Photo courtesy of Pantone

Pantone has just declared Radiant Orchid their color of the year for 2014.  When they make this statement, you will see companies follow suit, clamoring to launch their own designs including this hot color. Industry watchers jump on this intelligence, and love to rally around it.

When it comes to picking up on trends and creating a focus, trade shows are sometimes the best was to get a sense of what is coming next. At the International Textiles Market Association Showtime Show, there will not be a shortage of textiles, and I am hoping to get more insights to other dominant color stories for 2014. As the largest US-based home textiles show, the bi annual High Point-based event attracts fabric buyers of all kinds, from retailers to interior designers, furniture companies, designers of hotels, planes, yachts and more. I have been invited to cover the show, and I thank the ITMA for including me.  I will see prints, wovens, leathers and all sorts of intriguing new designs from the likes of Robert Allen, Duralee, P Kaufman, Moore and Giles, Glen Raven/Sunbrella, Libeco and more.  As you know, I love attending markets to discover new and exciting design. I am eager to explore  a new market that occurs at the same location as the furniture market. Plus, I get to visit with fellow bloggers the Madcap Cottage duo Jason Oliver Nixon and John Loecke, Nest by Tamara's Tamara Matthews-Stephenson, Rhonda Carman of All the Best, and Traci Zeller.

Here is what I am hoping to find at the show:

- The next big pattern style for prints. Ikats and chevrons? Yes, we know, they are everywhere. What's coming next? 

- Big bold florals  are still on the rise in popularity for their undeniable happy factor. What adaptations will there be to this beloved motif?

- What textural treatment will be hot? Viscose has been a great addition to cotton for added softness, what blend will be really interesting in the future?

- What color combinations will have a newness to them?

- The artist's hand is ever-present at the luxury end of textiles, with brushstroke prints, watercolor washes and Shibori influences. Will it be prevalent across a variety of companies designs?

- Art Deco is coming back. Is now the time?

- I have been seeing beautiful metallics done in attractive ways, will they be adapted into wovens too?

- Embroidery is being created in an array of interesting styles in China and India,  from finely woven details to thicker threads. Is innovation still occurring in this medium?

Here are some interesting examples of textiles from companies I will be visiting with on the trip:

Photo courtesy of Duralee

Aquadisiac, from the Enchanted Collection

Photo courtesy of Duralee

Shay in Saffron by John Robshaw for Duralee

Laura Kirar's Iowa in Onyx

Winstead in Green

Photo courtesy of Robert Allen

Busy Stripes a woven by Robert Allen

Sophia Range, a woven from Robert Allen

Carmane embroidered fabric from Robert Allen mixes graphic pattern and large scale embroidery

 Photo courtesy of Moore and Giles

Teal is now a mainstream color, and in leather it is striking, Moore and Giles has this beautiful, clear shade in leather.