Whose On First-Home or Fashion?

It’s kind of like the age old ‘chicken or the egg’ argument when it comes to color trends.  Which industry has more influence over the other.

I have to admit that the answer to this question was something I never really thought about until I began writing this blog.  I always felt I knew what I liked and that is what I liked.  I honestly was never really that concerned with whether I was wearing or had painted my bedroom the latest, greatest hue.

But once I began meeting more and more designers and talking with them about where they find their color inspirations I realized what an amazing synergy there is going on in the color palettes between the worlds of home, beauty and fashion design.

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Lavender showed up as a leading color trend in Pantone’s Spring 2009 Fashion Trend Report and as a rising color trend in Home as well- as seen here at the January 2009 Maison & Object Trade Fair in Paris

And while I don’t think that any particular trend(s) should direct you into changing your entire wardrobe or home, I do think that discovering how style makers find their inspirations may make a great clue into discovering your own.

So which one influences the other more?  Well I suppose I now have to say that answer is in the eye of the beholder.  I had always thought that fashion color trends typically had more influence over home color trends. I feel as if I have had more than one interior designer confirm that over the years.

I’ve written posts based on this belief- From The Runway to Pottery Barn a few years back was based on the very concept. It was hard to deny how many prints and color combos from their Spring catalog had been seen on the fashion runways the previous Fall.

When I interviewed Amy Lau about her recent Kip’s Bay Showhouse stairwell and the question came to the color of the wallpaper that she had chosen, she sited the most interesting mauve-y color that she was spotting in the windows of Manhattan chicest boutiques as having influenced her  choice.

But a chance encounter this week has me doing a little re-thinking of things.

Tuesday night I attended Designer Visions: 2009 Cinema Style at Soho Mews. It was a super fun evening packed to the seams with some incredibly talented people.  Soho Mews is a complex on West Broadway that most of us can only dream of living in…so it was quite exciting to get a peek inside. The theme of the night was for each designer to pick one of their favorite movies to use as their muse and create a space suited for modern day life.  In three almost identical duplex townhouses decorated to the hilt by Thom Filicia (for House Beautiful- “The Big Chill”), John Salandino (for Veranda- ‘The Girl With A Pearl Earring”) and Richard Mishaan (for Town and Country-Dinner At Eight”), the designer’s visions literally came to life.

First walk through I couldn’t help but notice how many different versions of Gray was being used.  When I mentioned it to Kate she said-’ Yeah, very cinematic”.  Hum, was that why?  It did make sense, very dramatic and moody.  I had always dreamed of living on the set of the Thin Man ( which by the way, would have probably been my muse)…was this what it would feel like?  I couldn’t help to think about what a huge color Gray has been in fashion over the last few seasons and how it looks to be a hot color yet again this coming Spring ( If you know me you know I often gauge a color trend by the very not-so-sophisticated method of what color polish Chanel is showing on their runways the season before- FYI for Spring 10 it’s a Dove Gray).

I figured that the Gray tones seen all over fashion these past few seasons perhaps had a bit of a hand in inspiring the palettes of  these rooms as well.  After all Gray has been hot in fashion, it only makes sense that it would explode onto the home scene- right?

Later in the night I had a very similar conversation about the heavy use of grays and complex neutrals with the cutest interior designer who had a much different take on who influences who. ‘Color trends always start in home and then move into fashion’, she exclaimed, ‘people always say it’s the other way around, but that they are wrong’.  Color is a much more serious decision when it comes to home, look at Gray for example.  Before a handful of years ago Gray wasn’t even considered a color.  It started to become used more and more in home interiors, at show houses, on the pages of magazines.  Now it’s a huge color in fashion- but it started in home.

She backed up her argument by saying that it is indeed fashion designers using these color trends first in their own homes, then into their Home Lines ( haven’t you noticed how it seems as if every fashion designer has their own line for home now- she asked.  I guess she is right you never do see it the other way around, do you…)  and then they bring these color to life on their runways.

Was she right?

I thought back to the minimalist look in home and fashion from the 1990’s, to simple neutral toned Calvin Klein sheaths and giant wood tables topped with gray and white table settings upon glossy white floors.  This is the time to me that Gray and it’s neutral cousins came into trend for me.  I remember back then Gray and Taupe and even White was considered very fashion forward after the opulent colors of the 1980’s.  So  which came first in this equations- did these colors hit modern homes or modern wardrobes first? Is my age showing?  Was Gray not considered a color until now? One thing is for sure, the minimalist’s palette and style that hit big in the 90’s is still having a strong influence over runways and homes today.

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When I mentioned this ‘ gray matter’ conversation to fellow blogger April added that perhaps the introduction of concrete as a designer touch in kitchens and baths that helped drive the trend of Gray in homes even stronger over the past years. Hum, good point…I suppose you could probably throw stainless steel in there somewhere, too.

And while I’m sure not clear as if the trend towards Grays truly did begin in home first-it’s no doubt that finding the perfect gray wall color was rarely a conversation you would be having with your neighborhood paint store a decade ago, let alone picking a gray toned polish for your manicure.

What ever the right answer is, my new party friend has made me aware that in the world of design and trends, it’s never quite an open and shut case- I go forward with my trendy mind and eyes a little more open.