and Little prints are softer in color, all three spoke of floral inspiration (particularly the rose) as well as the ever important paisley decorative element. Also expect to see more pomegranate designs. (Above from Osbourne & Little) The hundreds of years of continuity of these designs are comfortable and familiar, and have been a part of our design heritage since the first link was created from Asia to Europe - the Silk Road. All three designers have updated the various Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern influences to fit today's lifestyle. We never grow tired of worn classic cabbage rose patterns and embrace every new version of Silk Road interpretations that are introduced, particularly on the East Coast.

Conundrum of Influences

As you can see, yesterday's visit to Brimfield and today's WSJ The Magazine from the Wall Street Journal confirm for me the direct influence that art has on commerce. Who could miss how the Rodarte sweater dress channels the Native American spirit of the art dolls created by Cher Shaffer of Creston, NC. Besides the dolls that appear to have influenced Rodarte, her booth of folk art was, without question, the most magical of all that I saw at Brimfield.

WSJ calls this look the Rough Luxe Movement, which " juxtaposes fur, feathers and fine fabrics with utilitarian leather, cashmere and wool." The doll that influences the look is personal, precious, charming - anything but luxe... and therein lies the conundrum of our age.

The Remix of Brimfield

Yesterday was my first visit back to the Brimfield Antique Shows since the beginning of the current recession. Somehow, it all seemed fresh and reinvigorating to me, maybe it was because I skipped a few years - but now my interest has been rekindled. Forgive me for use of these cliche RE words, but this is a venue where they truly apply. Reuse and recycle truly mean something where everything that is offered has a past. Frank Luntz says in his book Words that Work: "…The so-called “re” words… are incredibly powerful because they take the best elements or ideas from the past and apply them to the present and the future.”

This applies to the wonderful world of Brimfield and the antiques and collectibles that have past lives - from parts of farming machinery that become enormous outdoor sculptures, to vintage fabrics applied to create charming lampshades to tin ceilings made into mirror frames along with the expected antiques that are looking for another home.

I have always looked to Brimfield to supply some of the ingredients that go into the stew that I consider as sources for home furnishing trends. The shelter magazine editors are always there, so expect to see many of the things that they find at Brimfield incorporated into future stories.

Trend-wise, of course antique shows are tradition, but more recent decorative objects, such as the recycled metal sculptures, could also be found. Although a constant throughout the decorative arts, there is a renewed interest in the influences and trade objects of the Silk Road as large selections from Pakistan could be found at various booths. After a decade of neutrals, the bold colors seen in the fall couture could be found here and there and I will address that in a separate post.

Missing Color/ Fond Memories

After years of creating beige on beige products, I have come to realize that I miss the joy of color. The point to me of creating neutral building materials is that they were merely the canvas or at most a foil to other personal expressions. The color and personality was to be supplied with other materials and art, but somehow the late 90's and 00's were almost devoid of the balance that color could bring to wall board and concrete. Sometimes texture loaded on texture just isn't enough to feed the soul. Color can do that in the most personal way.

Today, I was given quite a jolt of a reminder in Harvard Square. I had been reading that the place that I always had thought of as quaint and interesting was now as interesting as your local mall - nearly devoid of personality. I should have know that the writers lamenting the demise of the square had it right, when I immediately found a parking space. I shed many a tear and got many a parking ticket in the years that I was calling on architects in the Square because parking spaces were so hard to come by.

I had heard that Crate and Barrel which was in the old "Design Research" building was closed but was presently surprised that the owner of the building had used the famous frameless windows wisely and had installed a striking presentation of classic Marimekko fabrics and clothing in all the colorful glory of an era past.

Does fashion still influence interior finishes?

As I trolled the mall yesterday with an eye tuned only to trends, I asked myself if fashion still had any influence on interior finishes or any other building products. I did some homework to track some of the past that influenced today's products, and was surprised at the direct influence of fashion up until this time. The above collage is the trajectory of trends that I uncovered from my own reports of global trade shows and media over the last 4+ years.

Of course everything has changed, the September issues of the fashion magazines are terribly conservative, and I doubt that will take nearly as long to translate to interior finishes as the "metal as color" trend took.

Berlin Wall graffiti inspires fashion

In the sixties, Color Field artists like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollack, Frank Stella and others expressed the contemporary zeitgeist with the minimalism of their abstract art. Today we are surrounded by clutter - our thoughts, communications and "things." So it is not surprising that artists and designers express what is around them, as graffiti becomes both the medium and the message.

Daniel Libeskind at TED

If you are involved in the built environment, it is instructive to watch one of TED's latest uploads, Daniel Libeskind on "The 17 words of Architectural inspirations." Worth every bit of the 18 minutes of your time it will take to watch.

"Fashion" comes to the Laptop or Denim is Forever

Apple may have brought "style" to the laptop; but LG, not particularly known for computers, is bringing fashion in a special edition notebook of 2,500 units that will be available in Korea for only 28 days. The style is the globally iconic, but so American denim, with a sketch on the notebook itself and a cover in the actual material.

LG has become a formidable player in appliances by placing themselves front and center of the industry. It looks like they are planning to do the same in computers.

Happy 4th of July

I was recently able to feed my interest in photography and my fascination with graffiti and how it continues to influence our culture at the same time. One of the locations for the photography course that I took, offered by Naturescapes Photography Workshops (with a focus on the Lensbaby camera lens) was Cameron, NC - a remote tobacco farming community that is being resurrected as an antique center.

The location is an intersection with an abandoned house and about 10 tobacco barns, that were painted several years ago by a group of prolific graffiti artists that call themselves the "barnstormers." You can see more of their work on a fun you tube clip.

And...don't forget to enjoy Maira Kalman's charming art/essay piece "And the Pursuit of Happiness...Time Wastes too Fast" on Thomas Jefferson in the New York Times in honor of the day!

So Happy 4th y'all.

Story Trumps

With the down economy and continued proliferation of product, at this year's Coverings, I presented the importance of telling "your story." Today, I found the perfect "story" for a finish product - Interiors and Sources Magazine has a story about the design of Parterre Flooring Systems' product called "Scrapyard."

The story told may or may not be the way the product "happened" but it works as both a believable and memorable story. In the product cycle, it is a catch-up product, as I remember making one of my clients walk back through the full length of CERSAIE in 2004 just to see what would become one of the most popular and trend-important porcelain tile looks - Tau's new product "Corten." We had seen numerous real metal floors in the booths, and I wondered several times, when the tile equivalent would show up - and of course, there it was in the Tau booth. Italy may own the technology for the entire tile industry, but Spain is always a step ahead on gorgeous finishes. They have a history of glazes that harks back to the centuries of Moorish influences.

More Defined Edges/ Brand Denmark Shanghai 2010

The Danish architectural firm 3XN has designed another "defined edge" building for Brand Denmark at the Shanghai Expo 2010. The shape and colors are that of a folded Danish flag. No information is available on the exterior skin that the architects specified.