Material Directions: AW 2022/23

June 01, 2022

Home

Home explores ideas around one of the most seismic changes to our lives post pandemic.

The roll-out of vaccines and life out of lockdown should in theory trigger an eagerness to get back to normality. Yet, in some crucial ways, there remains a reluctance to return to pre-Covid patterns and behaviours, most notably in the practice of commuting and office life. With extended periods of time spent at home, the break from these patterns feels embedded and will be a habit that is hard to break.

What has made this transition possible however is technology. So, at its heart, this is a digital story that charts the growth of the home office and focuses on how tech and domesticity have become ever closer connected.

Home was first published in MIX Magazine issue 63, and the following material and surface directions are explored in more detail in our AW 2022/23 Global CMF Forecast.

Soft Focus Gradient

The sophisticated refinement of computer-generated gradients inform pattern directions in Home.

Celo.1’s mirror explores the absence of light through laminating glass. Its black-hole effect is created by concentric coloured gradients radiating from the centre. This controlled haze of gradating colour is also explored in textiles with digitally printed soft focus patterns.

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Opal Gloss

Surfaces look to the fragile silhouettes and opalescent film of soap bubbles as a direction for finish. Working across disciplines, metals, glass and hard plastics present with a slight opalescence. Ying Gao’s illusory glass headpiece appears bubblelike in its fluid form and reflected lustre as it reacts to the chromatic spectrum of its environment.

Project focus

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Soft Shroud

After prolonged time spent at home, protective environments will continue to be desirable, this is being expressed through materials that envelop and shroud.

Reflected in the gossamer-like ‘Wrapped Trees’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude; billowing fabrics shroud and veil, playing with transparency and volume.

Negating tight and forceful methods of wrapping, focus is on an approach that’s gentle and cocooning. There is also room for more illusory outcomes as weightless, synthetic fabrics appear render-like or almost liquified when their draped forms shimmer as seen in Massimo Meo’s nylon fabric and nya nordiska’s Alva FR fabric.

Work with Material and Colour?

Building on the design directions first published in MIX Magazine, our bi-annual Global CMF Forecast features concepts and colour and material palettes illustrated with more than 250 fully credited images.

Both publications are included in Colour Hive membership. Members can access our forecasts including the Trend Influences, Global CMF forecast, Geographic Focus supplements and Design Impressions for SS 2023 and the full forecast for AW 2023/24 is out now.

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Click below to find out how Colour Hive membership can work for you or sign up for an introduction and a sample of Colour Hive membership features.

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