One of the great things about coming to High Point Market a day before its official opening is the distinct lack of a crowd. Sure, the showrooms are already writing orders, but in terms of grabbing a shuttle or finding a place to sit at the cafe on the first floor of IHFC, the world is your oyster. Of course, that's not all that's going on at High Point Market. Here's what's being heard around the IHFC halls and across campus.
Trends
A few product trends are already forming.
Green on the floor
In Sage or Mint, green is moving off furniture and accessories and onto the floor. In Surya, Capel, Loloi, Feizy and Momeni, the blues have shifted and started to turn green, though in a muted colorway.
The 80s are coming back
Momeni's new collaborative collection with Madcap Cottage and Loloi's collection with Rifle Paper Co. brought out the chinz style so popular in the 80s, but it's not your same chinz. In fact, one showroom representative referred to it as "updated Laura Ashley." The bold floral designs are there and the bright reds, blues and yellows pop, but something about this chinz looks more refined and less dated. Maybe it's the patterns or the lack of over-detail in the floral patterns, but like it or not, chinz is having a moment.
Traditional goes a little eclectic
No one would be surprised to know that a collection launched in collaboration with the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the U.S. built by Cornelious Vanderbuilt in Ashville, NC, has a traditional look, and to an extent, that's true. Both collections launched with Fine Furniture Design and Capel (Castelle also has an outdoor furniture collection) feel at home in traditional settings, but the styles have changed to reflect a more modern consumer's taste. While the casegoods may be made of solid wood, the carvings are less ornate and heavy and more simplified. One nightstand from Fine Furniture Design even has charging ports hidden.
The matchy-matchy look common with traditional furniture has also changed. Fine Furniture's Biltmore Collection includes pieces for living and dining rooms, but the pieces themselves don't perfectly match each other. Still, they have enough common details to look seamless but not dull.
Tariffs
In some showrooms, the tariff conversation started at Las Vegas Market, but now that the 10 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imported products has gone into effect, retailers have asked nearly every vendor for their plan, especially when the 25 percent increase happens on Jan. 1, 2019.
Most companies have said they will absorb the 10 percent tariff, but that won't be doable next year. The increase is just too much. Here, being nimble may work for some manufacturers who produce products in several countries, and some rug companies said they might move production away from Chinese factories and over to Vietnam or India.
The country not being considered to move to? The U.S.
In one IFHC showroom, a marketing person who'd just shown me the latest intros said what she wanted to know is what can people do to stop these tariffs. Should she call her representatives in Congress or find a petition online (I expect those exist somewhere)? Why hadn't any of these tariffs been approved by Congress? The whole thing seemed undemocratic to her.
The Trump administration enacted tariffs for reasons of "national security," which is handled by the executive branch and does not need congressional approval. New trade agreements like the USMC agreement will need to go through Congress, but not these tariffs.
So to answer her question of what can be done? Vote.
