Aug 9, 2019

Christmasworld emphasizes holiday trends

The shopping season countdown has begun. At Christmasworld 2019, four worlds were showcased that described the four major trend scenarios for the up-coming festive season: Tender Festivities, Essential Ceremonies, Sweet Traditions and Luminous Celebrations. 

What will be found in physical and online retail stores in a few weeks’ time? The retail trade will start showing the latest Christmas trends — with original accessories, unique Christmas tree baubles and ideas for sustainable decorations. Chrismasworld shares information on what’s been ordered and trends in color and types of merchandise.

Sustainability

“The fat-ball bird feeder, the key holder and the reindeer figures — all products in wood,” said Benjamin Wolffs, marketing director at Designimdorf. In general, Wolffs observed, there is a growing customer base for high-quality and sustainably produced products. “We are also finding that wholesalers and retailers are increasingly interested in manufacture and materials. They want to know how the wood is treated, what oils we use, for instance,” he said. 

Quality

Quality interests buyers. “Products, from a craftsmanship point of view, involve more work, are ones that are in demand. We get a clear sense of that,” said Christian Schmidt, managing director at Gift Company. “For instance, our labour-intensive vases have been getting plenty of good orders. Being able to apply enamel over such a large surface needs a huge amount of skill and that’s what makes these vases special.” 

“Younger customers, in particular, no longer decorated their homes in traditional fashion, but more individualistically, according to taste and mood,” emphasized Donner-Raedts, owner of Vondels.

Colors

As far as colors are concerned, Helmut Schmidt, managing director of Weihnachtsland, can see no overall trend. “While we offer countless different colors — over 100 with the Oberfränkische Glas brand — Christmas remains, in my view, a relatively conservative business. Red and gold are the classics and so are natural colors such as greens and browns,” he noted. 

Red is also an important color at Inge’s Christmas Decor. The “Red and Glorious” principle, for instance, has been doing really well for the company. “In previous years it has been rather a purist approach that people wanted, but this recent trend is for more opulence and weight. In terms of the details,characterized by reds, blues and gold; accented with black, pinks and purples,” mentioned Birgi Müller-Blech, designer. “To go with it are floral patterns, jewels and an exotic bird, that has been selling really well.” 

Food

In America, food motifs have been doing well, including cheese and cooking pans, as have all sorts and kinds of animals and birds. According to Müller-Blech, things related to the real and calm theme have received lots of orders: “It’s a quiet, peaceful range, with rock grey, snow white and warm beige tones, combined with stripes.” 

Animals

Christmas decorations are unthinkable without animals and this, too, is born out by the figures at Vondels. “Nature is a major trend, without a shadow of a doubt; greens are modern, together with any of the animals that inhabit the natural world,” shared Donner-Raedts of Vondels. “So, our bestsellers are the lobster, tiger’s head, unicorn cake and our funky lips.” In her view, the upcoming festivities will be dominated by animal prints. 

Christmasworld has scheduled next year’s event for Jan. 24-28, 2020, in Frankfurt, Germany. For more information, visit www.christmasworld.messefrankfurt.com.