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Report: New York Home Textiles Show and the Extracts Show

Color, color -- and the knit look.

by Ellie Joos (April 18, 2005)

IN LIVING COLOR best describes the overall look at the New York Home Textiles Show. Whether it was brightly colored hues, lively pastels, or rich darker shades, color was outstanding in bedding, towels and bath mats, table coverings, pillows, wall hangings, and other textile products. After several seasons of red and its derivatives, blues and greens are looking especially pretty.

Patterns.

Just as in apparel, influences are coming from all over the globe in gorgeous tapestry-inspired fabrics, exotic silks, tweed surfaces, "shaggy" textures,and embossed velvet surfaces. Embroidery and hand beading, and gold-threaded outlines look especially good in embellished fabrics for decorative pillows. Lace, so important in apparel, is also strong for window treatments. Many vendors, however, reported a slower show than expected citing reasons such as gas and energy costs and weak retail sales.

Prints.

Tapping into the calming and simplistic designs of the East, Sleeping Buddha exhibited for the first time and reported attracting a lot of attention with their hand-block-printed silk and color pillows and coverlets in gorgeous colors of turquoise, pink, saffron, and marigold.

Toile prints also looked good in the collection of pastoral scenes from Peacock Alley and looked newer than traditional toiles in three colorways � printing the pattern on a contrasting ground color. Especially pretty was the summer rose print on a yellow ground.

Other print directions at the show include bold poppy patterns on duvets and pillows, monotone botanical prints, pop-art-inspired dots and geometrics, and global inspired paisley.

I also noticed great looking knitted throws and pillows, which no doubt took their cue from the handcraft market.

THE EXTRACTS SHOW

This show, which coincides with the Home Textiles show in the Spring, features a growing number of products for the $12+ billion spa and personal care market. This industry is exploding as more and more hair and nail salons now become day spas and consumers are also looking for products for at-home treatments � although as with the Home Textiles show, the attendance was not as good as expected according to a number of the vendors. They did say that in the fall, the show will coincide with the Hotel and Motel show and they expect that to be much better.

Holistic remedies featuring organic products are on the rise with olive oil based products getting stronger. The anti-oxidant benefits of tomatoes have been harnessed into soaps and lotions. I was also told that Lily of the Valley fragrance is also coming back due to the interest in all things vintage.

Several products that were especially interesting included JellyBath for the bath or foot soaks. This product retains heat in the bath four times longer and relaxes, detoxifies, and reducing swelling. Green Daisy, a relatively new company, displayed "wuvits"� natural grain-filled therapy pillows that are heated in the microwave to sooth tired muscles. Sleepy-Head Fred, a cozy cuddly sleepy bear face is guaranteed to help children sleep better. Lipmints was another "cool" new product. This mint-scented lip gloss in six translucent tints was developed by make-up artist and retailer Gail Sagel in response to her customers dissatisfaction with most glosses.

Miss Oops, from Easy Industries LLC, a mother and daughter team, is a line of several products that provide solutions to everyday problems. Their Rescue Sponge rubs off deodorant marks, makeup mishaps, and other "oopsies" from clothing without getting the fabric wet. A perfect example of a product and company that was created out of a noticeable need in the market.

Note: Ellie is president of Ellie Joos & Associates, a marketing, pr, and product development firm. To read Ellie's reports on other industry-related shows, click on the titles in the right-hand column. To contact Ellie call 908-459-9269 or email eleapple@hotmail.com.

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