Scorch Talk

Well our adventure certainly continues…though the excitement of Milan has almost being overtaken by the chaos of the airports all being closed, and everyone trying to find other ways to get home. The four of us were supposed to be on a flight to Germany to visit Huelsta, so luckily the team at Huelsta had organised a coach, so we had wheels, which are pretty hard to come by in Europe right now!

SO we had a beautiful drive through Switzerland…and had just tackled our first real German sausage for lunch (this pic was included on a dare!!), then what happens next? The bus breaks down of course! 8 hours into our 12 hour drive we are then stranded on the side of the German autobahn, waiting to be rescued, and by some stroke of luck a bus driver on his way back from Rome with an empty bus takes pity on us and drives us to Cologne. So long story short – 14 hours and 3 buses later we arrived in the beautiful village of Stadtlohm.

We will now have a few days here with Huelsta (stay tuned to the next blog to see why the German really do it better!) And right now…as promised, Andrew Thornton Hick shares with you his top 6 design trends for 2010 from the iSaloni in Milan…enjoy!

1) “Teal-quoise” – in all shades from teal green to azure blue, warm aqua tones flooded the Milan design stage: from textured accent cushions to fully upholstered sofas and beds, high gloss lacquer finishes to vibrant floor rugs. This seasons colours are moving away from the purples, mauves and lilac tones so prevalent in 2009.  Petrol blues and muddy dark greens fringe this new palette.

2) Implied Organic – synthetic surface finishes implying natural materials from marble laminates, texturised timber veneers and digitally printed fabrics are being used to achieve natural warm tones.  Some using recycled materials like woven PET plastic, others using engraved wood-grain on lacquered surfaces.

3) Natures Wonder – natural is the new black. Raw finishes, matt waxed wood and even solid timbers made a strong return to form with an appreciation of individuality on otherwise mass produced pieces.

4) Folding – if you could bend it, it was so – pleated chair surrounds, bunching of loose covers and in particular loosely woven leather finishes gave a drapery feel and a floating elegance to upholstery pieces whilst also elegantly redressing classic designs into new guises.  Clever origami side tables were well resolved and opening / closing bed headboards were popular.

5) Shape-shifting – as budget cuts drive creative leaps of faith, manufacturers turned to applying their forte material into non traditional forms, for example chesterfield studded leather commonly seen on sofas being used as mirror frames, terracotta floor tiles morphed into dining table tops and designs inspired by movement or freeze-frames giving a fractured sense of form.

6) Colour blocking – bold vibrant tones centred on greens, blues and yellows offset the natural and heavily texturised new collections.  Hints of gold came through but many primaries juxtaposed to create vibrancy and impact.