Trend Forecasting: What we’ll be seeing in 2020 and beyond

Colour was such a large element of the forecast this year. Although it is always covered, we have been gravitating towards neutral, softer pallets for many years now. Accent colours are sage greens, light blues and blush pinks and peaches. What we might start to see moving forward though are bolder colours, such as Koi red, mustards, deep sea greens, purples and indigos. What goes around eventually comes back around and we’re particularly keen on some of the beautiful, colourful carpets on offer at the moment.

Different trends are emerging which don’t share too much common ground in the way of materiality and texture. Some explore new technologies, some are glossy and patent in appearance while others celebrate authentic, natural materials, such as lava stone and shearling. From a timber, or timber-look flooring perspective, jindai cedar was highlighted, a beautiful Japanese variety. Within the Australian market, this would be similar in tone to some ash, beech or eucalyptus varieties.

Each year, this theme reinvents itself, ramps up and becomes more and more relevant to our lives, particularly within consumer culture and design. There is some anxiety surrounding what, at an individual level, can be done to counter this crisis. And, if our individual attempt at leading a more sustainable life is even helping in the grander scheme of things. Collectively, if we each do our bit, it will make a difference. From a design perspective, this can mean buying quality over quantity and products that are built to last. It can also focus on newly imagined materials and products constructed from recycled content. Products such as Recycle by Dunlop are leading the way, constructing their foam underlay from 90% recycled content (old foam sent back from flooring retailers).

Working across disciplines, or multi-disciplinary design has been happening for some time, but here we start to see, in particular, a reinterpretation of traditional crafts in contemporary settings. Consider this: traditional weaving/ sculpting or carving reimagined in new modern ways, collaborations between artist and maker or crafts-person and producer. This is a very grass-roots style trend emerging and tends to be colourful, modern and highly-patterned. One of our Mirage rugs comes to mind.

The future is bright as consumers demand more from their purchases. They will seek deeper meaning from the products they buy. Sustainability, socially conscious, quality or even spirituality. What does this mean for the everyday man on the street? It means they want something beautiful but loaded with meaning, whether that be from an environmental perspective or otherwise.