Go for the Gold, the Silver and the Bronze

It is incredibly heartwarming to see the strength of metallics surge to new heights this spring in both fashion and home decor.

We have been creating Christmas designs, whether in ornaments or jewelry, for nearly 30 years, working specifically in various metal substrates with spectacular gold, silver, bronze and our most popular, pewter finishes.

Gloria Duchin Tritone Star ornament with Swarovski Crystals!

This month, Traditional Home magazine, has an article "Go for the gold, and the silver and the bronze" that covers the influence of metallic finishes in home furnishings from textiles to armchairs. What is interesting about the article, besides the beautiful intrinsic elements of furniture design, is the comparison of the up and coming 2008 Summer Olympic Games (where gold, silver and bronze take on a very different meaning) to home decor.

Gold, Silver and Bronze home furnishings featured in Traditional Home magazine.

Great Design

Inspiration takes many forms, and no doubt, Architectural Design captures interior design at its best. This month’s (May) issue, The Great Design issue, addresses the question, “What makes for great design?”

The article details examples from architecture and interiors to automobiles and fashion. It is expansive and enlightening. I have been a long time fan of Elsa Peretti’s jewelry (as mentioned) and her classic gold bean necklace is a favorite.

Another favorite of mine is Bulgari jewelry, which exemplifies the beautiful architecture of jewelry with precious gemstones.

I am inspired by the artisan work, especially of jewelry designs, and use this inspiration when creating our holiday designs.

Inspirations of Color

I travelled to Manhattan last Wednesday and spent the day enjoying the city sights; shopping, dining and trend spotting. While walking down Madison and 5th, I noted some inspiring street fashions.

True to our reports, the fashion forward are wearing bright colors and accessorizing with designer bags with pink satin stripe accents. Yellow outerwear and camel short jackets were abundant, worn over black pants and leggings with flats. The 20-something group were all to be found in jersey print dresses.

Signature Stripe Bag by Coach

I also attended an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (www.moma.org) dedicated to the inspirations of color titled, Color Chart: Reinventing Color 1950-Today. The exhibit was quite interesting, discussing how color has evolved into a language used to express vision. The subject is very true to our business as we often use multicolor packaging to convey the particular feeling of a collection.

At the exhibit, I especially enjoyed the piece on the Long Island track homes built in the baby boom era. The piece showed how owners used color as a medium for personal expression to differentiate their home. The image is a clear example of how color has altered our historic landscape and become an integral part of day to day life.

The exhibit will be displayed until May 12, but if you do not have time to make it to the city before then, you can learn much about the history of color online.

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/colorchart/

Color Blocking

We've been doing color blocked ornament displays for years with one of our retailers, using multicolor packaging to separate our collections and provide eye-catching holiday ornament assortments.

According to the latest Star, Hollywood has finally caught on, and celebs are decked out in fanciful dresses, shoes, jewelry and handbags comprised of multi-colored stripes for a look that is both fun and flirty. The color-blocked creation reminds me of Andy Warhol pop art, using bright color and shape to divide the bodice from the skirt of a gown or add depth and dimension to jewelry.

I think that color blocking is a trend that we will see through the summer season, evolving into the fall with darker and bolder hues.