2nd Day at Maison & Objet - SALVATION!

What a difference a day makes!
Thanks to textiles, I feel whole again after my disappointments on opening day. Home textiles, the ready-made kind, i.e. bed, bath and table linens, are always an important category here. And while the September show is not textile-centric - that happens during the show's January when all of the top to-the-trade decorating houses show their latest and greatest - the ready-made categories being shown here now and aimed at a larger consumer market nevertheless send out their own trend signals that can be read quickly and easily.
Among them - there is glorious color - the deep berries, the vibrant ocean blues and, once again, an amazing range of the purple family from pale lavenders to royal purple all the way to dark, almost black aubergine.
Among those featuring purple are Designers Guild, Alexander Turpault, Boss and Yves Delorme. Deep saturated reds can be seen at Schlossberg, Sonia Rykiel and Olivier Desforges. In textiles, black is more often an accent, as are the grays, which also take second place to color.
The only contrarian to color was Ungaro for Carrara, which heaped mountains of white and silver.
Specifically, one of the most interesting - and newest - luxury bed and bath linen collections is by Escada Home, its first appearance at Maison & Objet following Heimtexil.
One sateen ensemble features amber-colored striping radiating out from the center of the duvet. It is a show stopper and a fresh modern approach to print. In addition, full color ensembles on shimmering sateen are offered in rich saturated pinks or deep ocean blues. They recall the dramatic images of Rothko paintings.
Opulent Jacquards complete this beautiful line in tone-on-tone combinations of natural and contrasting colors, such as intense coral combined with a golden beige or, on the cool side, a navy with gray combination.
The terry collection offered in 18 colors is rounded out with coordinated bathmats and bathrobes. Soft velour beach towels with the familiar fashion house logo complete the coherent bath concept.
Distribution of the Escada Home Collection worldwide will be through the luxury segment of department and specialty stores. Erbelle Spirit, a member of HK Holding Group is the licensee.
Overall, the favored design direction is for graphic modern - most often rendered in just one color, sometimes two. A superb example would be Diane Von Furstenberg's oversized scroll design seemingly inspired by wrought iron. Making a strong statement outlined in black shadowed in bright yellow all on white ground. Licensee Springs Global, which also showed at the recent Intertextil Shanghai fair, is seeking international distribution for this fashion icon.
Still in the graphics family, polka dots, such as at Descamp and Christian Fischbacher, are beginning to infiltrate home goods as they have apparel.
Florals are the second design category that's well represented. The most startling florals - full-blown roses on a giant scale - go to Sonia Rykiel, who masters the art of pitting bold colors against black.
More to come...