For those of you who couldn’t attend, I’d like to recap the past trend lecture given during the Barcelona Design Week 2017 sharing 4 Lifestyle Trends A/W 2017/18.
It’s been wonderful to have the opportunity to lecture in my own home town being used to travel otherwise to international events. I hope I’ll be able to repeat this in another occasion!
The audience was really diverse from design students to marketers, product designers, stylists, trend forecasters, CEO’s, architects, color specialists, jewelers, teachers, communication experts, there is just a very wide range of professions, which makes these gatherings so interesting.
The conference would cover Autumn/Winter 2017/18 with the following four trends:
1// BIO LAB
2// REFINED RAW
3// NEO PUNK
4// HYBRIDISATION
I use to work with a main driver that links all four trends which would be NONCONFORMITY for this season:
It’s a NO to a stereotyped world as we know it so far with two very clear movements where gender and age are having less importance in today’s design world and society.
This kind of rebellion is seen in 2 ways:
I) A more silent inward-looking rebellion where I decide for myself that I want things differently. That includes end consumers.
II) A speaking out modus where creatives are saying, “I don’t want that anymore; I couldn’t care less about a commercial result, I just feel like doing it”, and designs are reflecting that process.
I created four trend panels for the occasion breaking it down to a few images and materials to concentrate on the main message which is not always easy since there are many beautiful and strong key visuals in one trend.
1// BIO LAB
Bio Lab is all about Synthetic Biology which is an interdisciplinary branch of different fields of biology and engineering. We are moving towards a future where materials are not made but they are grown. It’s a world where new luxury materials are fashioned from cells not fabrics.
2// REFINED RAW
In a world ruled by accumulation including fast fashion, this consumer who relates to Refined Raw has a deep desire for going back to the essential but adding a touch of refinement opting for objects with a story behind they can relate to. It’s a rebellion against mass consume, show-off attitude striving towards a Less But Better consume and willing to pay an extra value.
3// NEO PUNK
Punk is best known for rejecting a society with mainstream ideas of what good taste means with a too homogeneous view of beauty. Punk is still as an on-going catalyst that continues to inspire, refuse categorisation and spark creativity around the world. Neo Punk however comes reloaded with a new glam allowing for attention-seeking embellishments and statement colors underline boldness and the spirit of this trend.
4// HYBRIDISATION
Designers, artists, creatives living in Africa are mixing references from their own heritage, ethnic backgrounds and traditions to come up with new shape, color, and fingerprint. Cultural exchange takes place in larger cities. Migration leads to bringing artisan skills into a new context and a hybrid culture.
All four trends can be seen within in the context of DUALITY, a common phenomenon in today’s society being a quality or state of having two parts. Duality is a backlash on what we already observe on the market with a following 360º response, allowing both streams to be present at the same time.
Let’s see how DUALITY influence the four trends:
1// BIO LAB
It’s both a technological approach with a rather futuristic feel and a wink to mimicking nature at the same time. Bio Lab works with living organism such as mush room mycelium that becomes a flexible and soft living textile offering endless possibilities of growing products.
TECH vs NATURE
2// REFINED RAW
The name Refined Raw in itself reveals contrast. Raw, primitive materials are paired with luxurious finishing to attract a new consumer who wants to step away from No More Sameness looking for a different argument to support and spread.
REFINEMENT vs RAWNESS
3// NEO PUNK
Punk stands for rebellion, nonconformity and was often associated with a certain dressed-down style. The reloaded Neo Punk comes back with its characteristic rebellious yet seductive look.
REBELLION vs GLAM
4// HYBRIDISATION
Artisan skills move from the countryside to larger cities. Hybridisation and Hybrid Culture refer to the coexistence, harmony, and synchronization of oral culture, written culture, printed culture, media culture, and cyberculture mixing all of them and produced by individuals.
COUNTRYSIDE vs CITY LIFE
Thank You to all who came by!
It was very interesting to hear how many of you are already working and applying trends to your correspondent businesses. I will soon release one of the four trends with all drivers, keywords, color palette and key visuals.
