For those of you who are unaware, I’m spending this week in Paris doing pattern and trend scouting. Home Autour du Monde is always on my itinerary as the Bensimon home collection is magical and curated to perfection. You can imagine my delight when I happened upon this window. The furniture is covered in cable knit with amazing wintery pom poms. So exciting to see the home version of this trend translated so seamlessly.
When’s the last time you sat down and wrote a letter that wasn’t a to-do list on a post-it note? These days it seems like the credit card signature is the only handwritten word that gets any attention. Interestingly, designers have been toying with handwritten treatments and scanned-in type for a while now, trying to contrast minimalist trends and appear more approachable for the recession-minded masses. The above notebook from The Home Port Collection is an interesting product example that carries the nostalgia of yesteryear, reminding us of simpler times when learning to read and write was the toughest part of the day. Paralleling this mix-media approach, this Parisian painting from the home magazine, Cote Maison reflects a similar objective, proving cursive is beautiful, adaptable and a playful solution to any adult room.
Today we’re featuring a walking tour of Le Marais in Paris by yours truly. I was recently asked to give creative recommendations and I realized it was time to share my thoughts on Pattern Pulp. Le Marais is filled with inspiration- from concept stores to stenciled graffiti to restaurant tile work, nearly every square foot is filled with eye candy. Every trend tracker, designer and food aficionado I know weaves through this neighborhood with fury, armed with a camera, a note pad and acute taste buds. Follow along, take the tour and let us know what you think!
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Over the past year, I’ve felt the urge to write about tigers on numerous occasions. Oddly though, it just didn’t feel right. Well, today’s the day this story finally gets threaded together, as a few trips to Barneys, the back streets of Paris and the Lower East Side have proven that tigers continue to play muse when it comes to graphic application- be it current or a throwback to the 80’s. The above murals are an inverse of each other, and an interesting parallel of color palettes. The composition to the left is a painting by Colleen Rochette and is on display at Barney’s Department store on Madison Avenue. The mural to the right is opposite L’as Du Falafel, a popular Falafel joint in the Marais in Paris.
This Diane Von Furstenburg dress puts the stripes and eyes of the tiger on full display, creating an abstract and artistic interpretation of the animal print. Merging camouflage trends with a motif repeat approach, Sandro, a retail favorite for women in Paris, is selling tiger-bedecked dresses and shirts this season. Magnificent 7 plays homage to vintage asian themes while this white tiger painting at The Cake Shop, a popular indie music venue on the Lower East Side, is a distinct reminder that no one’s letting go of the 80’s anytime soon.
A few weeks ago we went to Paris on a trending trip for one of our clients. Along the way, we shot imagery, left and right, as everything caught our eye! Few places are more inspirational during holiday season and we wanted to share a few of our favorite and most relevant window shots with you.
Creative Sleighs
The idea of the sleigh will never go away and Printemps has reinvented the idea this season with a few clever solutions. Lucky cats double as carousels, blending eastern and western themes with the use of color and costume. Contrasting the slick porcelain sleigh, needle point horse and chariots sit a few windows away, giving the concept of decoupage new meaning.
Pretty in Pink
Be it evil chucky babies or over sized matryoshka dolls, Parisians are pulling at feminine strings, combing pink palettes with textured backdrops. The babies and their necklaces can be found in the Marais, while the Russian dolls are part of a Chanel series at Printemps.
Paper Graphics
H&M is a little different in Europe. The merchandise is slightly less chaotic and the attention to detail is more on target. The overarching theme this season embraces the doll house, incorporating a multitude of printed box tops to achieve this effect. Taping less vivid palettes on the interior retail displays, 3D/2D illustrations cover the back walls, reminding us what Audrey Hepburn’s closet would look like if she chose to collaborate with H&M.
White Wonderland
Be it an orbiting headdress from Chanel or a glistening crown from Printemps, white is the safest and most glamorous color choice for the holiday season, particularly when paired with gold. Be it paper, branches, toule or pearl, both of these windows seem to have taken a page out of Ralph Lauren’s playbook.
Figurine Storytelling
Tugging at the customer’s inner child. these two windows remind us of Toy Story, from both the masculine and feminine perspective. Warrior play sets battle through mens merchandise while pink doll sets tumble though pink ribbon obstacle courses.
Rather than eat Thanksgiving leftovers or reminisce at high school reunions, we plowed through Paris this past week, documenting everything from street fashion to high-end homegoods. One reoccurring theme we found throughout every neighborhood was graphic-heavy tights. Regardless of age, district or outfit, women were sporting asymmetrical looks, transforming their legs into fierce accessories.
Applying this textured technique to Susan Woo’s Spring 2010 catalog, Geordie Wood‘s hand painted photos reveals the perfect balance between mixed media and fashion photography. Proving equally playful, these leopard print leggings for kids remind us why even the youngest Parisians are so chic. In predictably beautiful fashion, Garance Dore’s portrait of Tennessee Thomas, the drummer and vocalist for The Like, is sporting a gorgeous pair of Emilio Cavallini stockings. It wont be long before these bedecked leggings cross the Atlantic.
