TREND INDEX 2023/24 TM DESIGN F RM
environmental F UNCTIONALI T Y ex p e r laitnei MAT E RIAL c olor responsible LIF E STYLE INNOVATIVE
SOCIAL
What is the role of trend in today’s home and housewares industries? Ask 10 industry professionals, and you might get 10 unique opinions. Most will agree, however, trend has become the foundation of successful home and housewares development across all retail channels.
That said, the breadth and depth of concurrent trends influencing home and housewares business has expanded exponentially under the influence of an increasingly empowered and informed consumer. In response, every channel and retailer must explore prevailing trends and accurately assess their optimum marketing and merchandising potential, based on well-informed, continuous and objective evaluation of those trends.
With that imperative in mind, HomePage News introduces the InSight™ Trend Index—an exclusive digital guide that explores emerging and enduring home and housewares trends through the products and innovations which embody them. This comprehensive and expansive report series was developed in partnership with Springboard Futures and its founder, industry trend authority Tom Mirabile, who also serves as consumer and lifestyle trend analyst for the International Housewares Association and HomePage News.
The Springboard team explored influential trade shows in the U.S. and abroad seeking emerging and enduring home and housewares trends driven by global influences such as design, consumer lifestyle and functional/material innovation. The objective of these explorations is to provide both suppliers and retailers with actionable insight into those trends poised to inspire consumer spending and industry growth for the foreseeable future.
Trend will continue to be vital to home and housewares success.
On that point everyone can agree.
The HomePage News InSight Trend Index will be rolled out on HomePageNews.com in a series of themed portfolios each week into the 3rd quarter of 2023.
EXHIBITIONS INDEX:
Ambiente – Frankfurt, Germany
Atlanta Market – USA
Creativeworld – Frankfurt, Germany
High Point Market – USA
Formex — Stockholm, Sweden
Maison&Objet – Paris, France
NY NOW – USA
Salone del Mobile – Milan, Italy
Shoppe Object – New York, USA
Spring Fair – Birmingham, England
The Inspired Home Show – Chicago, USA
The New York Tabletop Show – USA
Trend Perspectives
In recent years the very definitions and drivers of trend have expanded beyond style and design to incorporate social, economic, technology, lifestyle, environmental and even political trends. Staying informed and focused in this “never normal” is challenging—but essential.
During this journey to bring InSight to life, we had many discussions on trend with home industry executives—all who have a history of success and innovation in their fields. While each interpret and react differently to any given trend, they share a singular trait. They all lead companies with a strong brand identity and goals forged from an ever-evolving understanding of consumers.
Regardless of their perspective, all seem to converge on a crucial reality: Just as economies, markets and retail channels will change and evolve, trends, in response, will continue to influence commerce. Navigating that influence successfully will depend on the ability to respond rapidly to changing consumer realities and aspirations.
Hear from their perspective in their own words.
Derek Miller President & CEO, International Housewares Association
Looking back over the past two years, how is the role of trade shows evolving in providing trend insight and inspiration to both manufacturers and retailers? Retailers and suppliers alike know that there is no better way to evaluate the direction of an existing trend—or the strength of an emerging one—than to view it in the context of an active show floor. Trade shows like The Inspired Home Show® create a forum where the true nature and direction of trends comes to life in real time for both buyer and seller. That’s something no online presentation or meeting can match.
Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman Executive Director of the Pantone® Color Institute
Why is trend awareness important to business growth? Trends provide a new approach and a fresh perspective that creates a need to purchase—and that is the ultimate goal.
What role should trend play in creating retail assortments? Trend plays the role of catalyst. It stirs things up, creates excitement, instills optimism and propels change.
Michelle Lamb Editorial Director, The Trend Curve
There is far more history than mystery to meaningful trend analysis. True sea change events like post-pandemic realignment are rare. Still, trends resulting from these often present unique opportunities for reinvention and growth. This is when the ability to interpret and respond to trends will determine which businesses will thrive, and which will merely survive.
Tom Mirabile Principal, Springboard Futures Consumer and Lifestyle Trend Analyst, International Housewares Association and HomePage News
Are consumer lifestyle trends important even in unsettled economic conditions? Trends are important because they can help you better anticipate future behaviors and make better decisions, providing greater opportunities for growth. For that very reason it’s during times of economic uncertainty that trends are crucially important.
Joe Derochowski VP, Home Industry Advisor, Circana
InSight Trend Index
Evan Dash Founder & CEO, Storebound,
As experts in licensing partnerships, how does Project Partners Network make use of consumer and lifestyle trends? Monitoring trends is essential to determining which licenses will help our partners move farther, faster toward achieving their business goals. Sucess is always expanded by a strong alignment of marketplace preferences and product launches or expansions.
How has the use of trends changed in recent years? Trends are no longer dictated by an elite, inspiring few and followed by all, there are hundreds of viable trends evolving at any given time. Trends can emerge as inspirations from social media, pop culture, even a truly unique retail experience. Success comes from interpreting those trends and translating them into products and assortments that inspire and engage consumers.
What role does trend play in the the relationship between your sales team and the accounts they serve? Trends, whether consumer, lifestyle, material or color play an important part in Godinger’s continued success. Trends are part of our ongoing conversations with our retail partners—every account is unique, so trends help us differentiate assortments as well.
What role does trend play in your company’s development process?
Trends, such as color and style, play a pivotal role in our development process at Dash, as they guide our design and innovation efforts to ensure our appliances not only perform excellently but also complement the aesthetic preferences of modern consumers. We continuously monitor and adapt to these trends, striking a balance between functional reliability and fashionable appeal, to deliver products that resonate with our customers’ lifestyles and home decor.
How does JURA integrate design and lifestyle trends into its products and program development? Trends have a past, present and future. Here at JURA, we analyze the past to separate the temporary from long-term changes in consumer behavior. We deliver and position products with an eye to current trends. But what truly sets us apart is projecting future trends and even creating them with new technologies and innovations that expand the concept of what a product or category can do.
Rep Groups and multi-supplier showrooms often present an incredible breadth of trend statements. How do you keep those offerings balanced? And why not focus on just a few? As a partnership representing 40 brands and product lines, Schauben & Co. keeps a close watch on lifestyle and design trends. Our retail partners of every size are defined by which trends they follow, and they depend on us to stay in sync with what’s new and next. Trend awareness and editing is at the core of the services we provide.
Dash
David Shull EVP, Marketing & Communications, JURA
Peter Schauben President & Managing Partner Schauben & Co.
Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf Founder & Principal, Project Partners Network
Aaron Stewart Creative Director, Gibson Homewares
Linda Levine President, Godinger Silver Board of Directors, NY Tabletop Association
What role do trends play in product development and design at Lifetime Brands? Staying trend-aware is a critical part of innovation, it can help us direct development toward what matters most to our consumers. That means looking at trends on every level: lifestyle, design, material innovation and even pricing. Trends must be viewed through a lens of our brand mandates for consistency and value.
PORTFOLIO 1 The Great Entertainers
PORTFOLIO 2 .................. Material Evidence
Dan Siegel President, Lifetime Brands
Scarlette Tapp Executive Director, Sustainable Furnishings Council
In the next 2-3 years, which trend will deliver the greatest opportunity for meaningful sustainability advances in the home and housewares industries? Education and information. Without a doubt consumer awareness and commitment to eco-conscious home products will continue to expand. In fact, in response to that trend and the demand it’s created, the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) provides home furnishings retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and designers with education and tools to incorporate sustainable best practices into their business models. That commitment has made the SFC the leading sustainability education resource in the home furnishings industry.
PORTFOLIO 3 All About Ease
PORTFOLIO 4 .................. Pantone ® ColorWatch
Marcia Miller Founder & CEO, Mud Pie
Is trend always important—even in times of economic uncertainty? A keen awareness of what’s trending in the marketplace and in consumer lifestyles is essential to Mud Pie’s product design and development process. Our designers are always on the pulse of what’s new, tracking both traditional and social media outlets as well as consumer insights to determine direction for new product lines and key items.
PORTFOLIO 5 Fine Lines
PORTFOLIO 6 .................. The Great Outdoors
PORTFOLIO 7 In the Groove
PORTFOLIO 8 .................. World of Wellness
trend perspectivess - ( continued ) InSight Trend Index
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great entertainers the TM
PORTFOLIO —— 1
2023 TREND INDEX
CONTEMPORIST
the Ever inspired by the new, now and next, the Contemporist is a curator of the current. Driven by a sure sense of style, this entertainer embraces technology, and favors form alongside uncompromising function.
InSight Trend Index
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NATURALIST the Organic forms and
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InSight Trend Index
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