Trends in design and colour

Inclusive

The word ‘inclusive’ is everywhere. Everyone should be included and be able to participate! No matter what their age, skin colour, gender or challenge is. This is also reflected in marketing, which now actively portrays a wider variety of people.

Tech

The tech industry has not been standing still either. New Zealand start-up Rocos partnered with Boston Dynamics to deploy a fleet of dog-like robots called Spot, to herd sheep and conduct other agricultural tasks. Or what about ambient learning? A natural way of learning and experiencing things from your home environment through a combination of everyday objects and technology.

A good example of this kind of collaboration is how the Jane Goodall Institute and Crate&Kids (US home furnishing brand Crate&Barrel’s children’s label) created a product line that inspires children to get to know more about animals in their natural surroundings. The goal being to pull children back into the ‘analogue’ world and away from screens and displays.

Carbon footprint

‘Reduce your carbon footprint’ is the slogan of 2021. Not just for business, but for people in general. There is even mention of a so-called carbon tax for private individuals in the Netherlands. Companies that manage to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible are being praised, and a range of innovations to go even further on this front will continue to present themselves in the near future.

Materials

The ‘human touch’ in fabrics will be translated into materials that act like a second layer of skin. Fishnet textures and thinly knitted creations immediately come to mind. And all in a variety of natural hues, combining materials like leather, cotton, linen and thin wools. Keeping fashion accessible and comfortable.

Colours

‘Start with a clean slate’ seems to be the creed for the next phase of the pandemic. White can be seen as this year’s colour, along with a multitude of soothing matt colours and pastels to create a calm zone. But together with a brightly coloured item to express positivity, to say ‘we can!’ And a little glitter and glamour too, to make sure you are seen now that you are out and about again, even if it is just down to a beach.

Prints

70s prints will be here to stay a little longer, as they are cheerful and apply to this day and age. Tie-dye shapes, flowers, cubes, stripes, tight coloured lines and so many more inspirations from that era on natural materials are a common sight.

The pandemic caused some shipping problems, making some materials temporarily unavailable, so many designers started to re-use clothing items. Resulting in a mixture of materials and prints in their designs. A solution, perhaps, to permanently reduce that carbon footprint?