High Point Hot Buttons – A Review

After a few days of High Point Market coverage, I like to look back at what I saw and edit down to the Trend Essentials. Here is my take:

MODERN predominated as the most important style category, which came in three flavors:

• Elegant and polished with Art Deco or Jean Michel Frank references.
• Rough, Rustic and Architectural with a Prairie Western sensibility.
• Subtly Asian influenced.

SURFACE and CRAFT details added complexity and the all-important touch of hand to factory made products - also intended to make copies more difficult.

• Shagreen, leathers, linen and lacquer panels were incorporated into furniture pieces as accents or to wrap them in softness.
• Metals, lucite and plexi glass, onyx and other mineral stones expanded the Modern aesthetic .
• Concrete a new material addition, seen in small accent tables but also dining table tops for both indoor and outdoor use. To protect against hernias, they are kept hollow.

COLOR was bright indeed:

• Pink, orange, red, a deeper turquoise into teal, strong greens and blues, plus sunshine yellows and lots and lots of purple were omnipresent.
• Gray and black were dominant neutrals with browns taking a back seat this season.
• White resurging.
• In contrast, a more sophisticated palette is building with deep rich jewel tones. Mauve the trend's undisputed diva.

TEXTILE Designs were bold if patterned or largely flat textured if solid.

• Geometrics were most popular - appropriate for largely modern furniture, easy on the eyes and easy to use. Among them: fretwork, lattice and Greek key motifs but also tile renditions, ikats and middle Eastern ethnic patterns.
• Florals were seen less often, sometimes interpreting Chinese porcelain patterns.
• Linens, flat woven jerseys and light wools were popular choices as were short napped velvets, suedes, both faux and real and felted fabrications.

EXCLUSIVITY, UNIQUENESS were paramount

• In a market that caters to interior designers or sees more product designed by them.
• Demand also comes from young, educated and Internet savvy consumers who for the first time have access to furnishings for the home they find more exciting online than in stores.

INDIVIDUAL EYE STOPPERS

• More banquette seating.
• More tufting.
• More screens.
• More multifunctional "layered" coffee tables.
• More storage solutions.
• Ever larger sectionals.
• More swivel chairs.
• More variety in dining tables - narrow ovals a new favorite also function as desks.