AIFD Unveils Floral Trends
People are used to hearing about trends in fashion, home décor and cuisine, but trends in flowers? Yes, flowers do come in and out of style, and what is chic is constantly evolving. What’s hot in flowers for 2006 was unveiled at the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) Symposium in Seattle, Wash., July 4-6, 2005.
The California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC) brought together a team of floral products designers and stylists to create Living with Flowers, American Floral Trends Forecast 2006.
Leatrice Eiseman, color consultant and director of the Pantone Color Institute was a consultant on the project. In the June 27 issue of Forbes Magazine , she talked about how she chooses color trends. “”I am constantly looking at lifestyles and socioeconomic influences,”” she said. “”For example, in the 1990s environmentalism was a big topic, and green became a leading color. I’m bringing emerald green into the palette for 2006. Because green has had a big run, you have to keep tweaking it.”” Eiseman and the CCFC Color Trends Forecast Team combined their expertise to create a floral forecast that incorporates home designs and lifestyle trends into a seamless blend of flowers as an integral design element. Here is the American Floral Trends Forecast 2006:
- Rose Hip: A return of earth tones with a sense of luxury. These tones range from deep mahogany to terracotta, clay, red and rose tones with a copper accent.
- Hydroponic: The emphasis is on health and well being, with green dominating the palette even in monobotanical foliage presentations. Water and glass merge with botanicals, creating a spa-like feeling. This trend is clinical with clean white, licorice hues, lilac ash and illusion blue.
- Gatherings: A midrange medley of earth tones with a vintage feel are layered to create this look. The style includes archival patterns, Asian motifs, flea market finds. Chiffon and filigree are collected side by side, exposing the layers of life’s experience.
- Infusion: It begins with a color foundation of black and white warmed by brown to create a neutral background for infusions of color. Within this trend are:
- Baccara Infusion: Named for the ‘Baccara’ rose that inspired it. Deep reds are tempered with reds.
- Caramel Infusion: Caramel, honey, toffee add to a new realm of comfort colors.
- Plum Infusion: Lilac, purple and plum are defined by richness and become even more sophisticated juxtaposed with brown, creating a quiet and royal look.
- Moody Blue Infusion: Deep denim is paired with deep turquoise and emerald green.
- Profusion: Beyond infusion, in the realm of nature, chaos is the wellspring of inspiration and great beauty.
The 2006 American Floral Trend Forecast team included Talmage McLaurin AIFD, associate publisher of (ITALICS) Florists’ Review (ITALICS) magazine; Kim Morrill AIFD and Keith White AIFD, from CCFC’s education team; Leatrice Eiseman, of Eiseman Center for Color Information & Training and executive director of Pantone Color Institute; Maureen Welton, president of Eighteen Karat International Product Sourcing; and Michelle Perry-White AIFD, designer/product development of D.A. Direct.
Since its inception at the 2003 AIFD National Symposium, CCFC’s trends forecast program has proven advantageous to growers, designers, manufacturers and merchandisers of floral goods. “”With its uniquely floral perspective of trends, all segments of the industry can better hone in on their marketing and product development strategies,”” said Kim Morrill AIFD. For more information, visit www.ccfc.org.
Video Library 
