Autumn / Winter 2024—25 Colour, Fashion & Textiles 2024 Home & Lifestyle

We are pleased to announce a live seminar with Philip Fimmano, our first on the West Coast since the pandemic! 

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

1:30 PM - 4:30 PM PDT

Venue

Co-Lab 1 / Gap Inc.

2 Folsom Street

San Francisco CA 94105

PROGRAM

1:00 Doors open

1:30 SWADDLING: A/W 2024–25 Colour & Knitwear Forecast, presented live by Philip Fimmano

2:00 HIBERNATION: A/W 2024–25 Fashion & Textile Forecast, audiovisual by Li Edelkoort

2:35 short break

2:50 THE GREAT DISRUPTION: 2024 Lifestyle, Home & Interiors, presented live by Philip Fimmano

3:50 2023 MILAN REPORT, presented live by Philip Fimmano

4:20 Q&A

4:30 Approximate End

Tickets

$330 General Admission
$250 Current Trend Union Subscribers

email philip@edelkoort.com to receive the client discount code

SWADDLING
A/W 2024–25 Colour & Knitwear Forecast 

Living through the most devastating period since the Second World War is taking its toll and spinning society out of control, leaving deep scars of conflict and mental problems of confusion, especially amongst the youngest generations. The human condition is under impending nuclear war in Europe, a civil war in America and two major conflicts in Asia. The northern half of the planet seems ready to explode, and with it comes a recession, an energy crisis and a pandemic that is still looming around. On top of it all is global warming that creates floods, fires and draughts and threatens to eradicate the human race.

Therefore, design and fashion react and swing in protection mode, wanting to take care and heal, swaddling their collectors, holding tight and caring for people of all ages. Swaddling is usually used to give infants the feeling of the safety they crave after leaving the protective warmth of the womb. The effects of such hermetic wrapping are visible in the overwhelming return of knitwear as a category of its own; no longer just an afterthought, it is a head-to-toe, day-in-day-out, morning-to-evening phenomenon to reckon with. Hibernating while rolled up in sweaters, cardigans and blankets helps the body combat emotional stress and slow down the metabolism in order to use less energy of all kinds. Conditioning us as a survival mechanism.

HIBERNATION: Saving Essential Energies
A/W 2024–25 Fashion & Textile Forecast

The fear of an escalating war and inflation, coupled with generalised social unrest and threatening political conflict, influences people to invent alternative ways to survive winters by keeping temperatures lower, wearing clothing in layers, embracing knitwear and adopting blankets at home. We cook one-pan meals to save gas, we huddle together as a group to keep warm and we cuddle up with loved ones to stay cosy. We swaddle our newborns and imitate the gesture for our own wellness at any age. We learn how to underdress, to double dress, and we protect ourselves with heavier outer garments. Scarves and gloves are back, as are knitted socks, caps, cowls and balaclavas. Worn with fur-lined slippers and boots. Even with clement winter weather, the preparations are laborious and bring in a new vision of fashions that are solution-driven but also innovative and of another, more absolute order.

These multiple, protective behaviour patterns resemble the way some animals get ready to hibernate and that is why this forecasting volume is dedicated to, and inspired by, the various ways of enduring winter, by lowering thermostats, digging in processes, nesting and burrowing, and the transformations of colour and camouflage. Whereas some mammals go into a deep sleep for most of the winter, others find solace in drying, freezing, shivering or even the inactive state of torpor. Hoarding and gathering together are other survivalist instincts. These variations are manifold and fascinating as fashion fantasies! We people have a lot to learn from the solutions animals and even plants and trees have found to beat the weather at its own game, surviving and thriving almost because of its severeness.    

THE GREAT DISRUPTION: 2024 Lifestyle, Home & Interiors

At the cusp of a new era, a contemporary generation will lead the way towards a more conscious future. Several key lifestyles emerge, proving that change for good is not only possible but is well on its way. Beyond the pandemic, people are dramatically modifying their lives, and many will quit their jobs and leave their urban lives behind, opting for a better existence, connected via technology while growing closer to nature. For some, life might look rather introspective, allowing them to focus on time and what matters most. Others will celebrate diversity and our human connections, getting together to bond, learn and share experiences. Design and architecture take note of this radical disruption, seeking emotional shapes, organic materials, engaging colours and tactile finishes to redesign our private and public spaces, furniture, storage and accessories. Interiors, craft, fashion and materials unite to announce one holistic message: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS. 

2023 MILAN REPORT

This inspiring visual presentation from April’s Salone del Mobile features Trend Union’s renowned in-house photography and connects the information to current and future tendencies: from key materials such as wood, glass and stone to the importance of matte finishes, circular materials, versatile lighting, crafted clays and woven textiles. Joy comes through as an important emotion to foster and express at a time when abstraction and narration meet. Water is our most precious resource, capable of embodying energy and wellness. The impact of AI is also felt, inspiring a new age in customised, democratic design for the creative consumer.

Philip Fimmano is a trend analyst and consultant, contributing to Trend Union’s forecasting books, magazines and strategic studies for international companies in fashion, textiles, interiors and lifestyle. In 2011, Fimmano co-founded Talking Textiles with Li Edelkoort; an ongoing initiative to promote awareness and innovation in textiles through touring exhibitions, a trend publication, a design prize and free educational programmes – including New York Textile Month, a citywide festival celebrating textile creativity each September. He is the co-author of the design book A Labour of Love (Lecturis, 2020) and the co-founder of the World Hope Forum, a new platform for creative community building. Fimmano is the mentor of Polimoda's fashion forecasting masters and textile masters in Florence, and he is on the Board of Directors for the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe. Fimmano is also on the Creative Council for all of Gap Inc.’s brands, advising the group on innovation and sustainable practice.

@philipfimmano @worldhopeforum @newyorktextilemonth @edelkoort.editions