Mish Formal and on Trend with Lidewij Edelkoort

Image Source: Lidewij Edelkoort is one of the world's most renowned trend forecasters.

Last night I decided to share this breakdown of the Li Edelkoort session I attended at the Design Indaba this year. Here is looking forward to forthcoming trends.

The seminar by Li Edelkoort was held at the Design Indaba. Li is one of the world’s foremost trend forecasters. She analyzes and discusses moods, influences, feelings and fashion and translates it into trends. This session provided a lot of inspiration and a sense of excitement for everyone who has a love for design and the esthetic.

One of the key trends for the year 2013 is finding what you define as BLISS, through exploration of spirituality, caring for others, baking bread, and knitting. We are gearing towards joint efforts and collaboration and thus distancing ourselves from individualism. According to Li we are in a phase of transition and this will be evident in our creative process in this time.

Li placed great emphasis on WHITE as the dominant colour for the period to come. White will be paired with various colour palettes to lighten or enhance a mood. The colour white, ties in with the theme of spirituality and is described by Li as being airy, light and optimistic.

A trend to look forward to in 2012 and possibly 2013 is the return of knitting, oversized jerseys and mohair yarn. This trend will also be found in contemporary furniture pieces with large knit cushioning.

We will also see a continuation of the theme she calls ‘living and thinking inside a box’. This will be seen in organizational items such as storage boxes, trays etc. which will be stacked together in the one colour to make it more appealing. Colour blocking and scarves are two highly fashionable trends that we will see a continuation of as well.

For the ladies the shirt and blouse will be overtaking the dress and T-shirt. An exciting trend that we will see in the year to come is the pencil design effect as seen in the picture. This is trend has already started to appear in t-shirt design, shirt and even shoe designs.

In sportswear florescence is derived when white and a splash of colour is coupled. White denims and the handkerchief will be reappearing as well.

Gardening will be at the forefront with colours such as white and green. As the inviting aroma of baking bread can be blissful, so can the idea of ‘playing house’. This theme evokes feelings of happiness, joy and can also be therapeutic and to some, spiritual. Playing house is a trend we will see rising. Mundane tasks will offer an escape. Li reveled in the colours, textures and the feelings that we experience when we enjoy freshly baked breads with butter.

As the future draws near, we become more technologically advanced and therefore Li suggests adding texture to our lives. We will find it in textured fabrics, layering of blankets, sheets and rustic furniture. A very wonderful trend we will observe is nomadic behavior. People who want to disconnect with urban living and go to the country side but not willing to give up the comforts of home. This trend is called glamping, which simply means glamorous camping.

Li concluded with a trend she named ‘folly’. This trend will be full of the colourful theatrical, embellished, over the top, super creative and amazing works. She says that people will start designing non functional objects purely for the joy and esthetics of it. As a point of interest, we will be seeing a lot of references to CATS and prints of our furry little friends.

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