Craft workers and product designers are rapidly becoming the new elite of the art world. Master craftspeople, working with basic materials like wood, natural resin, wax, stone, metal, glass, leather, wool, paper or clay, create practical objects, as opposed to functionless art. Practicality and ease of manufacture is seen to outweigh the need for refined […]
This exhibition should have niche appeal – at least to ‘anoraks’ of the fashion world. Textile designers, embroiderers, costume curators, quilters and enthusiasts of handcrafted fabrics will certainly appreciate the work that has gone into creating the pieces on show. Historians and sociologists may well be fascinated by the backgrounds of the unintentional abstract artists. […]
Adults have become frozen in time, wishing to remain childlike for as long as possible. Women are putting off having children until later in life, if at all. Playful pets have become substitute children for many. Dogs have become a part of the family – people may share their bed with their dog, feed them […]
The second issue of Visuology Magazine is now available to order for delivery in 5-12 days. Be first to see 148 pages of sustainable summer style, with product picks encompassing fashion, textiles, art, craft, accessories, furniture and lifestyle designs. Discover inspirational new trend ideas and colour combos. Visuology offers a uniquely independent blend of trend forecasting […]
Oscar Medley-Whitfield creates pottery from Thames mud. Based beside the river in SE1, he calls his creations Wharfeware. There are many problems associated with using mud rather than clay. The drying out and tempering process makes the mud crack and it can’t be modelled and manipulated like clay. Oscar has created his own casting process, […]
As climate chaos becomes a more regular feature of our lives, designers will increasingly employ icy effects and frosty finishes in their work. The candle holder above, made from natural rock crystal, will come in handy during power outages caused by freak storm conditions. The glittery, paillette-covered bag by Mawi will cast sparkles of light onto snow […]
Peter Breugel’s Hunters In The Snow, painted around 1565, depicts people skating on frozen lakes at a time that is thought to mark the onset of the Little Ice Age. The River Thames froze on numerous occasions during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The frosty monarch had her own reputation for being an Ice […]
Pearls have fascinated for centuries and the popularity of the exhibition at the V&A reflects the universality of their appeal. Pearls are the inspiration for one of our product trends for Autumn/Winter 2014-15. In Elizabethan times, pearls were both a symbol of virginity and of fertility. The latest pearl embellished products capture this curious dichotomy […]
The celebrity bubble will burst when extreme poverty forces people to realise that shopping is not a religion and celebrities are not gods. Social classes will become unable to communicate with each other. A disenfranchised underclass will rise up against the growing international and celebrity elite it seeks to emulate. The coming revolution will see people […]
The video below shows a small snippet from our latest presentation. A previous Curious Trends report highlighted some of the bee and honeycomb inspired product designs spotted during 2011. Sarah Burton’s Alexander McQueen collection for Spring/Summer 2013 also reflected the beekeeping theme. Bees and honeycomb designs were common features of Elizabethan embroidery. They are now appearing […]