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I have been wanting to write about the style life trend since my first Blog entry and now I realize that I will probably be talking about Style Life several times in the coming year! When I saw the latest Thomasville furniture ads,( see images and link: http://www.thomasville.com).
I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Their ads feature an ingenious mix of fashion with home...and that is the core of what the style life trend is all about.
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What is Style Life?
We have been talking about this trend with our consulting clients for over a year and it has been a strong influencer in our branding, positioning and trend direction projects. Style life is a trend that puts fashion design and interior design in one category. Right now those two worlds are merged into one. Designers are looking more closely at what is going on in the interior design world for influence and Interior designers are looking closer at fashion to create their designs. Furthermore, interior designers are designing fashion while fashion designers are designing interiors of airplanes hotels stores and clubs. Most of you designers will agree that great design, whether it is fashion or interiors triggers that same visual 'High'.
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So why is there so much more attention to this trend now ?
Consumers' personal tastes are no longer segmented between what they love for clothes and what the love for their home. If you love a certain designer for your home, if he or she decided to create a clothing line he would also be talking to your same taste buds. I am just waiting for Jonathan Adler to come up with a fashion collection; I would be the first in line to buy it! What has shifted for consumers is the barriers that stopped them from making interior purchases based only on taste have been lifted. Furniture prices have come down, in relation to other prices, and with low price furniture outlets such as Ikea, a style decision is easily made. And with the advent of eBay, if we feel we want to unload a piece of furniture or two, that commitment to a look or genre is quickly dissolved. Then there is the issue of seasonality in home furnishings. Pottery Barn really blazed the trail buy enlightening consumers as to the seasonality of furniture, both for indoor and out. They always had a knack for making you want to change your curtains in spring, simply to make your house feel springy! So when you combine seasonality, lower prices, a love for personal expression in the home and out, you come to the intersection of fashion and interiors.
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On Creating Interior Design Icons for today!
The great interior revolution has also spawned tons of new literature and media on the subject from tabletop books on every era of design to the hours of interior design shows available on cable TV to the reams of magazines on interiors and great design. Top tier hotels are all 'designed' by star designers and many average people are turning their home spaces into living galleries that can be seen in the magazines and home-style pages of the sunday news. |
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Finally, you have retailers such as Target touting the design genius of Michael Graves with his nifty reinvented gadgets for the home. If the design field is so alive and awake with new ideas and trends we need to be paying close attention to them. It has been evident in the past few seasons that certain interior designers that are leaders in their market also effect fashion even without them doing a clothing line. We need to pay close attention to what is trendy in interior when we look at fashion trends. For those of you that are leading the trend cycle like us, we need to look even closer.
How can we merge Fashion and Interior thinking right now?
-Look to great interiors to see what Era they seem to be reviving. If it all looks Mod or Deco then that will be reflected in fashion as well.
-Look to leaders in the interior industry. We have been tracking Jonathan Adler for the past few seasons and I am sure he had something to do with all the eclectic mixes we saw in prints and patterns lately.
-When visiting trade shows, look at booth décor for mood and vibe to influence you.
-When you travel the world for research look at the same stores for their interior design. Many designers are investing in very innovative interiors for their stores. Stella McCartney is a good example of that: http://www.stellamccartney.com/Stores/
-Visit Interior design trade shows
- Look at Interior magazines
- Look at any landmark hotel or museums that are being redesigned
Another good reason to have this on your radar is when you are looking for co-branding or new brand opportunities, your world just opened up to a whole new field of interior design talent.
Or just call us if you want to learn about this trend and how it can help your business!
We will continue tracking how this trend influences our seasonal trends and you will see a few more blog entries about this for me as well. Please keep your comments and ideas coming, I love them all and most of all I love knowing that you guys are reading!
Lilly
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