Blends of materials are gaining in popularity

ZOW trend_scout Lidewij Edelkoort is analysing the current design trends of the Milan Furniture Fair

[Bad Salzuflen, 05 August 2014] As the ZOW trend scout, Lidewij Edelkoort, the pioneer of trend research, has taken a look around "Salone Internazionale del Mobile" in Milan and will be presenting her initial analyses in the trend_report in the run-up to ZOW 2015. The furniture fair in Milan has, above all, demonstrated one thing: Stone and marble are gaining ground as materials and will be used to an ever-increasing extent by designers as a source of inspiration. Moreover, the trend is towards individualisation and thus to conventional material ideas being broken down. It is here that technologies are opening up fascinating possibilities of combining different materials such as ceramics and wood in one design.

Stone and marble are making a come-back in a "New Stone Age"
While the fashion industry has already discovered marble, for example, as a design for garments and accessories, the furniture industry is set to experience a revival of the use of natural stone as a material. Stone is therefore growing in significance as a "dark, organic material which will find its way into more and more kitchens in the future" predicts Lidewij Edelkoort. The trend expert states further: "The New Stone Age will create an unprecedented demand for stone." The designers add their own touches to the material, for instance by engraving patterns onto it - as a distinctive mark of this advancing individualisation. In the process, the natural stone is also combined with other trend materials such as wood, metal or glass.

Not blond or brown, but brond
When it comes to wood processing, Edelkoort has been observing how designers are increasingly making use of woods from the middle of the colour spectrum, such as chestnut, oak or cedar. She draws a comparison here with the hair trend "brond", the hair colour comprising a blend of blond and brown: "ZOW predicts the dominance of brond woods in the future." Moreover, suppliers to the furniture industry will encounter a richer diversity of colour combinations created by the designers in the future, as Edelkoor remarks: "The various shades of wood will act together to an even greater degree."

Furthermore, designers are focusing on material mixes - whereby ceramics, for example, are taken and combined with wood, plastic or even resin, a marriage which is characteristic of this transformation. The vast scope for innovations afforded by techniques such as 3D printing is virtually boundless, and the rising demand for individualisation poses new challenges for the furniture industry.

In the next trend_report, Lidewij Edelkoort will be reporting on the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York. This will then be followed by trend_reports on Maison & Object in Paris, the Dutch Design Week (DDW) in Eindhoven and the London Design Week. The information and impressions will be used as a basis to derive projections for the future, which will be presented on some 2,000 square metres of exhibition space "ZOW trend_works" during the International Exhibition for Suppliers to the Furniture and Interior Design Industries in February next year. As a result thereof, exhibitors, designers as well as trade visitors will have the opportunity to find out about groundbreaking trends in the furniture industry and will be provided with a platform at ZOW in Bad Salzuflen in which to exchange their ideas and experiences.

The full trend_report on Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan is available on the blog of ZOW trend_works: http://trend-works.zow.de. After the respective fairs, the further trend_reports will also be published here accordingly.

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This release was published on openPR.