Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The four interior products trends for 2012 have one thing in common: they are all self-confident statements, full of vigour and optimism.
That is the message that visitors to next February’s Ambiente show in Frankfurt will glean from the large presentation in the Ambiente Trend Forum, which forecasts the most significant international colour and design styles for the coming 12 months.
According to the predictions, colour will play a key role in the looks of 2012, whether coordinated or heavily contrasted, and the preferred products of tomorrow are also socially and ecologically sound and have instant appeal.
Ambiente calls the first of the trends Electric Romance, a look in which folkloric and traditional handicrafts appear with a new, contemporary twist and where the watchword is mix-it-yourself.
Electric Romance is characterised by natural and recycled materials – leather, wood and driftwood, raffia, wool, linen, lace, enamel and recycled plastic. The colours are vibrant and summery, designs are simple stripes, checks, florals and bird motifs, and there is plenty of carving, embroidery and knitwork.
A particularly strong theme for 2012 is Dark Attitude, a powerful style, extremely self confident, and one in which glamour adapts to the everyday. Quietly decorative, it uses exquisite materials and extravagant shapes in dark, scarcely-contrasted colours. Surface treatment is key – from polished precious woods to shimmering metals, smoked glass and grainy denim.
The Light Innocence look is pure and harmonious, combining shadows and translucency with a palette of powdery pastel tones, and using organic forms and subtle material combinations.
Key materials here are clear and opaque glass, porcelain and fine ceramics, filigree metalwork and wooden slats.
Finally, Radiant Modernity revisits the 70s and 80s, presenting radiant and intense colours, often covering the entire surface. The look is characterised by leather, metals and woods in deep colour tones, glass, plexiglass, plastic, rubberized textiles and high-gloss lacquer, while patterns are geometric and outsized, along with stripes, rings and dots.
Ambiente’s trend exhibition will be in the Galleria, and there will also be daily trend lectures for the trade. The show takes place from February 10 to 14 2012.
