Top Drawer, London SS17 ‘Spotted’ Section Stand SP55

If you are in London next week it would be fantastic to see you – I will be exhibiting at Top Drawer , Olympia from Sunday 15th – Tuesday 17th January in the Spotted section, stand SP55 – please drop by if you can! It is a trade only show and you can register here.

Highlights include BBC2’s Great Pottery Throw Down judge, Keith Brymer Jones who will be throwing pots to a live audience and keynote speakers include Leanne Manfredi from the V&A, Lucy Lines from John Lewis, Bethan Williams-James from Liberty, Sally Bendelow from notonthehighstreet.com and Rebecca Hossain from the Design Museum.

There is also an eco product trail, a GB product trail (which includes my stand, named Niki Fulton), trend tracking fashion shows and loads more too – so wear your trainers, you could notch up several miles!

Like many other exhibitors, I will be launching several new pieces, including the Eclipse print now available in blue plus a brand new collection of bow-ties , both linen and silk pocket squares plus scarves, both silk and wool.

Blue Eclipse Linen Tie

Fennel Tangle Linen Bow- Tie

Pink Fennel Silk Pocket Square

Eclipse Linen Pocket Square

…and if you are thinking it’s odd to have graphic prints (Eclipse) and floral prints (Fennel Tangle) in one collection , I have to confess that there are also stripes, abstract and painterly prints (and many colours) …some days I feel very bold and graphic and others lighter and painterly, don’t ask me why, it’s just the way I work so the ‘collection’ is pretty varied but then who wants to wear the same kind of look day in day out 😉

Notes From Premiere Vision, Paris

Having immersed myself in the vast textile trade show, Premiere Vision last week, I can report back on some key trends – but without images – photography is strictly forbidden (taking notes is not even allowed near the stands – stands being white pens with frustratingly high walls with a humid murmur leaking out from within, akin to a set from a Margaret Attwood novel) as the textiles and designs being sold are for 2017 collections and are therefore not even launched.

If colour trend forecasting leaves you cold and you put it on par with reading ones horoscope, you just need to attend a seminar at a trade fair and you will find a frenzied atmosphere, a room bursting at the seams with the worlds top decision makers in fashion and interiors – as we know colour can kill or cure a business so they need time to gear up their production to get their pieces out in time to feed our every whim.

Of course there are several trend ‘stories’ which gives a platform for a variety of colours to shine but they were mostly underpinned by a juicy, meaty red. Red, we are told is in gutsy opposition to our move towards a plant based diet (although I’m sure the food writers have this covered by giving us lots of other juicy reds from pomegranates to beetroots 😉) It’s quite an impertinent colour trend really as it celebrates  fake shiny food, artificial substances, think plastic sushi cartons, rubber cups, and bright synthetic palettes. The colours may seem a touch violent and frantic, but it works because only two or a max of three are used together.

The theme is really all about contrast, sweet and sour, rough with smooth, futuristic mashed with antique. It is designed to shock, invoke a reaction, look odd and unbalanced. In fact the stranger the better. Individualism is key. Wonky prevails.

As for patterns, designs are asymmetric, off balance, and shaky. Patterns are ‘placed’ rather than repeated and ‘colouring in’ is imperfect. Registration is ‘off’. Trusty old stripes are back (and so is gingham) but think huge, spectacular and sometimes flawed. No subtleties, no mush, just dynamism.

But then I look at my notepad and see I have written ‘epidermal pales’ and ‘angel skins’, ‘palpable paleness’ with ‘chalky finish’, ‘grating simplicity’ and ‘vapours of powdery, sage, ash and clover’ …mmm, perhaps not all red then…but then I did mention contrasts 😗

So like anything, frame your colour and design choices around the story of its creation, that’s what is important, it’s your individualism that gives your designs integrity and provenance – we all like a good story after all, and trend forecasters are brilliant at doing just that.

 

Christmas Shopping Event

Please join me and artists Michele Mathieson and Nikki Monaghan  for our 2013 Christmas Shopping Event.

We will be at Red Leaf Studio, 6 Church Wynd, Bo’ness, West Lothian, this Sunday 1st of December from 12 – 4:30pm.

There will be a selection of affordable paintings, prints, homewares and accessories, not to mention home baking, tea and coffee. If you are in the area, it would be great to see you!

‘Stags on Red Mountain’ by Nikki Monaghan