Interior design trends come and go at light speed. But some have the legs for an endurance run — specifically, those that draw on the past and speak to the future. We asked three practiced — and prescient — Chicago designers to identify trends that meet these criteria. The trends they can’t get enough of this season are looking like sure-fire classics with an irresistibly fresh feel.
Jessica Lagrange, Jessica Lagrange Interiors
Not-your-grandmother’s embroidery:
Humans decorated their clothing and textiles with decorative hand stitching for centuries, but sewing machines made embroidery common and cliche. But new digital technology that marries novel stitching techniques with large-scale manufacturing has made embroidery more complex, colorful and daring than ever, and brought it back in a big way. Lines that have bold new approaches to this art form include Coral & Tusk, which blends illustration, machine embroidery and hand finishing; Holland & Sherry, with applique work that has an architectural edge; and Ankasa, where the artisans renowned for their hand-embroidered creations for couturiers (think Oscar, Carolina and Jean-Paul) have translated it into versions for interior textiles.
Patrizio Fradiani, Studio F design
Ombre graduates to a bold new world:
In French or Italian, ombrare literally means to shade or shadow and refers to colors that are used to shade into each other from light to dark, or vice versa. But now the technique has gone from subtle and sometimes fusty to assertive and futuristic in the hands of designers like Ron Arad with his bold glider sofa for Moroso and the Dieudonne family, who own Carpet Sign in Holland and use ombre in their new Cameleon carpet collection. Boratti’s Capisoli fabric at Designers Guild takes shading to a new level by using bold, modern hues and layering it with a traditional floral pattern.
Karen Herold, Studio K Creative
Indigo, a hue for all moods:
Artisans in India and Japan pioneered the use of this hue, which has been well-liked for centuries but is about to be everywhere right now thanks to its versatility. It seems ancient and modern at the same time, or can be masculine or feminine. And it’s never feels sterile or perfect, which plays to the whole handmade movement. That’s why it works so well in a range of hand-dyed applications. Lost & Found in Los Angeles has Tensira indigo cushion covers and Kevin O’Brien’s indigo floor cushion, while L’Avia Home has a collection of textiles and wall coverings made by master craftsman Habibou Coulibaly in Burkina Faso.
