A holiday trend report
What is it about trends and trend forecasting that instills a sort of awe and mystery? What is it about them that brings on anxiety, and almost fear. Why is it that we even need trends?
Philip Van Dusen of Verhaal Brand Design says that trends aren’t seeing into the future. Philip specializes in graphic design, brand strategy, innovation, consumer insights, trends and marketing. “Trends are movements in design that have gained enough traction and enough usage to be considered trending. Trends aren’t always brand new, and in fact, nothing much has not been done before”. In fact, you can choose to use a trend to get direction, or you could even choose to ignore it and do what you feel is best suited to the directional choices you want to go with your business.
Why trends? If you own a retail or wholesale store, or even if you are a manufacturer, trends are important because they provide a road map of where the public is going in their purchasing direction. Trends help solidify the look of your store because the trend boards you develop for each trend story direct each vignette and section of your store. If you keep to these story boards, you will have a store that has cohesive displays, and give customers a harmonious feel that tells them, they can be confident of their purchases because you know what you are doing. “Matchy-matchy” items help customers make multiple purchases because it’s been thought out for them already. They don’t have to think about what accessories go with the vase that they bought for the flowers that go in them. That means more profit!
The Christmas season is the largest retail holiday. This is a make-or-break time for many retailers; so much thought is given and preparation is put into this holiday. This includes setting or “forecasting” trends to start manufacturing, or in the case of retailers, buying and stocking up on items to sell.
As I mentioned though, there is a certain uneasiness about figuring out the trends. Many just avoid it and buy what they feel their market calls for. The danger of that is these purchases become stale or dated. Trends help keep your store contemporary and with the times.
Before you go into a tailspin over-thinking what the trends are, here are a few simple pointers about Christmas trends:
As in all trends, there will always be the classics. There is always a segment of the population that holds on to tradition. So, there will always be red, green and white Christmas looks; just as there will always be a Snowy Christmas, a natural Christmas or a glitzy Christmas. If you go by these rules, you would have come up with at least three trends to help you purchase and create displays in your store. It’s that simple. Many “expert trend forecasters” simply change the names around and add or edit certain elements to fit the new name, and they can charge big bucks for that service.
For example: a red and white Christmas can be called “Candy Cane Lane”. Change that scheme to include red berries and it can become a “Holly Berry Lane”.
If you are unsure of your purchases, try sticking with the classics and create exciting titles for your themes. This is also a great way to incorporate the remaining products from last year into your “new” themes.
The following are some trends that you can expect to see coming into play for the 2021 holiday season:
Home and Grown
Homemade and nature takes center stage in this most prevalent of trends. DIY is the key here and rustic is the main theme. Browns and earthy tones command the sustainability movement and textural botanical elements will be the key to this decorating technique. Wood, feathers, pine cones and even dried fruit are included elements
Hitomi Gilliam AIFD says of this trend, “I would like to see more hand-crafted straw and wood ornaments
I would like to see more encouragement for DIY heirloom memory pieces to be created to pass on down the generations.
Bring more real cranberry garlands… strung okras…. more creative with dried botanicals….
When the season is over, the decorations can be kept if durable, but enjoy for its temporariness to be thrown safe into the compost to regenerate soil health.”
This trend is crafty and rustic but also has the added element of botanicals. Berries and dried fruit, vines and twigs add to the mix, giving it the color punch of Christmas reds and greens.
Jim Del Prince AIFD says the theme should definitively be “A locally grown Christmas with completely natural colors including greens, gold, muted cranberry, mustard, gray-green.”
To take it up a notch, turn rustic into contemporary with cool silver elements or add a blush or gold.
Tim Farrell AIFD named his take on this trend as Muted Woodlands
He sees in this, “Natural elements with toned down variations of greens and browns
Bleached foliage, sage colored greenery, pods and cones and light accents of rich fabric ribbons in similar colors.”
Susie Person AIFD says “Ribbon, ribbon, and more ribbon!”
Check out some cool burlap and natural look from companies like Harvest Imports.
Seasons in Color
On the other side of the Christmas trend spectrum is a deep dark and lush gathering of elements. Here colors are heavy and rich. Surprisingly, red, blue, and purple make an appearance as the accents to black, charcoal gray and deep blues.
You’ll also find that the purple/blue peacock mix that was revealed by Trendbook has moved into a more sophisticated blending. This look is also incorporating decorations into spaces as the theme, and blending all decorations into a monochromatic masterpiece.
Accents of burgundy deepen the collection and brushes of gold and platinum add richness. Pop in some crystal and glass to add bling.
This is a Christmas classic mix with a surprise element says Susie Person AIFD. “Ribbon use is increasing. All kinds of colors, textures, and patterns! It initiates ideas from Country, farmhouse, coastal, glitzy, and more. Popular colors are pastels in pinks, blues, aquas, platinum’s, golds and silvers. Purple will be a big color this year.”
On the other side of the Monochrome trend story spectrum, you could go with all reds for a classic and traditional take.
Donald Yim AIFD sees the perpetual classic Christmas in reds, and all of its shades, as timeless and always in trend. In fresh flowers, the range is wide, and if incorporating non-floral elements, you get to use up all your inventory and your designs will truly sparkle!
Sub-sections help create transitional areas of your vignettes and let the story lines in your store flow.
Winter White and Creamy
Another Christmas classic is the winter white theme. Here, the twist comes from the addition of shades of white and cream. The beauty of it, is it can go either clean and simple or organic
Jim Del Prince AIFD lists some decorative elements you see being used in this collection: “Collected pine cones from local sources, dried flowers that are locally-grown and sourced using earth-friendly techniques. Dried citrus. At the end of the holiday, decorations are composted or discarded with the thought they will decompose and do not take up storage space.”
Whites and creams are a great neutral background to pops of color. Browns and even some burnished berries create the perfect rustic winter look while golds (like in rose gold) and even some corals and satin blush pinks, give it a contemporary modern vibe.
Vintage looking ceramics, retro ornaments, and mercury glass can be easily incorporated into this trend story if you have leftovers from last year’s inventory.
Tim Farrell AIFD Likens this to his trend story First Frost
Here he includes “assorted flowers and foliage in greens and whites, including berries and faux ice elements. Silver and pale blue/green metallic ornaments and ribbon additions add sparkle and pop.”
Donald Yim AIFD gives us an organic take on this trend with fresh flowers in white and creams. To add an unexpected twist, add tropical floral accents in the same color spectrum for a contemporary urban vibe. Stems of natural cotton and dried bunny tail grass continue the snow effect in an organic way.
Bright and Shiny
Playful, colorful and happy, this is the childhood dream of Christmas. It is a recurring classic theme and every year this trend manifests in different forms. The cheerful mix changes in the percentage of dominant accent colors and elemental items, but it essentially remains multicolored Christmas. Pink shades paired with bright acid greens are still popular. Blues are, of course, the trending color, so you will see that in all the mixes
This year’s theme seems to be going in the direction of retro again, and especially on the vintage side. It will most likely hover around Mid Century Modern, as that is a recurring theme evolving from the interior design and furniture industry trendsetters.
Vintage Ceramic Christmas Trees seem to be the rage, at least among thrift shoppers and Christmas memorabilia hunters.
This is a trend story where you can incorporate a lot of elements. So, if you have a large inventory from last year, this is the vignette where you can merge all of the leftovers. If they don’t work as a single trend story, try splitting them into a few color and style story sub sections.
By following some of the guidelines laid out in this article, hopefully you see that trend forecasting is not hard, and you don’t need to pay for expensive experts to find your way through the guessing game. By doing a little research on the web and social media, and setting your trend boards, you will be able to not only have a plan on how to get your store looking great for the lucrative holiday season, you will also have great direction acquiring your product lines! Lastly, remember that the classics don’t ever go away. They just evolve a little. Trust your instincts and knowledge of your local and internet consumer market and you will do great!
Have a great Christmas holiday season!
