inspiration. information. influence

This is fiber optic ready made curtain panel from Italian firm Decobel gives new meaning to “light at the window”.

Color schemes were lighter and fresher than last year and foreshadowed brighter days to come.

It was obvious that innovation had taken a back seat to reworking old favorites and best sellers, but if you looked hard enough you could find some truly amazing fabrics. The dimensional structures and surface trend for textiles is still gaining speed on the trend curve.

More to come tomorrow from imm Cologne and later this week- Maison et Objet!

The Challenge of Creative Optimism

 The trend theme for the January 2010 edition of Heimtextil is Uni(re)verse. The 10-person trend team took into account the intensity and uncertainty facing us-from obscure financial formulas to obvious ecological issues, from globalization’s pros and cons to the ups and downs of capitalism. So many critical issues demand our attention and force us to redefine what it means to be a producer, a consumer, a developer, a user, and of course, a designer. Faced with all this confusion, our biggest challenge is to continually develop our creativity, to explore all cultures and all avenues for information. Most importantly perhaps is to learn the lessons of nature: responsible innovation, respect for diversity and an indomitable optimism.

It’s here that we can find the universal values that will help direct us out of the maze of confusion we find ourselves in. Nature’s lessons-time-tested and easily observed-offer gentleness, energy, refinement, elegance and simplicity, universal values to shape the outlines of new lifestyles simultaneously optimistic and respectful.

REFINED ROOTS: Nature presented with modern, refined aesthetics.

LESSTRAVAGANCE: Between strict minimalism and over-the-top ostentation is a new take on EcoLuxury.

INFINITE TIME: Responsible design-for humans and the environment-over the lifetime of a product. The need for simplicity and the strong demand for quality come together in a responsible approach, where timeless authenticity is captured in a range of earthy colors; these themes connect elegance, ease and character.

INTIMATE BUBBLE: Breaking away-within the safety of closed spaces-to experience our desires of the moment.

IRRESISTIBLE STAGING: Playing with traditional references to confirm our individual personalities; a modern form of theatrical seduction.

DIGITAL CLASSICS: Virtual worlds increasingly offer new possibilities to create an imaginary existence. By mingling modern technology and decorative classicism, we achieve a dramatic exaggeration demonstrated in a theatrical range of opulent colors.

IMPULSIVE CREATIVITY: The beauty of everyday gestures and the energy of spontaneous creation.

GRAPHIC FASCINATION: Understandable, high-impact communication across all global markets.

MAGIC SIMPLICITY: Reinventing rituals and rediscovering enchantment. Instead of austere functionality, the mood is one of creative invention. Modular constructions, reworked geometrics and color-blocking are explored in pigments reminiscent of the 1980’s.

BENEFICIAL INNOVATION: Creating the time and space to allow nature to nurture.

I just bought my September issue. Do you have yours?

I anxiously await this issue of Vogue. As they say; if fashion is a religion than Vogue is the bible. Weighing nearly 3 lbs and consisting of 584 pages of inspiration, it provides hours of browsing, dreaming. I always rip pages, tag corners; filing it away in my journal.

 This issue was a definite MUST HAVE with the drop of this month’s magazine coinciding with the premiere of The September Issue, filmmaker R J Culter ‘s  documentary about the making of the 2007 version of the issue. Cutler got unprecedented access into Anna Wintour’s world; so of course I was curious… not to mention I was interested in seeing see what it takes to stay on top in the fashion world -giving lessons that could be learned in the interior world two fold.

Top  Inspirations

The Steven Meisel shoot In the Mood - 1942 New York - bebop, smoky bars, peplums and shoulder pads. A fashion era I have always had an infinity for.  Love, love, love the detail on the Dior wool suit to the left.

This shot seems like a flashback of my family album. It could very well be my grandmother and my great grandmother- two women  that have inspired and framed my design outlook.

Don’t you just LOVE the draping-  so Barbara Stanwyck. 

Into The Woods is Coddington’s fantasy fashion version of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood celebrating my fav color -red

Also check out:

Merci- a new concept store in the marais neighborhood of Paris that I will certainly be shopping at in January.

My Sew Called Life-a short article about Jason Wu teaching one of the Vogue editors to sew. Good insight from anovice what the craft and art of sewing is like.

Country Couture - Vogue visits Juicy Couture co-founder Gela Nash-Taylor’s country manor

Still looking for more Fashion Inspiration? Check out Valentino, The Last Emperor

Here’s a sneak peek of what NeoCon  ’09 will have to offer next week. From textiles to technology, Neocon never disappoints.

Maharam Digital Projects combines content and execution, making the work of today’s leading artists and designers affordable and accessible as a curated repository of images printed using the highest quality digital techniques available.  Digital Projects is a carefully curated repository of museum quality installations for walls, including two 10′ by 36′ works by Douglas Gordon and Karel Martens. Digital Projects can be used for contract and residential applications; this versatile medium provides visual vocabulary drawn from emerging and established artists, internationally renowned graphic designers, and longtime Maharam collaborators.

Defining Leather through design. Whatever you can create can now come to life in genuine leather and then be upholstered onto the furniture piece of your choice. SIF Technology is raising the bar on creativity in the contract market with its new Digital Leather image process-a unique printable laminate that permanently fuses high resolution aniline and semi-aniline colors, full color photos and graphic images onto and into the surface of genuine leather. What a perfect way to showcase it but with the Pantone Chair.

Several innovative, technical methods were fundamental to the success of these Momentum fabrics. Classique features a unique carving finish which results in a vertical rib effect on the face of the velvet. Sartorial’s dimensional pleat construction is unusual in the industry. Most pleated or puckered fabrics are created using a stretch yarn or a finishing or chemical process which can lead to a flattening of the pleat during the upholstering process or through standard use. It took more than five years of experimentation for Momentum’s collaborative mill professionals to achieve a hand-woven pleat effect in production. While Sartorial is not the only pleated fabric on the market, it is the only pleated fabric which is also embroidered. Delano features a Trieste yarn which is a custom made novelty weft yarn from Italy. The striations that the Trieste accomplishes are unique. They are long and graceful rather than the shorter, choppier striations most often seen. This very special yarn was used in tandem with a carefully fashioned woven structure to create an unusually soft and slick tweed look. 

Designers want a web experience that reflects and enhances their design and product selection process. The Virtual Library by Mannington Commercial delivers on these desires by complementing the creative process and keeping key tools at a designer’s fingertips. The Virtual Library, the first of its kind for our industry, enables exploration from any location with online access and shortens the sales cycle - all while reducing unnecessary use of valuable space in design firms’ libraries or contributing to landfill waste.  This immersive online experience uses 3-dimensional and Flash technology to simulate the experience of being in a product library for every hard and soft surface floorcovering in Mannington Commercial’s complete product mix, and to stimulate exploring and experimenting with product choices with virtual flip book technology -letting designers flip thru  pages the same way as a designer would look through a paper catalog.

As its name suggests, Stucco  by Geneieve Bennett resembles molding sculpted on a plaster wall, but it is actually a cleverly designed, three-dimensional wall panel adorned with cut leather pieces. The resulting composition of abstracted leaves and flowers comes just in time for spring. While custom colors and sizes are available, it comes standard in a 30 1/3-inch-by-39 1/3-inch panel.

Finally, My favorite- I have already downloaded it!

 With Colorsnap by Sherwin Williams you can discover how coordinating colors and bringing ideas to life is easier than you ever imagined. Find a color you love, snap the photo and receive the matching Sherwin-Williams paint color and coordinating palette. And it’s all FREE!

• Choose a color that inspires you and match it with one of our 1,500 Sherwin-Williams paint colors.
• Receive a coordinating palette that complements your color.
• Find your local Sherwin-Williams store where the experts will help you bring your vision to life.
• Save colors to your “My Saved Colors” library for future inspiration.