Trending EMBELLISHMENTS at High Point Market

Once again I am totally blown away by the creativity of High Point Market. It was an intense and invigorating 2 days on the Design Bloggers Tour, visiting 17 showrooms with 10 other design bloggers — we contorted, angled, boomeranged, and even traded devices to shoot products and vignettes for our reports.  You can find all our links here.

Upon my return, I organized the 1000+ photos I snapped which helped me solidify the detail-focused design trends I want to share with you.  Amidst the beautiful furnishings I captured,  I couldn’t help but gush at the photos of all the people that I saw or approached me wearing trim saying “I wore it for you Trim Queen!” It’s just thrilling that y’all are #trimspotting so I put together this short video highlighting the fashionable creativity of our tribe that makes the business of furnishings so soulful and unique.

If I didn’t catch you embellished, tag me #trimspotting next time. Hmmm..perhaps this is a future series…inspired by the great NY Times’ Bill Cunningham of course.

So back to decor business…I remained at market an additional three days to cover 40+ more showrooms, do an interview and give a presentation.  And what do I have to show for it? TADA>> TRENDING EMBELLISHMENT HIGHLIGHTS! 

FRINGE + FEATHERS + FUR = SO FRINGEY

From suede, leather, ball chain, cotton, rayon, and even in performance yarns, FRINGE transforms these furnishings into conversation pieces.  It spans the style spectrum from artisanal to glam depending on the “shag quotient” and fabrication.

Fun facts: As a trimming, fringe is defined as a border of loose threads. In the UK, fringe also refers to hair bangs as I discovered on Instagram. Fringey means awesome, according to the Urban dictionary, which definitely applies to the pieces below.

Even more traditional fringe, bullion and brush, give these upholstered pieces a splash of glamor.

Fun fact: Bullion fringe is a twisted cord that is made into a fringe, zoom in to see.

The FEATHER trend from fashion has taken flight in decor.

Peacock, Ostrich, Turkey, Guinea, Hen and Rooster feathers inspire embellishment in every category of furnishings from case goods, soft goods, wall art and tabletop.  Real feathers employed are by products.

Fun fact: Most birds have six different types of feathers varying in size, and the softest being under the wing, all with different names.  Did you know America is the largest global supplier of turkey feathers?

Ok, let’s focus on the spectacular, natural beauty of these feathers.

Moving Fur-Forward

A new resource, to me, on the Design Bloggers Tour was Green Apple Home Style from Portugal.  What I found so unique was their combination of materials.  They mixed rabbit fur with ceramic, metal, mirror and leather.  Just check out that fur-lined tray with pompom handles, so couture!

Fun fact: The city of Porto, Portugal has been touted as a design powerhouse, a hotbed of creativity due to their tradition of craft and artisanship. “Made In Portugal” today connotes status and quality. There were six Portuguese companies exhibiting at High Point Market.

Click below to tour this showroom of bespoke details with João Cacelas, marketing director at Green Apple Home Style.  You’ll meet Rute Martins, owner and designer, in a future post about female entrepreneurs.

Following my nose to more fab fur friends, Eleanor Rigby Leather introduced the SNOOPY chair in luxury Alpaca with beautiful hand stitched detail. Do I spy a FRINGE necklace on Amy Flurry? #trimspotting! Kay Lambeth, showroom manger at Tomlinson is totally on trend with her fur-channeled sweater.

The technicolor, totally WOW, showroom of Modshop was a sensory party in color, pattern and texture. They mixed Mongolian fur with a lucite frame which is, in fact, MOD!  I’ll tell you more about this impressive company with showrooms in LA, Orange County, Dallas, NY, Miami,opening soon in Chicago and Melbourne, in a future post because I am so enamored. #StayTuned

Fun Fur Facts: Mongolian and Tibetan fur are both lambswool. Tibetan lambs’ silky fur can be 3-4 inches longer than Mongolian and both types of fur can be straightened if they start to frizz. The Platina Fox (Platina is my surname) with bluish-gray fur, is a domesticated version of the Silver Fox. News to me!

Fur is a luxury material and conjures glamor.

Of course, faux fur was on the scene too, since the real deal is not everyone’s flavor.

Fun Faux Fur Fact: Faux fur is a pile made with fibers that are processed, dyed, and cut to simulate a specific fur texture and color.

Hardware as Jewelry

It is often said that trimmings are the jewelry in the room when it comes to interior design.  But these hardware door pulls fall into the same embellishment category giving texture and dimension.  At the Bernhardt showroom, “artisanal details” was the theme. The Nightingale Credenza exemplifies, each petal is individually cast by lost wax process, then layered to make the flower, ornamental pull.  Also on cabinetry, the turks head knot is cast in metal and fronts the hair-on-hide Langley entertainment console.

Fun fact: The turks head knot takes its name from a notional resemblance to a Turkish turban. It describes a general family of knots that form a closed loop.  It is usually made from a twisted cord or tubular braid.

Bernhardt’s Upholstery Fashion Coordinator Regenia Payne gives us the insider scoop on how these pulls are made.  Click below.

Organic meets sophistication at Theodore Alexander. The Align cabinet caught my attention with a hand forged, jewelry-like chiselled bronze pull with curvaceous moulding.  It’s part of the Califolio Collection by Michael Berman. If you don’t know his work, you need to, it is defined by ‘restraint, quiet luxury and effortless comfort’.  See my previous post about his collection here.

Also at the Theodore Aexander showroom, New York interior designer Jamie Drake gave us an enthusiastic tour of his collection. His Blossom Collection has beautiful hand hewn details.

I have a lot of more details to share but I don’t want to wear out your attention, so stay tuned for my next installment of High Point Market highlights where I will bring you the motherload of trimmings fabrications and announce the recipient of my #TrimAlchemy Award (turning something ordinary into extraordinary using trimmings).  Can you guess who will win?  Until then, keep #trimspotting!

***This is a partially sponsored post however all observations and opinions are my own.