The Minotti Alison Iroko outdoor range.
Managing director of ECC Mike Thornburn on design trends for 2014.
My design philosophy has always been to go with what I like. If you walk into the ECC showroom you see straight away that it is an Aladdin's cave of design classics, minimalist Italian style, playful Dutch creativity and industrial design, all sitting side by side. We are fortunate to
represent the leading designer brands in the world such as Flos, Artemide, Minotti, Moooi and Tom Dixon and their annual releases at the Milan Furniture Fair always excite me.
I predict in furniture a 1950s/60s trend but with more padded comfort than the original era. We are seeing honesty in materials like wood in natural oiled finishes, or the rawness of concrete.
Lighting is all about LED. Advancements in LED technology have led to designs that would have been impossible five years ago. The minute diode size has enabled them to be secreted in frames, candle tips and wire-like pendants.
My favourite on-trend colour has to be the vibrant green of the Minotti Alison Iroko outdoor range. Other shades of green also feature in current collections along with orange, blue, purple and red. Fabric is moving towards a more textured weave, often in two shades, like moss green and white.
