Top 5 Xmas Trends
Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts and Dec, 4/1/2011 2:07:48 AM
Gifts & Decorative Accessories caught up with a wide range of Christmas experts - retailers and a tradeshow visual merchandiser as well as vendors large and small - for their take on the top trends for Christmas 2011.
Retro
Owl shows the bird, nature and eco-friendly trends. $21. Arcadia Home. 212.366.1836. www.arcadiahomeinc.com |
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Retro Santa tin tray. 18". One Hundred 80 Degrees. 888.400.4180. www.onehundred80degrees.com |
Glam Lodge by Silvestri combines glitz and nature trends. Demdaco. 888.336.3226 www.demdaco.com |
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Mentioned by virtually everyone in some form, the top trend is definitely Retro. Nostalgia for Christmas is not new, but what's hot is not vaguely Victorian, but hearkening back to eras shoppers may actually remember.
"Look for ornaments that have the look and feel of the 1950s - mixing old glam with new glam - [...] brings back fond memories for baby-boomers," says Katrina Stevenson, marketing manager of DEMDACO. David Dewey of One Hundred 80 Degrees says his company's 1950s retro line was a big hit at the winter shows. And Midwest-CBK's Kelly Corcoran, design trend manager, cites nostalgia and vintage as separate trends, so important is this dynamic to their customer base. Miss Cayce's Christmas Store is designing a theme around retro reindeer and vintage toys.
Alden Clanahan of Dallas Market Center pushes the retro feel a decade or two further, saying "Bold, psychedelic, graphic and Op Art looks in chartreuses, fuchsias, tangerines and turquoises are de rigueur. [...] Ornaments depicting '60s and '70s iconic touchstones like smiley faces, peace signs, rubber duckies, Magic 8 Balls, Volkswagen buses and Checker cabs are everywhere."
Peace
Clanahan's retro icons introduces the next trend: Peace. While ‘peace on earth' is a timeless seasonal sentiment, these days customers are going for peace signs over doves. "Peace is always in style and at Christmas time even more so," Dawn Kikel of Arcadia Home says. Kathy Harrison and Becky McCraney of Miss Cayce's see the peace theme particularly appealing to tweens.
Nature
Nature is on trend in materials as well as themes; Midwest cites natural and rustic materials, animal motifs and elements like wood, greenery and berries, and Miss Cayce's concurs. Clanahan feels the trend is influenced by the organic and ecofriendly trends, and suggests decorating a boxwood or cedar topiary as an alternative to a traditional tree, using realistic ornaments of flowers, butterflies, hummingbirds and dragonflies or even fruits and veggies! Kikel says eco-friendly and reusable Christmas decor is selling well, and birds are especially popular.
White
Long Johns collection illustrates the Whimsical/Storybook trend. Midwest-CBK. 507.263.4261. www.mwcbk.com |
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Purse ornament illustrates the glam trend. Bronner's Christmas Wonderland. 989.652.9935. www.bronners.com |
White is in this season, often paired with pale turquoise. Clanahan sees it on "Large scale icicles, huge Lucite ornaments, laser-cut graphic patterned garlands on gigantic white flocked Christmas trees" and Miss Cayce's saw the flocking on wreaths and garlands as well. Of course, white is far from the only color on 2011's Christmas palette: pink and purple, ‘wine' colors, garden grays and greens with a touch of lavender, and red and apple green were also named.
Sugarplums
Both retailers we spoke to, Miss Cayce's and Bronner's Christmas Wonderland (also a wholesaler), cited gingerbread as a trend direction. Anne Koehler, Bronner's salesroom merchandise manager, is seeing gingerbread used with cupcake, peppermint and other candy, while Clanahan sees modern treats like Coke cans, pizza slices, hot dogs, cheeseburger sliders, French fries, frosted cupcakes, Chinese carry-out containers and bags of peanuts particularly appealing to teens.
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