How to stay in the pink of fashion
Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, April 28, 2003
If you subscribe to the theory that trends surf back and forth between home furnishings and apparel, you'd better start looking at the fashion pages of local newspapers.
These publications are better harbingers of what's coming in consumerland than the glossy fashion magazines that thrive on the outrageous. Thus, they're more useful in predicting what consumers will buy this season to put on their bodies.
And don't forget television. You'll get a good look at the fashions of today and tomorrow on the myriad morning, noon and evening "magazine" shows.
In recent years, much of what these newspapers, TV shows and magazines showed have been directions derived from the home furnishings business. And this season definitely is no different. In fact, it could well be the season that points to the home as the place where fashion trends begin, basic beige and neutrals to the contrary.
Look, for example, at the explosion of pink and citrus shades like lime and orange. Orange especially was the headliner at Heimtextil three years ago. Of course, there were naysayers in the home arena that said the American consumer would not accept this strident color since, the mavens said, they are more conservative than their counterparts in Europe and elsewhere.
But since then, orange in one shade or another has become a fashion statement, and with other citrus shades is strong in the fashion world.
Pink is reverberating in the home arena now, marching on a parallel path with apparel business. This month's furniture market showcased a lot of pink, from hot to pale.
More folks in furnitureland need to look at the media carrying the messages of what's new and stimulating. It just might help them stimulate consumers to buy a new chair, sofa or rug.
