Three trend experts – Louise Healy-Adonis, Sommer Pyne and Kirsty Whyte – had their fingers firmly on the pulse of what will be trending in 2019 when Top Drawer opened its doors last Sunday (January 13).
Speaking at a RetailFest panel discussion, Louise (associate director at Futures Flamingo Global), Sommer (founder of House of Curious) and Kirsty (creative & product director at SoHo House Retail), discussed the three hottest trends of 2019, where the key buzzwords are ‘authenticity’, ‘individuality’, ‘meaningful’, ‘mental health’, ‘spirituality’, ‘recycling’ and ‘community’.
1.(Im)Perfect
“This trend is about authenticity, and celebrating being different,” explained Sommer Pyne. “For example, wonky ceramics, hand drawn lines, recycled materials that produce uneven shapes. It’s about stepping away from mass produced.” Added Kirsty: “Across the board, people are finding beauty in the imperfect, such as uneven fruit from the greengrocer. Even Ikea is asking their factories in the Far East to leave a thumb print or similar on their vases to make them unique and imperfect rather than having them all looking exactly the same.”
2.New Tribe
According to Louise Healy-Adonis, New Tribe will be huge for 2019. “The drivers are individuality, personalisation, traditional skills re-imagined, and heritage, with the younger generations searching for ‘meaningful’,” she emphasised. “And with mental health issues to the fore for so many young people, there is a focus on turning away from technology and learning meditative skills such as knitting, sewing and weaving. The trend is responsible, sustainable and connected to mental health.” Added Sommer: “Retailers for example, can offer these type of learning and community experiences in their shops. It’s all about people becoming part of a tribe.”
3.New Spirituality
“The key drivers for New Spirituality are about self-acceptance, mental health and feminism, finding security in uncertain times,” said Louise. “Wellness is huge, so it’s about plant based foods, holistic ideas and things that are good for us. There’s a big focus on female based, natural products, such as a handmade bar of soap with a crystal inside so that people can wash using an energy related product. Spirituality is something that is being taken very seriously as it is starting to enrich people’s lives.” Added Kirsty: “This trend is all about self-care, self-help and emotional commonsense.”
Top: The Trend Report panel at Top Drawer. From left to right: Louise Healy-Adonis; Sommer Pyke (House of Curious) and Kristy Whyte (SoHo House Retail)
