4 S/S 2018 Design Trends from Design Shanghai

Design Shanghai is called Asia’s premier design event.  This prestigious international design event showcases the best design brands and galleries from around the world, while bringing attention to China’s quickly growing design community.  Design Shanghai recently completed its fifth highly successful show, which ran from March 14-17, 2018.  Let us take a look at some of the design trends from the 2018 Design Shanghai exhibit.

Environmentally Conscious Design

Eco friendly design is still in the spotlight in 2018.  One of the highlighted brands in the Contemporary category is Swedish maker BOLON, who unveiled their new collaborative project in their return to Design Shanghai. BOLON, founded in 1949, develops innovative flooring. The world’s first production of zero formaldehyde, 100% phthalate free plasticizer is in all of their products. This is their new collaboration with Jean Nouvel Design. The handmade, industrial flooring product that is a woven vinyl created from excess textiles.

The freedom is yours to use the flooring to play with colour and light, and engage the windows of the space,” said Nouvel. “It is not a decorative carpet, but an architectural floor.

Modernized Classics

What’s old is new again, but with a twist.  Designers have taken staples of many homes and given them a modern makeover.  Italian porcelain makers, Villari, have left the porcelain figures and ornate floral designs behind and introduced a younger, more vibrant porcelain home goods line.  Bright colors and charming, almost cartoonish, designs give housewares and decorative porcelain pieces a fresh look.

Similarly, Chinese designers at the show have reimagined the classic Asian tea tradition.  Defront introduced the sleek Hei Tea Set that integrates the parts of a traditional tea ceremony into a portable set.

Tea is our culture, but younger generations find the tradition old-fashioned and complicated,” said its designers Jingzi Pan and Danyang Fu. “It is no longer enough to design something that simply looks beautiful; it must also operate in an efficient way.

Rose Gold Finish

Rose gold has been trendy in jewelry and accessories for some time, and the chic finish has arrived in the world of interior design.  For 2018, expect to see more decorative home accents with a rose gold finish.  Gallery ALL had several mesmerizing collectible art pieces on display in the Collectible Design hall, such as the piece of art pictured above.  The design gallery showcases contemporary limited edition furniture and design objects, and has two locations (Los Angeles and Beijing).  The rose gold piece is a soothing departure from harsher gold and silver finishes, and creates a lovely decorative piece.

One of the featured designers in the kitchen and bathroom design hall is CRISTINA. This Italian based rubinetterie has created beautiful, innovative bathroom and kitchen solutions since 1949. Many of the items on display, from electronic taps to  automatic systems for bath and shower drainage, had a chic rose gold finish, like the one pictured above.

Space Saving Designs

In Asia, land can be a scarce commodity in crowded city environments.  A smaller space does not meet one has to sacrifice luxury or style.  Designers have become very creative and resourceful at creating flexible spaces and designs that can accommodate various needs.  Frank Chou Design Studio showed several pieces that meld Eastern and Western aesthetics to create unique pieces.

Every design piece by Frank Chou Design Studio can express the pursuit of freedom of design and needs of macro-design thinking in order to achieve a balance among the business, manufacturing, marketing and aesthetic considerations.

Design Shanghai has been such a success that organizers have announced the expansion of this international event.  Design China Beijing will open September 20th and run until September 23rd during Beijing Design Week.  This forward looking event is sure to bring a peek of what to expect in fall and winter design, just as Design Shanghai offered a glimpse of the spring/summer design forecast.