All posts tagged 2014

High Arctic is a contemporary exhibition come art installation held at the Nation Maritime Museum, London, set to challenge and question our relationship with the world around us.

 “It’s 2100 AD and the Arctic landscape we once took for granted has changed forever. How will we choose to remember our Arctic past? Is it possible to travel somewhere that no longer exists? Set in one of many possible futures High Arctic conveys the scale, beauty and fragility of our unique Arctic environment through an immersive installation which fills the entire 820m² gallery space. Intended to be a future vision of a receding world, it encourages us to question our relationship with the world around us.”

In collaboration with United Visual Artists (UVA), this exhibition is a truely immersive environment which provokes visitors to really feel their surroundings. With the help of ultraviolet torches, moving graphics, lights and even soundscapes, a complete contrast to a traditional exhibition is noted making this installation a must-see.

This forward thinking focus on the arctic supports MPDClick’s initial trend observations for the autumn/winter 13/14 season of which looks to iconic explorers and the great outdoors.

Held until 13 January 2012. For more information on the exhibition, click here to visit the official website.

Words by MPDClick’s Trend Journal Editor.

Fashion Editor of Russian Glamour magazine Ulyana Sergeenko has long been style icon of ours and has now overwhelmed us with her debut collection for autumn/winter 11/12 further proving her fashion credentials.

Said to be inspired by vintage illustrations of Soviet Vogue, the collection oozes 1940’s glamour with ultra feminine silhouettes and considered luxe fabric choices. The press photos enhance the collection perfectly with a vintage style floral wallpaper background and whitewashed wooden flooring setting the scene for polished hair and rich coral red lipstick featured throughout.

Although 1940’s in silhouette, Sergeenko confidently contrasts this with contemporary detailing such as sheer fabrics, contemporary pattern cuts and Avant Garde styled footwear. MPDClick’s key items from the collection includes any of the bias cut paneled maxi skirts, slim fitting sweaters and the ¾ length sleeve grey fur outerwear piece.

This collection perfectly echoes the MPDClick’s trends team’s early trend musings for autumn/winter 13/14 of which we are looking Eastern Europe to inspire silhouettes.

Image source: Russian Vogue

Words by Mpdclick’s Future Trends Researcher

Deep travel is a major trend for spring/summer 2013, paying particular reference to the Mediterranean, getting under the skin of a place and serendipitous discovery. This conscious move away from traditional tourism will continue to gain momentum for the next decade.  The deep travel trend will develop to include skilled outdoor sports and extreme adventure, with increased tourism to places such as Alaska, Canada and the NORCS.

Here, specialist tour operators such as RMIguides, Epic Quest, Alaska Alpine Adventures, Visit Glacier Bay and Katmai Coastal Bear tours specialise in unique outdoor experiences, DIY escapes and epic crowd-free adventure holiday packages. One-of-a-lifetime trips include heli-fishing for trophy trout, heli-hiking near active volcanoes, granite crags climbing, paddle boarding or surfing among icebergs, glacier trekking, northern safari and wild kayaking. Of course, such extreme sports require a huge amount of skill and confidence, but most specialist tourist operators can offer trips suited to a range of skill-sets, ranging from ‘amateur’ to ‘wild-card.’ Expeditions that recall the great expeditions of times past will also be extremely popular, with travel guides taking you on the travel routes of greats such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Ed Viesturs, Frank Wild and Salomon August Andree.

Mpdclick will continue to monitor the trend towards extreme adventure and deep travel as influences for future trends. 

Read more – MPDInsight Issue 30 – A Road Less Travelled

Image Source: Alaska Alpine Adventures

Words by Mpdclick’s Future Trends Researcher

Renowned for bringing Eastern European influences to the world of avant garde stop-motion image art, the Quay Brothers are now the feature for an exclusive exhibit at the MoMA in New York.

Between August 2012 and January 2013, visitors to the Museum of Modern Art in New York will be able to see the exclusive presentation of avant garde work from identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay. The internationally renowned moving image artists and designers will showcase a selection of films, installation pieces, objects and sketches, under the gallery title of ‘‘Quay Brothers,’ straddling a number of design fields and being influenced by Eastern European art, the brothers work is set to inspire designers, retailers and artists alike.

Heavily influenced by Czech Surrealists Jan Svankmayer and Jiri Trnka, Russian animator Yuri Norstein, and Polish animator Walerian Borowczyk, as well as Polish graphic artists Jan Lenica, Roman Cieślewicz, Franciszek Starowieyski, and Henryk Tomaszewski, their body of work is a strong reminder of how important Eastern European art is set to become in the next few years, and links to the growing art scene and design economy in the area.

Mpdclick will be monitoring the growing influence of design and art from countries within Eastern Europe as a key factor influencing future trends.

Image source: Quay Brothers

Words by Mpdclick’s Future Trends Researcher

Russian history becomes the focal point for a series of films in 2013 and 2014, reinforcing the trend for Ostalgia i.e. nostalgia towards the Soviet Era.

The 2013 film Leningrad is a historical epic that depicts the seige of Leningrad by the German army during World War II, where Russians suffered terrible losses and yet Communists would not give up the birthplace of the Russian Revolution. In 2014 a further two films are based on the Russian Revolution: The People’s Act of Love, which tells the story of an escapee from a Russian prison camp who stumbles upon a Christian sect during the final years of the Russian Revolution, and The Red Star, which is based around the Soviet Union’s Red Fleet and how they fought to liberate their people from a former ruler’s dark, brutal legacy. Finally, the currently untitled Alexander Litvinenko project, 2014, will look at the life and mysterious death of Alexander Litvinenko, a KGB officer that was allegedly poisoned by President Vladimir Putin’s agent in November 2006.

Russian history has been a popular theme for films both during and after the fall of Communism in 1991, but Russian made films are also celebrated in the recent ‘100 Years of Russian Films’ by the British Film Institute. We predict that Russia and the former Soviet-Union will be a major influence on fashion and design in the future, with films playing a big part in providing the aesthetical references for fashion and homeware collections.

Image Source: British Film Institute/Cranes Are Flying 

Words by Mpdclick’s Future Trends Researcher

Poland, the only country in Europe to have avoided a recession during the financial crisis, is undoubtedly one of the great success stories of the former Soviet Bloc.

Having mastered the difficult transition from communism and now showing economic prowess with the largest economy in Central Europe and ever growing luxury market (KPMG estimates spending exceeding 10 billion euros in the next 2-3 years), Poland is one to watch.  The Polish economy is fortunate to have been sustained by resilient domestic demand and credit markets, with links to its strong middle class and rejuvenated production industries.

While Poland will face similar uncertainties to the rest of Europe and its path to glory steeped in infrastructural challenges, it will be influential, not just in economic terms, but as a voice for peace and stability for countries currently experiencing turmoil. Its youth will come into focus as a generation that has experienced great periods of transitions and the opportunities that has come with it.

Image source: flickr

Words by MPDClick’s Home & Interiors Editor…

Forgotten Spaces is a new exhibition at Somerset House that looks to the future development of our cities with an alternative vision. Running from October 20th 2011 to January 29th 2012, it is based on an open ideas competition run by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), where engineers, architects, students and designers were invited to submit proposals for overlooked spaces across London.

Judged by a panel that included Paul Finch of Architects’ Journal and Tamsie Thomason of RIBA London, the shortlist includes a range of innovative and far reaching ideas of how to put to use forgotten sites in London.  Our cities are awash with derelict and unloved spaces that could be reclaimed and made special. With an estimated five billion people living in cities by 2030, in is important to make sure we use all the space we have. The competition aims to offer alternative and imaginative visions for these areas, with highlight proposals including city grottos, rooftop social hubs, artist-inhabited church spires and underground climbing tunnels.

Urbanisation is a major issue and has inspired new movements in design and lifestyle such as ‘rurban living’, where a rural way of life is being re-contextualised into the urban environment though micro farming, pocket gardens and city foraging. Retailers and designers alike need to aware of how exhibitions like Forgotten Spaces can challenge and provoke design ideas for the future, as well as the effect it can have on both retail spaces and themes in fashion, design and visual merchandising. 

Image source: RIBA