High Point Market
Spring Fashion Report 2010
An insider’s guide to the must-have & not-to-be-missed this season
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
1
No More Cloudy Days
The forecast for Spring 2010 is bright,
with color energizing everything at Market—from accessories to upholstery. “We all know that the Pantone color of the year is turquoise, a very bright, out-going color,” says Catherine Smoak, principal, Jigsaw Solutions, who designs for Nautica among others at Market. “Blue was also the predominant color at the Oscars … not the pale sea blues and aquas, but strong, intense blues like peacock, teal and royal. It’s almost like people are saying, ‘I’m tired of standing back; I’m going to make a statement!’ ” According to Smoak, in bigger-ticket items like sofas,
At Norwalk this Market, this translates into making it easy for
“consumers will likely still lean toward neutrals, something
people to stimulate their mood with color. “We’ve created
they can live with. But,” she says, “what this means for
a palette of color to inspire retailers to set their Fall floors
accessories companies, lamp makers and paint producers
and we’ve taken a mix-and-match approach so that the
(and everything in between) is that you better have some
consumer will have a variety of best-selling colors to work
color to show the consumer now, because that’s how they
with, in a variety of textures with compatible pillows and
are going to bring new life into their homes.”
chairs. In each of five palettes, we’ll have a great chenille for example, a couple of great weights of linen, a great leather
“We expect to see brighter colors in general this Spring,
color, a great ultra-suede, an affordable velvet and a more
simply because they’re happier,” chimes in Erin Davis, junior
luxurious velvet, and three to four shades within each palette.
designer at Global Views, where turquoise is indeed the color
A customer can put a linen on the body cloth, a velvet on the
of the moment for pillows, ceramics and more this Market.
pillow and choose a punch accent pillow, all very easily.
“It’s the lipstick theory. In difficult times a woman will buy a bright red lipstick because it’s an inexpensive way to punch
“We’ve found that so few people are really comfortable
up her look. Buying something small and colorful and fun for
choosing fabrics,” Hipple continues. “So we said, ‘Let’s get
a room provides the same kind of lift.”
off our high horses and make it beautiful, but simple.’ We went through the best-selling styles across the marketplace,
image provided by Global Views
Spring Trends 2010 For decades, High Point, North Carolina was known far and wide as the Furniture Capital of the World. Year after year, season after season, buyers came from across the country and around the globe to seek out the latest offerings in wood furniture and upholstered goods. Yet as time passed—more than a century actually—savvy retailers and designers came to know High Point for something more…much more. After all, with more than 2,000 exhibitors displaying the most fashion-forward thinking in more than sixty categories of home furnishings products twice a year, word tends to get around. Now, those in the know—some 85,000 home furnishings professionals each season—call it High Point Market: The World’s Home for Home Furnishings. And that it is. When the curtain rises on “Market Week” this Spring, heads will turn, cameras flash, and the press take note as thousands of new products are revealed at the largest and most influential market of its kind anywhere. Along the way, deals will be done, stars made, treasures found, and trends born.
2
www.highpointmarket.org
Welcome to High Point Market. There’s a lot of ground to cover, and not a minute to waste. Herewith, a | 800.874.6492 336.869.1000 sneak peak at| what the excitement is all about.
“Color is an anathema to everything that makes us sad,”
and created an assortment in beautiful palettes of blues,
relates Caroline Hipple, chief energy officer, HB2 Resources,
greens, reds and mauves in usable tones, with a beautiful
who along with partner Dixon Bartlett is helping a number
assortment of textures. Then, in the showroom, we’ve
of companies across Market put their best face forward
taken what we think are the color themes of the season and
this Spring. Among these is upholstered furniture resource
showed some punch—framboise, aubergine, purple, green,
Norwalk Furniture where a new approach to working with
gold, some rose and pink—to show people how to do it.
color will be making news.
It’s all about texture and touch, drawing the eye in and then making it affordable.”
“When retailers over-react to times of challenge they go safe,” Hipple says, “so consumers look around now and see
In other big news at Norwalk this Market, Designer Candice
a sea of brown and beige. That does sell, but there’s a way
Olson is unveiling six new upholstered furniture collections,
to use color to infuse some spirit, some life and some energy.
highlighted by two strong color statements: “a wonderful
We think our job as merchants—wholesale and retail—is to
cognac fawn with a peacock teal mist, and then what we
teach people how to put texture and color together to enliven
refer to as the play of light, a very usable graphite story
and uplift their spirits. We need to be stimulating. We need
accented with black and gold.”
to use our talent to show people how to add some spice to their life. Not in a wild and whacky way, but in a very welleducated, thoughtful way.” www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
1
image provided by Kincaid Casegoods & Upholstery
there’s a way to use color
image provided by Schnadig
to infuse some spirit, some life and some energy image provided by Global Views image provided by Global Views
image provided by Kincaid Casegoods & Upholstery www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000 2
image provided by Candice Olson for Norwalk Furniture
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
3
A Thing of Beauty Is…
image provided by Hotel Maison
image provided by Added Oomph
Surrounding themselves with bright color is one way for consumers to deal with the vagaries of life today. Acquiring beautiful things is another say the experts. “I think with everything going on in the world, people feel unsettled,” offers Smoak. “While I’m not a fan of the term ‘cocooning,’ we are seeing a retreat into the home and with that I’m sensing a return to elegance, and civility, really.” Call the trend:
image provided by Dorya
selective indulgence
image provided by Dorya
“Obviously, budget is a consideration for most now, and I
“There seems to be a growing appreciation for having
think it will be forever more,” relates Rachel Ashwell, founder
something of quality, and something beautiful to look
of the iconic Shabby Chic® brand, who is launching a new
at,” says Barbara Plott, president of Added Oomph, who
line of licensed home furnishings products this Market at
specializes in European antiques. This season, she has filled
Guildmaster and Miles Talbott. “People have gotten used to
her High Point showroom with garden urns, statuary, and
spending differently, in a more respectful way. Fads are not
grand architectural elements such as chateau doors from
going to have a big future in the home furnishings industry.
the early 1800s hand-painted with birds and butterflies. “In
In fashion maybe, but in home furnishings people are looking
buying antiques, the appeal for some is the sense of history
for things that really last, not only in terms of quality, but also
in the pieces, the footsteps that have already been taken
from the standpoint of just being wonderful to live with.”
down the same pathway.”
After enduring a few years of economic turmoil, many
Unfortunately, when it comes to some of today’s newer
consumers, it seems, are yearning for special. Luckily,
furniture designs, “people are getting frustrated with the fact
retailers and designers will have plenty of opportunity to find
that so much production has moved to the East, and overall
it for them across the Market, from glamorous headboards,
product quality has been lost,” remarks Megan Yorgancioglu,
mirrors and spectacular one-of-a-kind lighting introductions
creative director at Dorya, a high-end interiors brand which
in the newly refurbished Christopher Guy showroom (the
still produces fine furniture entirely by hand and will show
uninitiated may recognize his design work from “Casino
for the first time in High Point this Spring. “There are so few
Royale” and “The Devil Wears Prada”), to new furniture
companies left that are truly hand-made. Something rare has
collections from interior design superstars David Easton and
been lost in the world.”
Larry Laslo at high-fashion house Ferguson Copeland. image provided bywww.highpointmarket.org Chart House | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000image provided by Chart House 4
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
5
“There’s a yearning now for pieces for the home that will be heirlooms some day, pieces you can pass on to future generations”
images provided by Christopher Guy
– L e i g h K e n o
“It’s this whole idea of objects that are disposable, made
For the Keno brothers, who trace their love of objects and
While 2009 might seem to some like an odd time to venture
Another player in this vein for Spring is acclaimed Southern
from computer-generated plastic materials that don’t require
treasure-hunting back to their teens (their parents were
into the furniture business, given the state of the economy,
architect Bobby McAlpine, who is reinterpreting and
hand craftsmanship, hard work or incredible skill to produce,”
antique dealers), and who have spent the better part of their
the owners of Chart House believe opportunity exists for
redefining traditional English antique designs in an expansion
notes acclaimed furniture expert Leslie Keno, who with his
lives collecting, buying and selling beautiful things, their new
companies that can bring handcrafted quality and unique
of the McAlpine Home Collection of case goods and home
twin brother Leigh, will unveil a highly anticipated furniture
collection is the realization of a lifelong dream. “This line is a
designs to the marketplace. Their instincts were confirmed
accents, designed for MacRae and showcased alongside
collection based on the brothers’ love of antiques and
distillation of all the things that Leigh and I love most,” Leslie
when samples of their new line were unveiled on Cook’s
McAlpine Home Collection upholstery pieces in the Lee
vintage modern furniture at Theodore Alexander this Market.
says, “the essence of what we’re all about.” “All of the pieces
store floor during a recent open house. “The guests that
Industries showroom. McAlpine looked to English antique
“Products like that create a stage-setting, a façade, but when
were created to be timeless classics, pieces that the owner
night became our first customers,” says company President
design styles that would adapt well to reinterpretation,
you open up the drawers you find that they are held together
could look at in the morning when they wake up, or at night
Patrick Fox.
including highboys, consoles, wing chairs, chests, desks and
with glue and a couple of nails.”
before they go to bed and feel pleasure just in the looking,” adds Leigh.
Leigh Keno echoes the thought. “I think people of all ages
dining tables. “In my marketplace, there are a number of furniture stores that are hurting,” Cook relates. “Yet people don’t seem to
“The collection has definite historical reference and
are experiencing a growing awareness and appreciation for
Like Dorya, Chart House is another exciting new entrant
mind spending money for these new pieces on my floor.
reverence—and irreverence in execution,” he says. “These
handcraftsmanship. There’s a yearning now for pieces for the
to the High Point scene. The to-the-trade manufacturer
They just gravitate to the simple lines, depth of finish and
are ‘new antiques,’ not your grandmother’s, but yours—and
home that will be heirlooms some day, pieces you can pass
launched last year to produce hand-carved, hand-finished
the richness of the wood. The pieces are distressed, but not
your great grandchildren’s.”
on to future generations, or that someone in this generation
French and English furnishings designed by Debbie Cook,
overly so. There’s a time-worn, heirloom quality to them that
can collect and enjoy.”
principal of Twigs: European Home, a retail store and design
leads people in the store to ask if they are antiques.”
studio based in Fishers, Indiana.
6
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
7
What’s Your Story?
“I think the times have really taught us to think about what’s authentic in our own lives, and what really matters,” Hipple says. “For me, I’ve been a fan of wabi-sabi, which is really the Japanese aesthetic of the beauty of imperfection. Give me something that has a story, feels authentic, and is warm and embracing.” Authenticity, Hipple believes, is part of the appeal of the reclaimed woods she works with at Turning House, a company that made its Market debut last year and will unveil sixty new designs this Spring. To produce the line, Turning House uses beams and flooring from buildings constructed in the industrial South prior to 1945. “We know exactly where the wood came from, whether the Landis Mill in Landis, N.C., a tobacco warehouse in Greensboro, N.C., or a distillery in Kentucky,” Hipple says. “This is old growth wood that was up
image provided by Turning House Furniture
to 200 or 300 years old when it was cut down. Our task is to honor the vintage wood, interpreting it as almost a piece of sculpture for function today.” “In this economy, more than anything, it’s very, very important to have a powerful, authentic, soul-filled, aspirational starting point,” explains Ashwell, who re-launched Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture™ flagship stores in Santa Monica, SoHo and London’s Notting Hill neighborhood in order to create a strong licensing program. “The stores,” she says, “are where I create the magic, where I consider what my thoughts are as a designer.” image provided by Shabby Chic
“It’s not like the old days when we were riding the wave of the Baby Boomer and you just threw product out there and goodness knows it sold,” Hipple explains.
“You have to be smart, you have to have strategy, and you have to have people who can make connections, as well as product that is aspirational.
8
provided| by Phoenix Art Group www.highpointmarket.org | image 800.874.6492 336.869.1000
image provided by Shabby Chic
It’s going to be a good Market for those that tell a story, create some excitement, have good relationships with their customers and who are totally targeted on who they are and what they offer that is a value.” “People really need to be inspired to take their wallet out of their pocket and purchase something now,” agrees Jennifer Raboin, art director at Phoenix Art Group. “They don’t want to buy something that is average or commonplace. It’s uncomfortable to open up that pocketbook, so they are really looking for something that is going to knock their socks off. “For us, that means quality over quantity in terms of introductions this Spring,” Raboin says. “Instead of sending quite as many products to High Point, we’re really focusing on being outstanding in quality, in concept, and having something new that cannot be found elsewhere in the marketplace.” The watchwords at Phoenix Art are “texture” and “dimension,” Raboin adds, in motifs that focus on “nature, natural, happy, bright, clean, clear and … recognizable. People have way too much to think about now, as far as what’s going on in their lives and what they have to do. When they get home and they are looking at a piece of art, they don’t want to have to try to figure it out. They don’t want to try to analyze it, they just want to recognize it, get it, and they want the piece to be happy, uplifting and spiritual. They want it to move them, to try to bring them a little peace in an otherwise crazy, hectic day.”
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
9
Left Page: images provided by Hooker Furniture
Right Page: images provided by Universal Furniture
Re-engaging Consumers
More than one furniture company this Market is betting that some consumers are looking to take this idea of relaxation and escape to another level in their homes. “Long before the economy crashed, there was an urge to create a home experience that was a getaway,” says Kim Salmela, principle of Judy George International and lead designer for Hotel Maison, a new furniture collection inspired by luxury travel experiences. “People think about how great they feel when they travel, how relaxed they are, and they ask, ‘Why do I have to come home to life as a grind? Why can’t life all the time be a little bit more luxurious, a little bit more glamorous, a little bit more stylish?” That in mind, Salmela set out to create a series of “experiences,” in bedroom, dining and living room furnishings that capture the feeling of a stay in a grand hotel. Among these: Metro Club (a modern masculine look inspired by the cool sophistication of an urban getaway), Hollywood Regency, Pan-Asian (think exotic woods, texture), Luxe Lodge (Aspen ski lodge meets African safari), Linen Hills (relaxed and beachy) and Villa Reale, a modern interpretation of classic European styling. Salmela designed each collection so that every piece coordinates, from the case goods to the bedding and accessories, yet doesn’t match. “Gone are the days when you bought a suite of furniture,” Salmela says. “It’s a much more gathered look now, and that’s not easy to do, so it can cause consumers to get frustrated. Like a concierge that will suggest the perfect place to eat or museum to visit, we’re providing the design services to point the retailer and the consumer in the right direction. It’s just a little edgier than a lot of the larger companies might offer.”
10
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
At Hooker this Spring, the idea is to take consumers on a journey of self-discovery that paves the way for transformation and personal growth. Melange, a 40-piece accent furniture collection merchandised around three themes and presented in a multi-sensory shopping experience expresses this sense of discovery in its overall design concept, as well as in unexpected touches, such as drawers lined with pops of color or unusual patterns. “The themes—Modern/Classic, Pretty/Feminine and Eclectic/ Multicultural—provide a venue of expression for each individual’s lifestyle and personality, with the expectation that she will be drawn to one of the themes and that they will help her identify and define her own individual style,” explains Kim Shaver, Vice President, Marketing Communications. “Although the fashion world is known for its seasonal changes and quickly evolving trends, our goal with Melange (French for a mixture of incongruous elements) was to create a fresh look that was not trend-specific,” Shaver says. “The influence is clearly feminine in nature—the collection was developed by two young women in our company, Erica Wingo, a fairly recent graduate of High Point University, and Cindy Hall, a Gen-Xr in her early ‘40s, who is married with two children. They took inspiration from apparel, housewares, art and jewelry, really everywhere but furniture in a very intentional way, and the result is something completely original and unique that reflects their generational influences.”
In preparing for Spring, the design team at Schnadig Home also found their inspiration in travel, according to Melanie Dunn, creative director. The result of their forays into London, Paris and Los Angeles is a new collection—Outside In—that is “a little more European in nature. We came across a store in on a trip to London last summer with a fabulous, upscale cottage lifestyle and that was our inspiration for a new way of looking at cottage living.” Along with a focus on creating finishes like weathered white and a gesso that Dunn calls “better than candy for designers,” the company is also unveiling a rusty metal finish with a celadon tone, available on several pieces that can truly be used indoors or out. With Caracole, a line developed specifically to speak to interior designers, the focus is also on creating furnishings meant to be used in more than one room. “With Caracole, we don’t talk about dressers, or nightstands or credenzas,” Dunn explains. “We call it clothes storage. We think it’s time for a whole new way to look at furniture. Our industry has done a disservice to the consumer by saying, ‘This is a dresser,’ which means that Mrs. Jones is never going to take the piece out of her bedroom because we told her it was a dresser. But if her grandmother gives her all of her heirloom embroidered linens and she needs a piece like that in her dining room, calling it storage creates a purpose for her needs.” Meanwhile, Jeff Scheffer, president and chief executive of Universal Furniture International is hoping Market-goers will look at Louis Phillipe in a new way this Spring. As part of the continuing reinvention of Pennsylvania House (long known for 18th Century cherry furniture), the company has taken one of the best-selling styles of the past 20 years and turned it on its head. Says Scheffer, “We asked the question, if you were doing Louis Phillip styling for first time today, how would you approach the category in a way that is relevant for the times and today’s
younger consumers?” The result is a startlingly fresh take on a classic in solid wood, cheekily dubbed “New Lou” and packed with ingenious functionality like drop-down drawer fronts for technology, cleverly incorporated into the signature under-top molding. “It’s a pretty fair statement to say that things have been dumbed down pretty well in this industry over the last ten years,” Scheffer says. “You don’t have to walk too many retail floors to get the impression that it’s all starting to look alike. But consumers want something more. We’re changed. We spend differently. And that has implications for everything we do. I really believe there is an opportunity for any company, regardless of the market segment that they are competing in now, to differentiate themselves on product styling. Look at Mickey Drexler and what he’s done at J. Crew. He’s proven that if you give her something she wants at a price she’s willing to pay, it doesn’t have to be cheap.”
Authenticity, classic lines and heirloom quality, reinterpreted for today’s lifestyles and invigorated with bold splashes of color; pieces that coordinate more than match; and collections that make it easy to create a curated look that reflects your own individual style. These are the trends that are capturing the consumer’s imagination in Spring 2010, offered in abundance across a full range of price points, only at the world’s home for home furnishings. Join us, April 17 – 22 at the High Point Market—and see the new season come to life.
images provided by Apartment Therapy
From 2007 right through the present there has been a steady move to more saturated colors and vintage interiors. The light, spartan, white loft style has been replaced by a desire for warmer, cozier interiors that feature more contrast between lighter and darker color planes. You can see this clearly in our 2009 color contest, in which over 100 readers submitted their favorite rooms and thousands of readers voted on which they liked best. You can visit it all at
B y M a x we l l Gi l lingham- R yan, Apar tment T her apy
tracking color trends, we see things very differently at Apartment Therapy because we are totally reader oriented. We don’t put a lot of weight on the trends we see as editors from going to shows or looking outside of our websites. Instead, we get a very strong sense of what’s passing through our cultural zeitgeist by simply watching what our readers are doing on a daily basis. Between posting home tours twice a day everyday and our Room For Color Contest in October, we feel we really know what’s going on. While many of our readers are following trends, I believe a strong core of our readers are creating trends by being the early adopters and the ones who are fully expressing their daily experience. When I started Apartment Therapy in 2004, color choices for interiors were much lighter and sunnier. At the time, Martha Stewart had a great line of paints with Kmart, which was very popular and her whole palette was muted, light and earthy. I remember specifically that Sunflower yellow was very popular. By our first Room for Color contest in 2006, the overall favorite had shifted to orange and the descent into darker colors had begun. 12
www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000
Color is making a splash in virtually all product categories this Spring, and youth
contests.apartmenttherapy.com/2009/color/
furniture is no exception. Witness Lily,
If you look at the entries or if you simply look at the full page of color palettes that we collected, you can see the predominance of cooler, darker blues which would have been unheard of a few years ago. The resurgence of blue was totally surprising to me, particularly because it’s not my favorite interior color. Of the final four rooms, three were based in cool blue tones, while the fourth was predominantly a cool green. The winner, Beth from Chicago, called her room “Beth’s Kind of Blue Living Room” and it was a deep sea blue with a bit of green in it. People loved it.
Hooker Furniture that allows children,
a new collection from Opus Designs by tweens and teens to personalize their surroundings at will. “We’ve been doing a lot of research about where kids really are today,” says Cindy Hall, designer, Hooker Furniture. “They are highly creative and they like things personalized and color cues
Color Trends 2010 While there are many sources for
Making Room For Color
Editor’s Note: Guest columnist Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan is an interior designer, author and the founder of Apartment Therapy, originally an interior design service and now a network of blogs devoted to helping people make their homes beautiful, organized, and healthy. In 2004, Maxwell and his brother launched ApartmentTherapy. com. The network now includes five sites—ApartmentTherapy. com, TheKitchn.com, Ohdeedoh. com, Unplggd.com and Re-Nest. com—reaching over 4 million unique readers per month.
The voting was so strong for Beth and the other blue rooms, that I was not surprised when my editor at Clarkson Potter told me that they’d chosen a vivid blue interior for the cover of my new book (due out in May), and I wasn’t going to argue with the choice either.
impact their choice of clothing, food and
Choosing colors, particularly darker colors, can be very scary for people, but I see people craving more color in their homes and experimenting with it by painting accent walls instead of whole rooms. What’s driving this? While I can’t claim to be a pro at reading the tea leaves of color trends, I do think that people’s decisions—or those of the early adopters—are driven by a desire to do something different which will feel fresh and lively. This is always going to involve moving towards the other pole and back again: dark to light, cool to warm, neutral to color.
beds. Each piece ships with a set of four
In addition to simply needing to move away from the norm, I do think that these darker colors are warmer and cozier and that carries with it a comfortable feeling during a difficult economic time. Both the colors and the vintage trend that I see also seem to be reflective of an earlier era when things were more stable, decoration was more fun and quality was higher. The quality issue is of real interest to me as well, as it pertains to people wanting better quality and low VOC paints for their homes. While we are in a recession, I see readers willing to spend more on paint to get richer colors and a healthier environment. What’s next? I’m not sure, but I bet that after our annual Smallest Coolest Home contest next month, I’ll have a pretty good idea. Join me!
electronics. With Lily, they can customize their bedroom by changing removable accent panels on the case fronts and color panels, each with two color options for a total of eight color choices that are very simple to slide in and out to suit their mood, age and lifestyle as their tastes change.”
image provided by Hooker Furniture
APRIL 17-22
products @the world’s home for home furnishings
The forms, functions, patterns, colors and styles that will transform your customers’ homes are all here, at the one place universally recognized as our industry’s center of innovation. Connect with all the products that your customers want most at the most comprehensive market in the world.
Be@the center of everything.
Fall 2010: October 16 - 21 Spring 2011: April 2 - 7 www.highpointmarket.org | 888.363.1709 | info@highpointmarket.org 14
FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/EAWQX www.highpointmarket.org | 800.874.6492 | 336.869.1000 LINKEDIN: http://bit.ly/EzLNJ
TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/hpmarketnews YOUTUBE: http://youtube.com/highpointmarket