Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The eco-movement is predicted to have a major influence on housewares colour combinations over the next 18 months.
Three of the eight new palettes put together by Lee Eiseman, executive director of The Pantone Color Institute and world-renowned trend forecaster, focus on earth tones.
“Eco-awareness is a resounding theme that retailers should pay attention to in the coming year,” she says. “These palettes play on the theme of preserving the environment, and can’t help but influence the larger marketplace.”
The first, Honesty, is casual and rustic. The natural wood tones of neutral taupes and tans are paired with vegetable dye hues of soft pink and blue-green, off-white and white. Accent colours will be deeper reds and corals.
The Breathe Easy palette has its foundation in blue-green, but adds new interest by combining aqua and purple-blue with olive and avocado, accented with pure white.
“There’s no question that today green continues to be a major force in the marketplace because it’s so pervasively attached to the eco-movement,” says Eiseman. “As the symbolic colour of the movement, it will remain a major source of consumer motivation in every industry from housewares to architecture.”
The third eco-palette, Reveries, communicates a glamorous and sensual feeling, featuring soft aquas and blues with strong grape undertones, and lavender paired with russet and pink.
Says Eiseman: “The blue colour family communicates eco-awareness, gives consumers a very positive feeling and is a strong direction for the future.”
The remaining palettes are: Wine Country, combining wine, yellow-green and soft blue; Wanderings, pairing murky browns, olive oil, Dijon mustard and grey with bright red, rosé wine, blues and brass metallics; Discerning Taste, an exotic blend of orchid and fuchsia with white, black, browns and metallics; Solar Energy, using orange and yellow with grey, soft blue-greens and fuchsia; and Japanese-inspired Animate, which superimposes yellow-green, purples and reds on pale backgrounds.
Lee Eiseman presented her forecasts earlier this year at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago.
