4 Heimtextil Trends 2017/18

I am getting ready for the 2017 trade shows I am going to visit and thought it could be interesting to share the 4 Heimtextil Trends 2017/18 I am going to explore in Frankfurt beginning January.

I get often asked what trade shows I visit. Actually January/February (Heimtextil, IMM, M&O) and September/October (Trend Union, Dutch Design Week) are always the two busiest seasons traveling to fairs where I speak or attend. April is another important and favorite moment of the year with a bustling Salone del Mobile in Milan. I do change from year to year to see other events and sometimes not related with the Interior Design industry at all.

What interests me most at the Heimtextil is the Theme Park organized by key players of the trend industry. During a couple of days, creatives from France, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and the USA discussed current trends in the fields of textiles, art, fashion and architecture. Each year a different team acts as the lead organisation for the development of the Trend Book and the concept for the presentation. This year Carlin International (France) has taken over this task.

Th E 2017/18 trends are all summed up under the leitmotiv Exploration inspired by this quote from Italian alpinist Simone Moro. “The age of exploration is not yet over!” he declared, after achieving the extraordinary feat of scaling Pakistan’s ‘Killer Mountain’ Nanga Parbat. He subsequently encouraged people to interpret his successful climb as a call to action, advocating the perpetual pursuit of exploration in all areas of human life and knowledge. Today, such an appeal is more than ever stimulating, awakening a fresh desire to rediscover our spirit of exploration! Driven by this vision, the Heimtextil trade fair has researched materials, textures and elements that bring innovation to life and provide new creative impetus for designers and professionals of the industry.

Essentially, the trendtable did some  “marketing decoding”, looking at start-ups, tech, pioneering design projects to see what was happening in the marketplace and how it could be of benefit for companies and their brands in future. In doing so, they discovered fabrics that gave rise to surprising combinations when merged with other materials.

These four dual trends are characterized on one hand by an ambitious call for exploration, fueling a desire to travel and visit unknown areas, and on the other hand by creative introspection; the need to examine and understand how human beings work.

This paradox of the modern era is itself the embodiment of the new explorer energy.

1. Virtual Explorations
2. Cultural Explorations
3. Planetary Explorations
4. Natural Explorations

1// VIRTUAL EXPLORATIONS

Digital processes enable a new interpretation of transparency. Thanks to a mother-of-pearl-like shimmer, fabric is brought to life in a vibrant way. Films and silk are reminiscent of reflections in water thanks to dazzling holographic brilliance.

Extravagant floral patterns, embroidery, jacquards and lace dominate and give rise to astonishing fascination. A new form of digital exoticism is born. Structures from cell organisms inspire and convey a new understanding of 3D.

Organic-animal structures give technical materials a sensuous-poetic flexibility. Colours are lively and reminiscent of water.

Key messages are:

– IMAGINARY PARADISES BECOME REALITY – MATERIALS ENRICHED BY THE FRESH OPULENCE OF THE DIGITAL WORLD – DIGITAL REFLECTIONS – TRANSPARENCIES AND SILKS MIMIC – THE GLINT OF NATURAL LIGHT- AQUATIC LANDSCAPES – SHIMMERING HOLOGRAPHIC EFFECTS – BLURRED PEARLESCENCE – ARTIFICIAL VIBRATION – TECHNO ORGANIC FLORAL – EMBROIDERY – JACQUARD – INTRIGUING LUXURIANCE – ANIMAL EXOTISM – EPIDERMAL STIMULI  –

2// CULTURAL EXPLORATIONS

A new urban multiculturalism unfolds: various cultural influences merge to form a unique multinational in-culture.

This transformation can also be seen in interiors. A focus on particular cultures is increasingly disappearing. Traditional techniques are being modernised and merged together, resulting in highly modern and luxurious modifications.

Pigment colours merge with urban shades to form a universal ethnic look.

Key messages are:

– TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES ARE MODERNIZED TO BLEND INTO A CITY ENVIRONMENT – VISIBLE STRUCTURE – IMPORTED REFINEMENT – CONTEMPORARY CRAFTS – NEW BASKETRY – ETHNIC ELEGANCE – WOODGRAIN GRAPHICS – TRADITIONAL HYBRID – PIGMENTED SHADES MERGE WITH URBAN COLORS  TO CREATE AN UNIVERSAL ETHNIC LOOK –

3// PLANETARY EXPLORATIONS

In an unknown, interplanetary world, raw materials are used and the interior becomes a mineral itself. A new, magical brilliance is extracted from the materials, which are given protective characteristics.

From this wealth of materials arise material extracts and textures hitherto unknown. New wipe techniques form fine structures of mineral-like delicacy. The principle of controlled changes leads to new kinds of shading.

Deliberately voluminous materials are reminiscent of the surface of the moon and serve as soft, protective shells. The colour palette plays with light and dark and oscillates between bright white and ash-coloured tones.

Key messages are:

– PLUNGE INTO MATERIALS TO EXTRACT DIFFERENT UNKNOWN TEXTURES – MINERLA QUINTESSENCE – CAPTIVATING MAGMA – DETAILED ROUGHNESS – MINERAL DELICACY  – REFINED RAW – CONTROLLED RANDOMNESS – CONTEMPORARY MINERAL – MATERIALS ARE INSPIRED BY LUNAR SURFACES, ACTING AS A FLEXIBLE PROTECTIVE SHELL – UNFAILING MEMBRANE –

4// NATURAL EXPLORATIONS

The way to rediscovering urban aspects takes us through nature. The use of natural materials in industrial manufacturing processes is more contemporary now than ever before – not least out of respect for our planet.

But this isn’t enough: the interior is entering into a symbiosis with nature. Touch is dominated by natural fibre effects such as wood-like reliefs or bark structures. The materials make use of geometric elements in order to imitate the plant world.

Details from the animal world are incorporated with the help of textures. This gives rise to camouflage patterns, both original and finished, from the animal and plant world. Intensive green tones mix with colours inspired by tree bark and earth.

Key messages are:

– INCORPORATING THE PLANT LIFE CYCLE INTO MATERIALS – BLOOMING COMPOSITE – ELEGANT GERMINATION – NATURAL SENSORY – PRECIOUS SEEDS – NEW TYPED OF BARK – TRANSFORM WOODY APPEARANCES INTO SUBLIMATED RAWNESS – EXALTED NATURE – RUSTIC NOBILITY – UNFAMILIAR ROUGHNESS – WILD WORLD IN SUPERBLY REFINED CAMOUFLAGES – REFINED WILDNESS – ORGANIC PATCHWORK –

You can watch below the video that shows all four trends inviting us on a journey into the unknown, full of curiosities and fascination with the 2017/18 motto “Explorations”.

Images and most of the text courtesy of Messe Frankfurt GmbH.

You can buy the trend publication now in case you’d like to know in advance what to focus on during your visit. We find this always very helpful.