Design Daily: Top Trends at Maison & Objet 2013
Author:Sarah Virginia White‘Tis the season for design. Trade shows and festivals are seemingly a dime a dozen this time of year, and we’re going to stay on top of them to bring you our favorite finds. There were some incredible booths at Maison & Objet, which took place January 18-22 on the outskirts of Paris. Peep our highlighted trends, below, or check out the slideshow of our favorite product designs.
Animal Parts
The Nourritures Premieres exhibition, curated by Elizabeth Leriche, was a meat-free butcher shop. I’m obsessed (and slightly repulsed, but mostly obsessed) with the porcelain plates that look like they’re going to skitter across the table like oversized crabs. I also loved the animal-parts containers as tabletop storage and hanging flasks. Who wouldn‘t love a cork-stopped pig trotter for their next picnic? Parisian artist Nathalie Lété also debuted her boucherie collection, of soft dolls in the shape of meat, at the exhibition. And I loved how Tamara Kostianovsky recreated cuts of meat from cloth.
Color Blocking
The color trend popped, striped and ombréed it way across the exhibition space (those might not be verbs, but if color were a living thing, that’s how it would get around). The color-blocked stools from Finnish company Artek, beloved by modernists everywhere, were on fanciful display as the stool celebrated its 80th anniversary (expect special-edition versions to appear in celebration of the landmark anniversary). I also loved the Marco Sousa Santos W.02 chairs for Branca Lisboa, dipped halfway in rubber for added comfort. The new Ekobo dishware scored color-blocking points for its acid-pop palette, but also fits into another trend for the festival—natural materials (they’re made from bamboo).
Natural Materials
Maison & Objet selects three creatives for its Designer of the Year annual award. One of the winning teams, industrial design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby (from the UK) set up a great booth, with a spare marble bench that I will dream about. I love the traditional material reimagined as an uber-modern bench and dining table. Kubedesign took it a step further with its Keope cardboard furniture. And I don’t even know what people would say if they saw my favorite pick for this trend in my house (which could happen). Can you get any more natural than this stuffed-squirrel sconce by Alex Randall?
Check back next week when we bring you the best of the New York International Gift Fair (going on January 26 – 30).
