The Swedish home textile chain Hemtex recently relaunched after a total makeover. Market share had decreased and target group analysis said costumers want trends, fashion and emotional values in home textile. So the company hired ad agency åkestam.holst to create their new trendy expression. Now when the aim is to be at the forefront of interior trends, which expression do you choose?

| photograper: Philip Karlberg |

Somewhat familiar…Fresh white Scandinavian, 50′s retro, graphic prints, frames, typography, letters as decor, industrial lamp, bookstacks, etcetera, etcetera…They nailed it! Great job. Though very predictable, very “right” in a Swedish interior trend point of view. It’s like medicine for decor anxiety! Buy this and you will get it all right. No Pippi Longstocking-thinking here huh! (She would follow no trends, she’d create them). Speaking of her, and Swedishness, and decor anxiety, I was happy to find this nice pic in the latest issue of Swedish decor mag Allt i hemmet.

…in home decor and especially on walls, in definitely marching in. I almost dare promise colour explosion will be one of the major trend themes for AW 2010. French Marie Claire Maison gives many inspiring examples. Strong, cheerful and energizing colours in kitchens…

…and pastels with extra spice in bedrooms as well as living rooms.

As you probably already know, no one is drinking coffee in mugs anymore. It’s all about petite and beautiful vintage coffee cups. This phenomena goes along with the 1950′s/60´s housewife trend. For today, a non-negligible amount of young urban people has brought sweet new life to chores and duties our parents thought were overdue. The trend is aimed at the American housewives from the 50s. A bit harsh, a bit glamourous, but mostly back-to-the-bone. The new born interest in home-made soup and bread, 7 kinds of cookies, spectacular cupcakes and in exchangig tips on how best to manage antler salt has not necessarily anything to do with a backlash; i.e. a desire to never work and just wear a floury apron and be devoted to housework. Inside of the trend there is indeed an element of admiration of each other’s vintage china and puffy vintage skirts, but there’s also a high awareness and a play with stereotypes. It’s way aside from the heroine chic fashion, quite the opposite: with the hair come wavy on rollers and with the tilting pleated skirt, you can eat as much frosting as you wish. It is permissive, and that’s probably one key as to why the trend is so easily absorbed today. The appealing part of the housewife in modern times seems altogether to go back to the genuine: to make real food, cooked from scratch. To practice the tricks and that grandma taught us. To stand firmly on our roots when the wind wines. As long as you know how to grow and harvest potatoes you’ll survive difficult times.

So, even though not all of us will be making 7 sweet pastries for the coffee rope on Sunday, we cant’t escape reality. For this, we need flowered tablecloths and china from the first half of the 1900s. Here’s a lovely vintage coffee cup example:

This weekend the Formex Fair and Exhibition is taking place in Stockholm. It is the largest trade fair for Nordic interior design with around 24,000 national and international professional visitors.

This autumn’s trend theme, Vintage Travel, is presented as a fashionable journey back to yesteryear. It wants to take visitors back to a more glamorous Europe, more specifically by means of a respectably-furnished train carriage with plush-covered seats, an elegant lamp in the window, own compartment and a glorious, old-fashioned restaurant car with white linens and waiters. A lot like taking the train in an old Hitchcock movie, they say (!).

Anyway, the train has a destination and or at least some kind of a route. Quite a few directions are given: It will go back to places comme il faut in the 1940s and 50s: like Venice, Rimini, the French Riviera, or ski resorts such as Wengen and St. Moritz and we will escape into literature appropriate to the era. Maps and globes are essentials. The colour scale is green (olive green tones) with orange, tomato red and rust as contrasts along with a muted yellow. Those coulours go well with the former mentioned Pantone AW2009 palette, don’t they?

On the fashion side, they want us to picture the fashions of the 1940s and 50s with hats, gloves, boas and fur collars and inspiration is derived from remakes of classics such as “Brideshead Revisited” and “Changeling“. Uniforms, not only military, but also those of the chauffeur, station master, and coach driver provide inspiration. The style is dressed and strict and medals, sashes, emblems and embroidery are important.

In interior decorating, surroundings are cosy, with upholstered furniture, rugs and lots of textiles. A great deal of intricate detail can be found, as well as a mixture of vintage and contemporary. People read books, according to the Formex autumn trend theme! We jot notes in elegant notebooks and on small correspondence cards, and from time to time we may even write a letter by hand.

To close the report, Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins in Changeling, and Matthew Goode as Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revistited. Photos from imdb.com. Now who doesn’t want to jump on this good-old fashion train?

Each season, Pantone surveys the designers of New York Fashion Week to identify the 10 most directional colours. Above is the colour-palette for the upcoming season.

In the fashion colour report of fall 2009, Leatrice Eiseman, the Exec. Dir. of Pantone Color Institute, states that the fall 2009 palette is more unique and thoughtful than the typical autumnal hues of years past. This season, designers recognize the desire for fundamental basics that speak to current economic conditions.

Personally, I like both this season’s colours and their names. A favourite is Burnt Sienna, the reminiscent of an autumn sunset, that has a warm tone and is spicy in an earthy way. Same with Honey Yellow, it’s warm and down-to-earth yet golden and expressive. The Creme brûlée, a grayed-down beige colour, has a gorgeous light caramel feel.

According to the report, Iron serves as the “new black”. It’s strong yet understated, neither gray nor brown, and coordinates well with all colours in the palette. Very welcome, autumn colours!