Heimtextil Launches 21/22 Trend: Nothing New, Everything New
As we move forward in this grand social experiment, buzz words like “new normal” “reset”, “rethink” are on top of our minds. What does that really mean? Well, the first 2021 trend forecast of note, Heimtextil hopes to clarify any confusion. The Heimtextil Trend Council presented their 21/22 trend forecast in a live stream yesterday. Trend Council members shared their insights into the future of the industry and created a vision for the trend theme “Nothing New, Everything New.”
“Nothing New, Everything New”
For many years, the design and home furnishings industry has asked “what is new this season?”. Newness and cultural erosion are core drivers of lifestyle products, and the foundation of this began in the 20th century when shopping shifted from necessity-driven to pleasure-driven, and consumer products were no longer made to last a lifetime. Post Pandemic is the time for a new perception of new itself. Both consumers and industry stakeholders are beginning to change existing systems and ways of working in different ways. Welcome to “Nothing New, Everything New”.
Crisis as a Driver of Innovation
The first two decades of this century brought several challenges for our industry and trade – above all, the current coronavirus pandemic. But crises are also drivers of innovations. In the textile industry, digitalization and sustainability are currently omnipresent innovation topics. The coronavirus pandemic ensures that both topics are becoming even more important in the home textile industry. Heimtextil Trends 21/22 provide an overview of those developments. Four areas showcased under the umbrella, “Nothing New, Everything New” are Repurpose, Rewild , Reinforce and Revive.
Repurpose
Repurpose is not a passing trend. Rather, it is a way of changing the product development narrative within the textiles industry, shifting from creating original textiles to curating existing textiles to form new visual expressions. Unlike the traditional design process which starts with an idea, Repurpose starts with considering what can be made from existing fabrics. From creation to curation, it gives existing textiles a new purpose and cherishes what’s already made.
Rewild
Rewilding is the act of returning nature back to its original wild state, yet the trend Rewild goes beyond returning to nature. It is not about making nature authentic, but rather understanding nature’s genuine wisdom. In the urban and postmodern world, generations have largely lost connection to the surrounding ecology. This has significant influence on how individuals use and understand the ecosystem they live in. From authentic to genuine, Rewild means rediscovering nature’s resources and applying these in a modern context, delivering on sustainable or even regenerative solutions. The visual and textile expressions of the Rewild trend focus on directions like nature’s lab, Indigenous, wild and basic living.
Reinforce
Resilient expression and Brutalist architecture are key elements in the Reinforce trend. To reinforce is to make something stronger. Longevity is a key influence on colors, materials and design. Reinforce has a simple and bold Scandinavian mood with a resilient, honest and minimalistic look. From short-lived to longevity, Reinforce is about visual and compositional longevity within textiles and materials. It draws inspiration from how Scandinavian design merges design durability with pared back functionality. This approach, proven over time, adds heavy and enduring materials to create visual resilience.
Revive
Reflecting youthful activism within our present perspective, attitude and behavior toward our world of “stuff”, Revive is an exploration of creativity. With a focus on achieving greater emotional satisfaction through the process of creating rather than on the result, no rules apply to the mending, processing, learning and experimenting in Revive. From result to process, Revive is to feel, sense and reconnect with human skills. It revives and honors the intangible state of flow that occurs while creating as opposed to focusing on the final object. Once a household practice, the act of repairing is now seen as creative method. The Revive trend subsequently focuses on process, modern mending and experimentation.
These four trends will be brought to life in the Trend Space at Heimtextil, January 12-15, 2021. (Yes, the show is still on…) The Trend Space has been sustainably designed by Danish space design studio MODUS A/S together with SPOTT trends & business. The 2021 Trend Space embodies the overarching theme with its commitment to the Heimtextil Material Manifesto in repurposing materials during build. The task is to produce as little waste as possible, to use recyclable materials and thus keep the ecological footprint as low as possible.