By Cynthia Maxwell, Trend Forecasting
I remember doing a men’s trend forecasting report in 2013. The importance of blue was strong as well as an increase in denim fabrications across clothing and accessory categories. Denim was so strong that Nissan covered the seats of one of their concept cars with it, which debuted at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. It was very cool.
Trends that cross several to many categories is not uncommon. Last month I talked about areas the plant-based trend has impacted and the surprise was Lego’s! Yes, these little building blocks will soon be made from plants. Here are a few more exciting trends that cross multiple categories.
Rose Gold
Some of us in the fashion industry are over this color, as it has spanned the globe of categories for years now. I believe it started in fashion accessories like watches. Remember everyone wearing the Michael Kors rose gold watch? For over two years now rose gold has been the better option to Millennial pink hair color. Rose gold is still available when you purchase an iPhone or Apple watch as well. In fact, when you open the Apple iPhone 8 website page that is the color that pops up. This signifies that Rose Gold is still one of the huge fashion trends today, especially when Lexus built the LF-1 Limitless, painted Rose Gold, and revealed it at the North American International Auto Show. I’m curious if this color has even helped one of oldest known wines, the Rose’, increase in popularity as it has over the last few years?
8-bit Vibes
In 2013 we started seeing 8-bit prints/graphics on fashion runways. To this day these pixelated graphics continue to be one of the most popular fashion trends appearing in clothing and accessories with no signs of letting up until at least Spring 19. Gaming is huge, so it’s no wonder this retro trend has increased across some interesting categories including the fashion industry. W Hotels created a retro pixelated game, ‘Belle the Bear’ that can be played online to win prizes, like vacations and SPG loyalty program points. One of my recent finds, and a fav as well, is 8-bit hair graphics. That’s right, pixelated images are bleached in sections before applying multi colored dyes on top. It’s so creative! But Wait! What about 8-bit edible sushi? Yes, it’s for real. Open Meals showed us at SXSW this year, a “Pixel Food Printer” that 3D prints edible sushi. Still working on the taste of this technology driven nosh, I for one hope this food trend is here to stay.
Related: Top Flavor Trends of 2018
Love your Body, Love the Earth
At present, niche health and wellness brands are becoming mainstream and gaining ground as competitors in the food, health, beauty, clothing and home décor categories.
I reported last year that our huge Millennial demographic is searching for the deeper meaning of pretty much everything. This shift drives businesses to jump on the body, mind, earth bandwagon more and more every day-especially in the sustainability category. Woo-Woo is becoming more acceptable.
One of the biggest trends in this category for 2018 is grain free dog food that is just as healthy as yours. Healthy, I mean really healthy, dog food brands are more accessible than ever ranging from a simple grain free and fresh delivered meals to raw organic options. We love our fur babies and dog food brands are bringing out new products allowing us to provide them with nutritional meals every day!
I can’t wait for the next trend that is so big we will experience it in many key categories. Take a look around, I’m sure you can see a few already!
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