The concept of wellness will increasingly be incorporated into houseware and home designs, predicts consumer market analytics firm WGSN. Speaking at the 34th HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair and the 10th HKTDC Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair, WGSN Mindset trends specialist Charlie Clark looked at the design concepts, colours and macro directions that will define homeware collections for spring/summer 2020.
She explained how “sensorial wellness” – the concept of wellness embracing living as well as mental and physical health – is increasingly at the forefront of consumers’ minds and will become a theme in upcoming houseware designs.
According to Clark, there will be a greater emphasis on the way textures and colours are used to affect our mood, and how the arrangements of spaces and products can make us feel energised or calm.
Clark highlighted four design trends that have emerged out of this wellness theme, with corresponding zones set up at the Houseware Fair so that visitors could experience how these concepts can be applied to product designs.
The trends include “Primitive Future”, a tendency toward sensorial simplicity in a blend of high-tech and organic lifestyles; “Hyper Room”, underscoring a mysterious and sometimes moody sense of the future; “Playful Plush”, blending culture with global influences; and “Harmony Lab”, emphasising wellness in the relationship between humans and technology.
The fairs ran from April 20 to 23 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Some 2500 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions were featured at the fairs to showcase the latest houseware and home textiles collections to global buyers. The two four-day fairs welcomed close to 47,000 buyers from 121 countries and regions.