Given the tropics are heating up, we felt there couldn’t be a better time to share one of the trends our Vice President/Creative Director Cecil Adams identified for this year. He describes Tropicale as “a celebration of tropical flora and fauna, as well as a tribute to the bold color palette of the 1980’s.” He goes on to say, “Bright large-scale tropical prints have taken fabric and wall coverings by storm: a Tropical Storm! We are looking directly at these references to create complimentary lighting, accessories, and furnishings.” 

Tropical Influences Are Hot!

Cecil predicts this trend will push forward into 2021 and beyond. “Certainly you are seeing the chalky pastels and 80’s inspired geometrics and florals in fashion for Spring 2020,” he adds. “This cheerful reference to nature will transcend our current situation and beckon to brighter times ahead.”

Products he tapped for this style story include the Hibiscus Collection and the Lapidus Collection designed by Sasha Bikoff, and the Tropical Collection with its larger-than-life elephant-ear leaves. The Hibiscus Collection includes a drinks table, an accent table, a pendant, a wall sconce, and three sizes of chandeliers. We offer the Lapidus in a table lamp, a wall sconce, two sizes of pendants, and two chandeliers. And in our Tropical Collection are a floor lamp, a grande floor lamp, a semi-flush, a wall sconce, and a leaf wall sconce.

Seconding Cecil’s identification of this trend, Trish Lorenz opens her article “Tropical motifs inspire spring design trends” in the Financial Times with a quote by French artist Henri Rousseau, who said of his visits to Le Jardin des Plantes in Paris, “When I go into the glass houses and see the strange plants of exotic lands, it seems to me that I enter into a dream.” Lorenz added that tropical themes continue to influence contemporary designers today, citing Hermès, Raf Simons at Dior, and Marni as fashion houses whose designers were smitten with the trend this spring.

One of the collections Lorenz referenced is the Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2020 collection for which a lush environment was created by Maria Grazia Chiuri, who worked in collaboration with Coloco, a collective of botanists, gardeners, artists, and urban landscapers to bring it to life. The entire fashion show and a video about the making of the setting is on the collection page on the Dior website. You can see the backdrop in the above image of their show. 

Woven Wonders

Island style is not complete without a mention of rattan and bamboo, as both materials have been fixtures, pun intended, in tropical settings since artisans decided to harvest, cut, and wrap these natural fibers around frames to create home décor products. In the above “Currey in Context” video, which highlights the art of rattan and bamboo, materials are meticulously bent and shaped into some of our most recognizable light fixtures by our skilled craftsmen and women. We have a number of videos on our YouTube channel illustrating the artisanal aspects of our offerings.

In his opening salvo on this style story’s introduction page, Cecil wrote, “May you never be too busy to stop and breathe under a palm tree.” We hope everyone is taking some time to enjoy nature this summer.