Design stories are seldom tidy, single entities with colours and ideas in an easy to digest vacuum. The big macro themes: the economy, climate change, health, culture, don’t simply evaporate, instead they morph into different forms.

And so, we see with this issue. In Plant, we take ongoing discussions around the urgency of connecting to and working with nature alongside sci-fi like fears about the dangers of the plant world. We are aware of the irony here, as we pose the greatest threat to our surroundings, but this anxiety in itself is a fascinating facet of where we are now and plays to deeper existential fears about the future.

There are complex drivers behind our design direction Plain, not least growing inequality in the world, the inexorable rise of luxury markets and algorithms of envy encouraged by social media. We note the emerging desire for monolithic stone and wood from the wealthiest consumers, the sheer scale and size of which prohibit even the most enterprising mass market copyist.

An underlying theme sees both our stories play with scale. With Plant, this manifests as a subtly strange quality that belies traditional trend-takes on nature, instead looking to the fantastical, the improbable and the sheer otherworldly beauty of the natural world. With Plain, scale is used as a not-so-subtle indicator of wealth.

Also, in this issue 

– Features essays, and interviews exploring the drivers behind the 2024/25 forecast.

– 40 pages of design and colour and material direction and analysis.

– Global colour palettes and geographic variances for Europe, Middle East, Africa, North America, Latin America, Asia, India, Australia & New Zealand.

– Early adopters of our AW 2023/24 directions Heartbreaker and Find.

– Focus on the spring shows.

For 2024/25 forecasts, geographic focuses, in-depth seasonal CMF forecast, Design Impressions, editorial images and more, become a Colour Hive member today.