Sobriety
Heimtextil is a german fair that annually presents the newest trends in the textile business, which affects many other sectors as well, such as the automobile industry, interior and exterior design and with regard to technical textiles and technologies that are developed in that field we are talking about almost everything that we see and use – Textiles are everywhere!
The first cool design that I have found was this one.
And what word could describe this design better than “Sobriety” which is the actual trend name as it was presented on the Heimtextil end of 2010. To get a better understanding with regard to the textile sector, my Major, “Sobriety” utters like shown on this picture of fabric monsters.
Typical for textile trends is that they are split into themes that kind of forms this trend. The Trend Sobriety is split into 4 different themes.
Serenity, a theme for people that buy consciously and are very emotional in this process. Those people don’t just buy the products, they buy a certain feeling or story that comes with it and fits to their character.
New School, a theme and a perfect example for hypes that were famous in the past and still get the opportunity to work as a source of inspiration for new ones. New School is inspired by designs from the 1950’s and classic nature.
Classic Modernity, a theme describe through nostalgic and genuine products that create a certain style, especially in fashion industry.
Minimal luxury, a beautiful theme that represents the changed mindset of people. Nowadays luxury is about quality and minimalism. Simplistic designs are more wanted than ever.
The trend Sobriety shows characteristics that fits those of a long-term trend – Sustainability.
Words like simplistic, minimalist, genuine, emotion implicates a changed mind of the consumer. We are more conscious about buying products, and if not we are about to be, and what is most important – it’s not all about the product, it’s also about the story, the feeling, the emotion that is brought with it. (If you are interested in this new mindset that the society develops I recommend you the book “Dream Society”by Rolf Jensen)
Utility
This bag shown on the picture above is a product that represents the trend “Utility”.
As the name itself pretty much clears it up, this trend is about products being particularly functional, simple and for the consumers’ convenience.
The four themes that products of this trend are inspired by are:
Makeshift, simplicity and minimalism is everything. Total sustainable attitude.
Industrial Accents, no special gimmicks on the products, which are still successful at comforting the consumer.
Workwear, a theme that supports the manufacturing of handcrafted products that are tradition-oriented and bring certain feelings with them.
Utility Lux, a refined look of industrial and commercial designs.
This trend features a sustainable attitude, which is a commonality with the trend “Sobriety”. Minimalistic and simplicity are written in capital letters, while technology still plays a big role when it comes to functionality of the products. To reach a highly functional product, it CAN be necessary to use the state-of-art technology in this field.
That is why “Utility” also can be categorized to the long-term trend of “Technologization”.
Mix Mash
The picture of this “Concreta Chair” is perfectly describing the connection between the design and the trend name “Mix Mash”.
It is easy to see that products in this trend are “freshened up” in a very, let’s just say, spicy way. With the help of using many different colours, patterns and fabrics – a traditional product can be pimped to something that just stuns you, even if you just have the feeling that you would NEVER buy something like this. It definitely catches your eye.
The four themes here are:
Experimental, a theme that is best described with the words eccentric, dynamic and energetic. Experimental also because unusual production methods are used.
Cultural Hybrid, suggests artistic appearance through craftsmanship.
Technicraft, represents the fusion point of modernism and tradition, technology and craftsmanship.
Treasure and Trash, like Technicraft some sort of smelt point between the state of art technology and old methods.
Mix Mash, in my opinion, combines two trends. One of it is individualisation. Through such eccentric, mostly handcrafted design, products of this trend really push the opportunity of the individual to distinguish themselves from others.
And another trend that I see a connection with is “Globalisation”. Why? Mix Mash is all about using production methods from different countries and cultures in order to create something new, something groundbreaking.
Shifty-eyed 