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LI EDELKOORT PREDICTS

Li Edelkoort, trend researcher and forecaster of TREND UNION, Paris has over the years had a huge impact in the world of design and particularly the fashion industry. So it was a rare chance to get up close and personal with the guru herself whilst on a brief trip down under on route from Japan where she had just curated and opened an exhibition entitled Post Fossil at Studio 2121 in Tokyo.
As well as giving us Colour and Trend presentation for SS11 and AW11/12, Li very much got into the psyche of where the world is heading in terms of global trends and marketing opportunities. We are all acutely aware of today’s global state of affairs and the similarities of cycles post the positive era of 1960’s and what subsequently happened in the 70’s and closer to home the effect the boom and excess of the 80’s had on the 90’s, so in terms of world events it is no surprise that after the growth of world economies during the last decade that there are some corrections. She believes we are in a moment where we are starting to reject the concept of fear after so much exposure to it over the last decade. Calmer times mean calmer fabrics and colours. The presentation for SS11 was all about just that, based on the concept of water, from oceans to streams, rivers to deltas, Spa’s to Scuba diving, blues will dominate the palettes and fabrics will reflect water in all its many forms. From washed and laundered, to rippled and iridescent.
The twenty-year cycle is one Li sees as pivotal stepping-stone to the next generations’ growth and learning. In fashion and textiles terms these are both highly sensitive to the times we are living in, like a mirror on our lives. The forecast is for the generation entering the workforce to be a lot more collective and organised and less individual and ego driven. This will be seen as a new order in society, working more as team but as individuals with a specific set of skills, so more abstract than how today’s teams are set up.
Key points to take on board:
•   The concept of the family and the collective
•   The new man will be less of a hero and sports star and be a lot more in touch with his feminine side, softer, natural, more real and approachable, less harsh and more tactile. His clothes will reflect this
•   The more virtual we become the more tactile we will want to be
•   We are moving into a period where we will have more of an intimate relationship with nature, with the land. In Australia we might see more of an appreciation of ancient Aboriginal culture. Animism will take hold
•   Renewed interest in still lives even in the home with a vase of flowers or bowl of fruit. Personalisation is the message
•   Childhood memories, emotions and nostalgia will become more and more important particularly as nothing seems to be old fashioned anymore and trends and looks are juxtaposed and eras are blurred
•   The return of Modernism with the 100 year anniversary of the first wave this is also a reaction to last decades excess
•   Abstraction where art and design get closer and closer
•   The Craft trend continues but now combined with an industrial edge for something newer and less folksy
•   The need for authenticity in design, food, lifestyle. The farms of the future will be how we live, so seasonal and regional will become important buzzwords, as is being honest.
Wonderful insights and principles to live and work by.
Be inspired!

www.trendunion.com
www.colourways.com.au