At the 2018 “Ambiente Fair” the world’s leading 5 day consumer goods fair held annually in Frankfurt, Germany, trends reporter Michelle Lamb, describes trends revealed from over 4,400 exhibitors from 89 countries. Dining, living and giving categories communicated blue’s dominance while turning our sights toward up-and- coming purple and brown.

Denim

The blue family provided lots of trend inspiration. Denim-flavoured types proved to be among the most preferred. These familiar hues struck a casual tone in dinnerware, vases, table linens and even plastic storage bins. Relief patterns, reactive glazes, frayed edges and other types of texture, both tactile and visual, made many items in this colour feel even more approachable and saleable.

Petrol

Hues called Petrol were gaining even faster than turquoise. A number of deep-and-dark versions of this green-tinged blue appeared, especially in ceramics and textiles. So did mid-tone shades that covered even more product categories and had greater momentum. In spite of a complex character that’s not always considered a match for warm weather assortments, mid-tone Petrol became a spring collection favorite. It also did well as standalone colour in items like water bottles and table linens, and it looked striking in surface designs on dinnerware. It also teamed well with greens in just about everything.

Turquoise

Denim acted as a countertrend to the prevailing direction for the blue family: warmth. Turquoise may not have owned the largest share of the warm-blue story, yet it still proved itself noteworthy because it enjoyed more visibility in new-product palettes that it has in years. It was chosen by popular brands as a colour to be included in their collections lines of accessories like dinnerware, tumblers, coffee sets, and cushions.

Greens

Greens were the fairs second key colour story. Blues influence on the green family resulted in a cooler direction with lots of potential. Mid-tone shades of Eucalyptus had favored status, perhaps because they looked so great in the company of Petrol. When shown together which was often, Petrol and Eucalyptus, created a harmony between their colour families that is forecasted to resonate with consumers. These two hues will certainly contribute to one another’s success in the next two years.

There were other cool greens on hand too. Mint made a return that had wide-ranging prospects because of the diverse price points involved seen in accessories.

Purple

Even though other colour families couldn’t match the impact of blues and greens, there was still plenty of newness. More likely expressed as soft lavender or deep violet than an intense ultraviolet, purple appeared in solid colour applications more than in patterns. That caused designs using purple to really stand out.

Brown

Brown’s took off, showing up in two’s and threes within a single collection to reinforce their enhanced standing among neutrals. There were many brown types to choose from but taupe was not often one of them.- browns with red and yellow casts had more exposure. Some of the best examples were found in porcelain dinnerware and serving pieces.

Pink & Orange

We have been seeing continued strength in the soft pinks, but hints of bright pink revival could be seen in the background. Oranges also suggested an evolving role going forward, with more emphasis on a hot, bright shade that was drawn into the tropical designs. Get ready for more of these two bold colours in 2019.

Matte Metallics (& other metals)

Gold remained popular, especially as a metallic. Matte metallic finishes which were incoming fast at Ambiente, gave not only gold, but also copper, silver and trailing bronze something new to talk about.

Grey to Brown

Greys gave up share to all these browns easily, confirming that grey’s shift from trend to basic status is now complete. Expect to see much less grey at next year’s Ambiente Fair Feb 2019.