September is here, and with it comes a new cycle of trends. So, what will shape the years ahead? And perhaps more importantly: how do we make sense of a world that feels increasingly uncertain?

Here is the behind-the-scenes story of how The Forecast Club prepared its new global trend seminar for 2027–2028 and beyond.

Late in August, seven of my eight international trend forecasters travelled to Stockholm to record our second digital seminar. We spent almost two full days working, presenting, debating and, perhaps most importantly, discussing what is happening around us. Our eighth member and Chinese representative, Xiaojing Huang, joined us digitally.

Under one common theme, each forecaster had 30 minutes to explore their particular perspective on the future.

This time, we wanted to address a shift we are seeing across the trend landscape. In uncertain and sometimes frightening times, people seem less interested in simply finding the coolest new thing. Instead, we are looking for connection, meaning, belonging and things that bring us together.

Our theme became Common Grounds.

The strength of The Forecast Club is that we all approach the future from different angles, markets and disciplines. Put together, the presentations create a surprisingly broad picture of where design, lifestyle, culture and consumer behaviour may be heading.

Eight perspectives on the future

Stefan Nilsson, Sweden — Feelconomy
I look at the growing importance of emotions and how we are moving towards a market where feelings, experiences and human connection become increasingly valuable.

Cécile Poignant, France — Radical Pauses
Cécile explores the need for pauses and connection with a fascinating focus on contemporary rituals and how we use cities together.

Elisabetta Rizzato, Italy — Chasing the Sun
Elisabetta looks at our emotional relationship with light, the sun and the idea of chasing something that makes us feel better — in architecture as well as lifestyle.

Jan Agelink, The Netherlands — Design Friction
What happens when we deliberately create friction in a world designed for convenience? Jan looks at presence, independent thinking and our increasingly complicated relationship with technology.

Judith van Vliet, Spain — Rituals of Resilience
A political and geopolitical perspective on how uncertainty shapes design and culture. And yes, there is bread. Will we see more of it in design?

Susanna Björklund, Finland — Trust
Susanna explores where trust is emerging and how it can become a source of inspiration for design, brands and society.

Alina Schartner, Austria — Inclusive Colour
Our CMF expert looks at colour and inclusive design, asking how we can create environments and products that genuinely include more people and a greater diversity of experiences.

Xiaojing Huang, China — China’s Green Technology Rollout
Xiaojing looks at China’s enormous investment in green technology — and what this development could mean for the rest of the world.

All eight presentations will be available through The Forecast Club.

Looking for a different kind of optimism

This is the second time we have brought together this international group for a worldwide digital seminar, and one of the most interesting parts is seeing who joins us.

The audience stretches from Australia to Canada and the US, with a large European audience in between. Most viewers work within design, lifestyle, retail or related industries and are looking for more than inspiration. They want tools to understand where the market is moving — and what might come next.

And perhaps that is the real common ground.

Despite the very different subjects, there is a clear thread running through the seminar: a new kind of optimism.

We are moving beyond the endless search for the next object, colour or aesthetic. We are looking for meaning. For connection. For rituals, trust, emotions and shared experiences.

The future may not be about having more.

It may be about building better connections with what we already have — and with each other.

That is what we will be exploring in The Forecast Club’s 2027–2028 seminar.

If you work with design, lifestyle, retail, culture or consumer behaviour — and want to understand not just what is trending, but why — this is a seminar worth making time for.

Come and explore the common ground with us. Here is a sneak preview.

But of course I want to share some of the “behind the scene” pictures.

Inlägget The Forecast Club and the second drop dök först upp på Trendstefan.

Haven’t heard of this design festival yet? Don’t worry. Here is your chance to catch up. It started in March and grow into a fantastic event in August.

The new design festival arrived with something of a mythological backstory.

I first heard about Arkad just a week before 3 Days of Design in Stockholm. My first thought was: Wait. Someone is starting a new design festival in my hometown and I don’t know about it?

Intriguing.

Then came the second observation. The exhibitor’s list was not exactly modest. Montana, Swedese, Asplund and around 60–70 Swedish and international brands were apparently on board.

How had this happened without me noticing?

More importantly, how had it happened without almost anyone else noticing? Pretty much every other person I met in the design world seemed equally surprised. There was no big build-up, no endless stream of LinkedIn announcements, no obvious industry fanfare.

It felt almost like a stealth operation.

A design festival moving under the radar.

And then came the third reaction: Oh, I want to join.

Except you couldn’t. Arkad was already fully booked.

This was perhaps the strangest part. An event that very few people seemed to know about had managed to fill its roster with some of the biggest names in Swedish design. At a time when many traditional design fairs are struggling to fill their halls, there was something almost mesmerising about a new event that seemed to have done the opposite.

The story continued to grow.

There were free drinks. Free tattoos. And rumours that around 3,000 people had turned up.

At this point, Arkad was starting to feel less like a design festival and more like something you had either discovered — or somehow missed.

Which, of course, made you want to know what was actually going on.

So Thursday last week Arkad opened it’s doors. Democratic and raw exhibition space. Everyone got the same size of space, and no walls or barriers. Plain human contact.

DJs and pizza. And conversations.

The Kasthall rug designed by Louise Hederström placed straight on the concrete floor.

The festival was not necessarily about news. Of course you can see a new thing like this chair mainted in sustainable coat by Toniton. But again. We were here to have fun.

Me and the team behind Designcirkeln (Johan and Viktor) managed to do session where we talked about three different kind of chairs in a design therapy session.

As a summary. Wow. New, fresh, amazing. Winner’s feeling. Can it grow? Of course. I wouldn’t mind having it two days. I get you have a full festival feeling when it is only one day – but it was soooooo much fun. The event continued with dj and afterparty until 02.00.

The only critical comment I have seen is that the beer was expensive at the bar. But the entrance was free of charge. So… it should be ok.

Ten out of ten points. Best initiative in Sweden in a long time.

Inlägget Arkad – the new design festival dök först upp på Trendstefan.

The Swedish interior fair Formex takes place twice a year, in January and August. It is primarily a trade fair for the Swedish interior and design industry, attracting buyers, brands and other industry professionals. Around 9% of visitors are international, so despite all the talk of Nordic design, this is still very much a Swedish affair.

I have been looking at the numbers behind the fair. The August edition attracted around 8,000 visitors in 2024, followed by 7,822 in 2025. The visitor numbers for August 2026 have not yet been officially counted, so it is too early to say whether this year’s fair grew or declined.

The exhibitor numbers, however, are already available – and they are moving in the opposite direction. In 2024 there were 358 exhibitors. In 2025, that number increased slightly to 360. This year, Formex has announced 375 exhibitors.

So what do we make of this?

The optimistic reading is that Formex is remarkably stable. Visitor numbers have not collapsed, and the number of exhibitors is actually growing. In a trade fair landscape where physical retail is under pressure and many brands are questioning the value of traditional fairs, that is not insignificant.

The less optimistic reading is that 8,000 visitors is still 8,000 visitors. There is no spectacular growth hiding in these numbers.

But perhaps stability is the more interesting story. Formex seems to have found a fairly solid level: roughly the same number of people coming to the fair, while a few more companies want to be there.

Not exactly a boom. But, in 2026, staying remarkably still might be its own kind of success.

Among the exhibitors you find mainly Swedish brands like Ernst, Miljögården, Paradisverkstaden, Himla and Nittsjö. It is a really good portfolio of Swedishness. Sure, we don’t have Orrefors, Skultuna and the others, but still a good portfolio.

The fair shows young talents, sustainability and a big trend installation of the seasonal themes. And they had me on stage. Previously I was invited to do my trend walks showing my favourites among the exhibitors, but they dropped that this whole year. Perhaps it could come back next year?

Besides a seminar, I did a live podcast with Helena for Under Granen.

I get to talk to a lot of people on the floor at Formex. Mainly exhibitors. And I must say – the majority were super happy. First day was packed with people. Logistically that is an issue when there aren’t that many coming the other days. It was difficult to handle all clients. A positive problem. Perhaps people will learn to come the other days, and not just the first day?

From a trend perspective, I would say that other fairs are stronger on trends. Maybe it is because the Swedishness is so uniform and correct? Very little really stand out. But I did appreciate the trend installation done by Eva Andersson. Well done.

Walking around and looking for new things I managed to get a lot of blue hues.

I managed to see a lot of yellow but forgot to document…

A Swedish minimalism is of course present.

Ingegerd Råman for Nittsjö

Skruf

Gustav Oland for Paradisverkstaden

As a summary. Should I be critical? I don’t have to. Formex works. I do believe that the future for fairs is to be more like a festival and encourage more networking. Not only business. Also meeting peers in the industry.

But Formex works. It’s ok. Of course I want it to have a little bit of more surprises and things for me to remember them by. But it is ok. I will of course come back.

Inlägget Formex fall 2026 dök först upp på Trendstefan.

Herning and Formland is one of the most important scenes for Scandinavian design. Especially the August edition attracts big Danish brands like Royal Copenhagen, Stelton, Hübsch and more. This is where chains and retailers stock up for Christmas. Sure, they most likely made their orders previously, but the over 6 500 visitors booked additional things for the season.

I personally came straight off vacation mood for this design event. I met tanned, rested and eager people in the hallways. A promissing start for 2nd half of 2026.

The fair had a whole new layout. Always risky. Will exhibitors and visitors like it? I must say – noone complained. I heard only good things about the new layout.

Last but not least in this introduction. For the second year in a row, Formland had something they call “Design Hub Denmark”

This is a project sponsored by some of the exhibitors and local organisations. What they do is that they invite major buyers from Norway, Sweden and Germany. They pay for dinner, flight and hotel to make them go to the fair. This has become so successful that these buyers are willing to skip their own local fairs. They get it here and in a nice context. Very efficient.

The first thing I do at Formland is to check out the amazing trend installation by Studie Fly Helstedt. This time they toned it down to a retro, Mediterranean kitchen of some sorts.

I must say – noone does trend installations like the Danes. This time the focus was on kitchen and rituals there.

This relaxed and warm setting included a butter coloured bedroom scenario too. But what stood out and grabbed attention was the kitchen installation.

And in these pictures you can already now see that one of the trend colours for the season will be yellow. And a material like wicker. So let’s kick things off with trend number one.

Wicker

I actually red in a US based magazine that wicker as a material will be booming. And of course a trendy fair like Formland has that. The mirror above is from Bloomingville.

A lot of wicker baskets in the trend installation.

As a backdrop or room divider by Jakobsdals

Wicker paper bins at Hübsch.

This is actually not wicker but spun paper, but has the same look. By Lübech Living.

White metal

We can see on the picture above and also at the beginning of this report – the kitchen is almost all in white metal. Something we see more of.

Hay

Blomus.

Rice

Lots of white metal at House Doctor.

Shelf in white metal at Hübsch

Yellow

When it comes to colours, you can already see in the images above how it all gets more red and yellow.

Sometimes with a bit of green and blue.

Inlägget Formland fall 2026 dök först upp på Trendstefan.

My regardless of the hoards of tourists, I still like Lisbon. There are always new neighbourhoods – and tiles to discover.

This year, we added a new dimension to our Lusitanian trip. Porto and the Azores.

Lisbon

This summer we stayed only a few nights in Lisbon, so this part of the story is short. But you can always look at previous reports like from 2025 here and a report from 2022 here.

First day in Lisbon was all about finding old favourites. Walking through the garden of Gulbenkian museum, Bairro Alto and dinner at an old food court.

Day two

New design hotel Wilde Hotel.

This day was all about Rossio with the Zara store that has a Portuguese cafe inside. Also a new fashion store with local brands called Feeting Store. Vista Alegre of course.

Tiles of first day in Lisbon…

Zara and the unique “pastelaria”

Looking at stores. Here Feeting Room.

Vista Alegre

Beauty brand Benamor.

One of my best design stores – Kintu Studio

Just realised that the roof top of the design museum has the best view of Praca do Commercio.

Drinks

Mandatory stop at Casa do Alentejo

Dinner at best dinner spot Taberna Albricoque.

Day three more walking around…

And then off to next destination

The Azores

Lets start with some pictures and then we talk …

I will start by saying that the Azores is ten out of ten points. It was amazing.

You can of course Google the destination. It is a group of islands. Basically 3 hours from Portugal and five hours from the US. In the middle of the Atlantic ocean with the Mexican Gulf giving it a climate that is even. Or as they say about the islands – expect every weather during a day. Fog, sun, rain, mist, wind and storm.

Lush islands with amazing greenery. Lava sand beaches which makes them black. But a foodie destination. Great food. Nice people and affordable. We were there for five nights.

Architecture wise you will not find the same amount of tiles as in Lisbon, but still architecture in the “Manueline style” with all their ornaments.

One of the main reasons you choose the Azores is nature. The tropical landscape is amazing.

Even the parks in the city Ponta Delgada.

And the beaches. There are plenty of beaches around the island, and they are all very empty. So basically you get your own beach. Not all, but many of the beaches are black because of the lava sand.

Food and drinks are great at Ponta Delgada. It is kind of an emerging foodie destination. A few restaurants had proper hourlong queues for tables. And amazing food.

Pina colada made with locally grown pineapples.

This was an old fashion store from beginning of the 1900s and now turned into a restaurant.

The Azores was amazing. Full score. The only tricky thing was the flight. It is a three hour flight from Lisbon so travelling from northern Europe is pretty long.

Porto

Third stop in Portugal. Almost a week in Porto. This is my third time in this city. A bit more industrial perhaps than Lisbon? And a lot more crowded in the old town. Lisbon felt airy compared to Porto. Super crowded.

But we had booked an Airbnb just 20 minutes outside of the old town, in the neighbourhood called Foz. I can really recommend.

Foz is almost like a beach resort.

Porto is the architectural city in Portugal. Alvaro Siza is from here. He has partially built the amazing Serralves museum.

Rem Koolhaas and the Casa da Musica.

And Siza has made the swimming pools – Piscina das Mares.

There are plenty of things to see and do in Porto. I would say that you can skip the portwine tasting and instead go for a sardine tasting. Skip the book shop Livraria Lello (named the most beautiful bookstore in the world) and continue up a few streets to the design disctrict of Porto.

Inlägget Lisbon, Porto – and the Azores dök först upp på Trendstefan.

This is the story of why that conversation needed to happen, how it came together, and what we learned along the way.

My own journey began in the autumn of 2025. What started as a professional curiosity about sustainability gradually evolved into something far more fundamental: a realisation that the way we talk about sustainability no longer reflects the challenges we face.

For years, I have spent much of my time on stages, in boardrooms and at conferences discussing sustainability, values and human behaviour. Yet I increasingly felt that the conversation had become predictable. We repeated familiar messages about the importance of sustainability and focused heavily on materials, emissions and production processes. These issues remain important, of course, but I began to wonder whether we were overlooking a larger story.

To test that hypothesis, I reached out to one hundred people across Sweden’s design ecosystem. Designers, manufacturers, educators, journalists, communications professionals, organisations and industry leaders all received the same question:

What are the most important questions in design and sustainability today?

I also asked them to look slightly ahead—to consider not only what matters now, but what they believed would matter most three years from today.

The results surprised me.

The conversation was not primarily about materials. Nor was it centred on chemicals, reporting frameworks or Digital Product Passports. Instead, a remarkably consistent theme emerged: longevity and durability. The ability to make products last longer. The systems required to repair them. The practices needed to care for them.

In other words, sustainability was increasingly being understood not as a question of what we make things from, but how long we keep them in use.

At roughly the same time, I began following the European Union’s work on new Right to Repair legislation. The more I explored the subject, the more questions emerged.

What exactly should be repairable? How do warranties interact with repair rights? Who should repair? What should it cost? What happens when a product is purchased in one country and used in another? If I buy a piece of furniture from IKEA in Sweden and later move to Spain, should the same repair rights apply?

The deeper I looked, the clearer it became that repair is not merely a technical issue. It is a cultural, legal and commercial question that touches everything from consumer expectations to business models.

It also became obvious that this was not a conversation that could happen in isolation.

I wanted to bring together the people actively shaping this emerging field—to move beyond theory and explore what repair and care look like in practice. Fortunately, I knew exactly who to call.

One of my first conversations was with the team at Act of Caring, a company whose name perfectly captures the spirit of the challenge. They had already been working extensively with questions of maintenance, care and product longevity, and immediately saw the importance of creating a broader dialogue.

Together, we spent much of the spring researching the rapidly evolving landscape of repair and care. We spoke with brands, explored emerging business models and searched for organisations willing to share both their successes and their struggles.

Our ambition was simple: to understand what the industry could learn from itself.

What does a viable repair economy look like? How do companies create value through care rather than replacement? And perhaps most importantly, how do we design business models that reward longevity rather than consumption?

So, me and the team at Act of Caring have worked all spring around this.

Me and Camilla Strange acted hosts of the whole conference.

Very early on we realised we need to divide the conference in three segments since these three areas have their own perspectives.

First out – fashion. This design segment is already experimenting with repair. Levi’s is letting boomers mend together with Gen Z (because the younger generation don’t know how to). And you have strong players in street wear, luxury and fast fashion doing things in this area.

Jodi Everding

This section was moderated by sustainability and fashion expert Jodi Everding. In the panel you had interesting people like:

Daniel Schmitt from Veja who is leading the way to sell repair with new shoes via cobbler stores.

Josephine Philips from Sojo. They are both doing digital solutions but can also help retail like Selfridge’s to do more repair.

Wioletta Staaf from Uniqlo. She is representing the large scale fast fashion approaching this question.

Louise Green from the fashion brand Toast. I just love how they reinvent themselves when it comes to fashion approach to repair.

Anna-Karin Sundelius from Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (Naturskyddsföreningen).

Second out – home electronics. This section is including everything from smartphones to washing machines. And they are the first ones effected by the new EU directive. Should we repair ourselves or should someone professional do it? And with only days until July 31 when the new directive is starting – are they ready?

In this section I acted moderator. And we got a 15 minute keynote session from Ingrid Björklund and Mikael Bird from Electrolux.

Oscar Nöjd from Samsung talked from a smartphone perspective and mentioned that perhaps it’s not repair we need but software updates.

Pernilla Enebrink represented the whole home electronics industry in the organisation Consumer Electronics Sweden

Daniel Laving represented the retail perspective being a the brand Clas Ohlson that sells both Electrolux and Samsung.

Third and final session was about interior design. It is of course difficult to compare a producer that is doing something for the contract market and compare that to someone who does it for endusers. In this panel we also managed to get a voice from the schools. What are they teaching future designers at school?

Speakers were:

Anna Ryott from the E&Y, a multinational professional services firm that advises organisations on topics ranging from business strategy and regulation to sustainability and corporate transformation.

Björn Fjellstad from Norwegian sustainability brand Vestre.

Mia Mögelgaard, now Fredericia, but has worked with all kinds of international Danish brands for sustainability

Ernesto Garcia, phd student at Konstfack, researching about repair.

Mirkku Kullberg, today CEO at Kasthall and boardmember at investment company NOD, but once the founder of Arteks line on used pieces called 2nd Cycle.

After the conference we had an intense networking session to catch up with everyone. Wine and fun.

A final note. It was a fruitful day. Hopefully the first of many. Three distinctive areas. Perhaps we left with more questions than answers? But regardless – this is the way forward. Buy better and make it last.

You can still watch the seminar. Go to Care and Repair Day. If you don’t want to watch the whole session, you can get the executive summary with the text version of the day.

Inlägget Care and Repair Day Stockholm dök först upp på Trendstefan.

At the time of writing, the organisers have not released official exhibitor numbers. Curiosity got the better of me, so I did what any design journalist with too much time on their hands might do: I counted them myself. My total came to around 560 exhibitors—roughly 90 more than last year. Interestingly, even last year there were murmurs that 470 exhibitors felt excessive.

There are no official visitor figures either, but it seems reasonable to assume attendance has grown beyond the 60,000 people reported in 2025. Everywhere in Copenhagen, there was a sense of momentum.

And momentum matters. Today, 3 Days of Design is unquestionably the second most important design event in Europe after Milan Design Week. It has become an essential date in the industry calendar.

What Copenhagen offers, however, is a very different experience from Milan. The city absorbs the influx of visitors remarkably well. You can still get a restaurant table. Moving between exhibitions rarely feels overwhelming. Taxis function. Pavements remain walkable. Unlike Milan’s Brera district during peak week, you are not constantly negotiating crowds or standing in seemingly endless queues.

Perhaps most notably, design remains at the centre of the conversation. Fashion brands, beauty houses and food companies have yet to arrive in force, preserving a focus that Milan has, in some areas, begun to lose.

That said, Copenhagen is no longer the affordable alternative. Hotel prices have climbed sharply. I paid 400 euros a night for a property that described itself as a three-star hotel—a rate that felt uncomfortably close to Milan levels.

The weather, thankfully, was kinder. There was rain, but not enough to disrupt the rhythm of the week.

Yet there is a hesitation in my enthusiasm this year.

Milan possesses a sense of grandeur that is difficult to replicate. There are palaces, historic courtyards, monumental installations and an almost theatrical scale. Copenhagen offers something else entirely: intimacy, liveability and that elusive Danish concept of hygge.

For years, that distinction was part of 3 Days of Design’s appeal. It was the underdog. There was an almost punk-like confidence to the event—a willingness to champion Scandinavian design on its own terms. It felt raw, approachable and refreshingly unpolished.

But underdogs eventually grow up. Last year we saw the first exhibitions getting off the official track. As for instance Other Circle.

This year, for the first time, I found myself wondering whether the event’s rapid expansion has been matched by an equivalent leap in ambition. Expectation and delivery…

Where were the defining launches? The products people would still be talking about six months from now?

Colourscale got toned down and there were absolutely fewer launches. Plainly fewer objects to look at.

Normann Copenhagen presented a beautiful new vase. Yet many of the major brands appeared to focus primarily on extensions of existing collections rather than genuinely new ideas. Muuto introduced a chair. Hay showed two lamps and a sofa. Ferm Living launched three new products. There is, of course, no obligation to reinvent an entire collection every year. But when an event reaches this scale and importance, expectations inevitably rise. Where were the news?

The same could be said of many of the installations. One of the most anticipated presentations came from the glass artist and colour virtuoso Helle Mardahl. Her installation was beautifully executed, but centred around a single coloured pendant lamp, repeated throughout the space. Elegant, certainly. Memorable, perhaps less so.

That may ultimately be the challenge facing 3 Days of Design. The event has successfully outgrown its status as an alternative to Milan. It is no longer the charming outsider. It is now a major international platform with all the expectations that status brings.

Growth is easy to measure. Ambition is harder.

And this year, despite the record numbers and undeniable energy, I left Copenhagen wondering whether the event is still growing creatively at the same pace as it is growing physically.

Pictures above. Top picture from the group installation at Thorvaldsen Museum and a chair by Boris Berlin. Picture two from Dinesen Showroom with recycled cutoffs from plank made into baskets. Picture three from Other Circle. Picture four and five from Normann Copenhagen. And picture six from Helle Mardahl.

My findings from 3 Days of Design below

Orange, yellow and fuchsia

If we start looking at colours I saw a lot of orange that stood out. This year marks the anniversary of Verner Panton and many brands took this opportunity to do things in his honour. Here Vitra.

Orange and yellow, with a fuchsia or purple background at the installation at the French Embassy.

Orange and purple at the Finnish installation. Here by Finarte.

Not so much orange, but a little bit. And a little bit of yellow and fuchsia… A little bit… Here at Other Circle.

Yellow and fuchsia at the lamp installation by Daniel Enoksson.

Yellow and fuchsia at Kvadrat.

Yellow and fuchsia at Magniberg

Benny Brankovic at Other Circle

This colourful dinner setting by Yinka Ilori at Tarkett.

Yellow and orange at Sowden.

Orange and purple at Montana.

Greens and black

Beside the optimistic yellow and fuchsia we also saw all kinds of green. From olive to a deeper chartreuse. Not so much pop colour green, but all the other versions. And with black (and white). Here at colour queen Teklan and Johanson design.

Design gallery Rue Vert.

Normann Copenhagen.

More of Normann Copenhagen.

At Muuto

More Muuto

At Resident

Rareraw

Above three images from Hay

At Bredgade

More black

So, we mentioned black already. Very much together with green. But there was also a lot of black in general. It of course stands out when it is together with white or cream. Here curtains at Kvadrat.

Leather at Vearktöj

Linoleum at Tarkett.

One of the few new things at Ferm Living. This cabinet in burnt wood. Think Maarten Baas but massproduced. But ash black.

Black vases at Ferm Living.

Black fruits. Someone mentioned that even flowers were black, but I missed that.

Black at Geberit.

Different kinds of black wall paint at File under Pop (and green as mentioned before).

Lovely Japanese exhibition

Black floor and black details at Design/Dialogues

Love this black and white curtain

Bouroullec at Mutina.

Vibia installation

Hay installation.

Black and white.

Colour chart at File under Pop with black and cream. Is it three versions of black in it?

Inlägget 3 Days of Design 2026 dök först upp på Trendstefan.

A few days ago, we visited Konstfack, Sweden’s largest design school, where nearly 200 students revealed a striking shift in attitude and expression. This time, we continue the journey through Beckmans College of Design, Malmstens, and Handarbetets Vänner — schools shaping some of the most interesting creative voices right now.

At Konstfack, I described this movement as “form follows creativity.” It feels like the old modernist mantra — form follows function — is slowly loosening its grip. Today’s young designers are not obsessed with solving problems as efficiently as possible. Instead, they use objects, materials, and spaces to express emotion, identity, memory, politics, and humanity itself.

The result is something softer. Warmer. More personal. And infinitely more interesting.

At Beckmans I talked to Daniel Trewe. He made a daybed, but based on flavours and taste rather than rational decisions.

He made a group talk about the experience of the six flavours: sweet, salt, bitter, sour, spicy and umami. Each flavour ended up in a shape. Salty is a base so that is square. Sour is pointy shaped. Etc.

From these shapes he then made a daybed. And you could almost read a recepie here.

There s a pointy (sour) shape at the feet of the daybed. The sides are unevenly long. The upholstered armrest is illogically over the divider.

What Daniel did is finding a new language, or a new way to express eastethics. Very clever.

At textile school Handarbetets Vänner student Linnea Engstedt made a weave. This is inspirered by the light coming through blinds in a window. It is basically encouraging daydreaming. It is a engineer driven weave. Notice the straight lines symbolising the window frame.

The weave is coloured twice. First with a bit of yellow and then with purple. Finally a silk weave to enhance a bit of glimmer.

This is a fabric that is not logical or functional. Just wonderfully dreamy.

At Malmstens Felicia Lundberg made a chair built around the concept of softness. Malmstens is a classical wood school and students show plenty of woodwork. Here a piece with basically NO WOOD. Instead this chair made of scraps and waste textile should resemble a fashion garment.

Back to Beckmans. Here Filippa Holm went to her own backyard to find materials. A lot of materials come with given usage. Here Filippa finds clay she dug out of the ground, twigs and branches, etc. The project doesn’t necessarily show larger, finished products but rather focus on curiosity and playfulness. Form follows fun.

Innovation at Handarbetets Vänner. Vera Westberg made a weave with old casette tape. And with a separate machine you can actually read these sound waves. Fun.

Handarbetets Vänner again. Korean student Bosong Kang made a weave interpreting Swedishness. Beautiful.

At Beckmans Axel Peters went the opposite direction when it comes to coffee tableware. Instead of delicate, brusch strokes – what happend if you went the opposite direction. Instead of fine strokes – make it chunky, warm and userfriendly?

What is a chair? Perhaps my personal favourite. These chunky chairs with attitude. It is like a reaction of things being too nice and too invisiable. These chairs demand attention and I love it. Basically in the same tradition as Finnish Vaarni. Made by Malte Lundberg at Beckmans.

At Malmstens there were a lot of experimentation on surfaces. Top picture is veneer work where it is the same kind of wood but where the coloured piece is changed by heating. By Martin Skybrand. Second (three images) by Loke Isaksson. Finally a cabinet made completely black by fire. By Fredrik Eliasson.

Inlägget Graduates of 2026 dök först upp på Trendstefan.

Vienna and Austria is lovely. Something I covered from a trip last year here. And now in May, the whole world is looking at the city for this music festival.

Just like so many other events like this, there are things happening on many places and many levels. The city was full of posters and displays with reference to the music context. The gradient graphic design in blue, purple and red might not be my choice, but it was recognisable.

Local pride for previous winners is ok. The song Merci Cherie won 1966.

On a side note, it was pretty obvious that Austria took this opportunity to talk about their prefered story. So more references to Falco (cool) and not Opus with “Life is life” (cheesy). And I was pretty amazed but the abscence of Conchita Wurst, the winner of Eurovision 2014.

I did like how the city gave “12 points” for certain sustainable behaviour. Like public transportation or bikes. It could have been more…

ESC Vienna had an official mascot. I had to double check. It is not the first time there is a mascot – but it is not as common as you think. I might be something more evident for the future. 1992 Malmö had a bird and last year in Switzerland there was a heartshaped carachter.

Something I REALLY liked were the way they handled the cafés. Vienna is famous for the cafe culture and it must have been around 15 bigger cafes that participated in this. The cafe had two supporting countries. Here Estonia and Italy. And they would have activities. At this specific cafe you would get a free glass of bubbles if you were from this country. FUN.

Also the “green room” at the arena was built around the cafe culture. Nice.

There wasn’t that much “merch” as I would have expected. Of course nice when we are looking for a more sustainable and durable future. No more plastic shit. Here a cookbook based on food from each country. What about Sweden? Of course meatballs… No real surprises here.

Postcards with the representatives… Not sure I need one…

The city was of course full of people wearing merch for the act they supported. Here a guy with Finnish song Liekinheitin. Most fun was perhaps the Greek merch where you could get the same hat as the singer.

During my days here I got to see the whole arena on a guided tour. It is actually more mindblowing than you could think. Very impressive.

We for instance learned that they clear and build up the stage in 40 seconds. And since the floor is a screen, they illuminate the sections where they should place the objects. First Australia where they place a harp, and just above here the tables for the UK song.

Hair and make up for the artists.

Press conference.

And of course a lot of nightlife.

The actual show was so much better than expected. Lots of fun. Of course super long, but fun. I got invited to the VIP area so no complaints.

But everything was sooo good live. You could really sense that every act used the whole room and not just looking at the camera. And everyone had been working for this three minute act so hard. All angles, all props, all dancers were on key. It was like the Olympic Games but for pop culture.

Not one act was bad. Of course you have your favourites but everything was so nicely executed.

Vienna is of course more than Eurovision. It is where my Forecast Club friend Alina lives. So a lot of coffee culture with her.

And just walking around.

Not a lot of time for sightseeing but I got to stop by the design museum MAK.

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The Class of 2026 is, as always, a wide-ranging crowd. Among the 175 students are textile designers, sustainability thinkers, industrial designers, craftspeople, and much more. Finding a common thread is not easy. Is there something distinctly generational here? The school itself points to war, destruction, and overconsumption as defining influences. But I’m trying to navigate this generation in my own way.

Last year, I noticed a strong urge to actually do things — not just discuss ideas, but work hands-on and make something happen.

This year, I see rituals, repurposing, and an ongoing fascination with waste. But before we get there: does form still follow function, or has creativity become the real driving force?

My report for this generation will start with this piece. A set by Karl Salomonsson.

It is interesting – and of course sometimes fristrating – running around and looking at 175 works. That means you really just give things a glance. This piece I passed, and gave it little thought. Didn’t really get it. But I happened to stop at talk to Peter Andersson who was tutoring this guy.

He explained that Karl started his process by following a creative thought. In this case the cow skin. His mind drifted and came to think of cowboys. And he built his set or collection around this thought or dream of cowboys. Not focusing on functionality or selfexpression. Basically just dreaming.

And this is new. Form follows creativity.

You can of course argue that this is classic Memphis style, but there were a lot of things at Konstfack where one looked at other values than strict functionality. And that is interesting.

Emma Stocklassa made a kitchen set where everything is a bit off balance. Not functional – but something else. Perhaps this non-flat surface would force us to focus on what’s on the table and skip the phones in our hands?

There were a lot of tables. Or “bring my people to the table”. Meetings, seeing eachother, rituals. Here Lilly Ellen Dormeier

Meeting eachother on a gigantic wool carpet. By Elvira Staf and Fanny Stengårds.

A tableware set that looks like a poppy. By Ida Wallin.

Rituals… I think this will be one of the most talked about student works. Here Carl Martinsson made a setting for a hospital when someone is passing.

Rituals and symbolism. Is it a Swedish maypole?

By Molly Björlind

More rituals and symbolism. Candle holders and a flower crown in metal. “Remember you are mortal”. By Emma Hansson.

At department of graphic design, there was even a book about rituals.

A second theme among the students, was the fascination to work with waste. Here textile designer Klara Djamila Kassman Soukkan

Åke Andersson built a system of bolts and screws so you easily can use waste and build your own chairs.

Waste as in pine cones. Grind the pine cones to a dust, add binding materials and then start 3D printing.

One student even went through the garbage at the school to find materials and make beautiful things. By Wendy K Skogstad

Not necessarily built from waste but perhaps AVOIDING waste. A collection of pieces where you easily can change fabrics and update your lamp or easy chair. By Isabella Werner.

And finally, just three things that spoke to me. Nothing about form follow creativity or waste. Just nice things.

Dimitra Konstantinidi made five textile pillars about her roots in Greece. Embroidery that made me think of Britta Marakatt-Labba.

Also just beautiful. Veneer work by Anna Hedström (for textile department…)

And this lamp. The whole piece is 3D printed – with moving, adjustable parts. Just add a light source and cords. And done! One material. So nicely done. By Nils Fallenius.

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Chunky

The list here is in no particular order, so this chunky aesthetics is not necessarily the most “important” one. But chunky easy chairs and dining chairs were everywhere. Above here is Kelly Wearstler for H&M.

Here Alivar. I actually noted that these kind of sledge runners were pretty common too.

Here at Zilio.

Chunky, textilie and almost a but 70s.

Even at Salone Satellite. Here Norwegian studio Kogl.

And Cassina.

Of course also at Tacchini.

But even wooden chairs feel a bit chunky. This at Zanat.

Nikkari

Michael Anastassiades

Sancal

Tacchini

Tok Studio

Emadlajevardi

But even dining chairs feel chunkier then ever.

Blå Station.

Tacchini

Luis Gimeno Design

Sofas

On the same note as chunky easy chairs – so are the sofas. Bigger and bigger and bigger.

I think this was the biggest sofa… Acerbis. Who needs a living room when you can have a sofa??

Colour

Everyone is talking about the colours from Milan. It is of course important for any business to get their hands on the right colour combination. At first it felt pretty difficult to pinpoint colours that were used. Perhaps because so many variations were ok. And slightly “un-innovative”… We have seen butter yellow for a few years and that was still seen.

My colour expert friend Alina said the colours were exactly the ones she talked about in 2021 (for 2023). It is a strange time gap. Are they already coming back – or did they not really push through then?

The colours Alina talked about then would be in my words: ochre, celadon, lilac, denim blue, nude and perhaps burgundy.

Looking at my pictures now I would say that the colours that stood out to me are a little bit stronger. The ochre needs a bit of punch. Perhaps a yellowish mustard? The burgundy also need more push. A bit of plum and raspberry?

Above two pictures from Moroso and B&B Italia. You can absolutely work purely with yellows.

But the most talked about colour installation was the one at Cassina. Combinations of yellows and burgundys with a colder white.

Nice colour combinations at Convey.

Yellows and burgundy at Artemest.

Dimore studio

Liberty’s

Kelly Wearstler for H&M

White aluminum and a pop red colour with yellow text at Flos.

Softer yellow and a darker red at CC Tapis

And almost everything at Nilufar Depot was red hues and yellow.

Here at Louis Vuitton

Two pictures above from Hermes installation.

But we also saw burgundy with celadon. Here at Alcova.

Burgundy, a bit of yellow and celadon at Bolon.

Celadon at Elle Deco exhibition

Celadon at Louis Vuitton.

Mutina

Kelly Wearstler for H&M again.

Kartell

Soft light

Moving on to lighting. I will write a separate lighting report for a Swedish magazine so this is just touching the surface. But I saw a lot of lights with a soft surface.

Also a lot of layering.

Layering at Foscarini.

6.00 AM

Glass

6.00 AM again. But in general a lot of soft, but square glass.

Glass Italia

Venini

Metal

We have seen white metal before and it is still around. Not done yet. Here Lara Bohinc.

At Alcova

More Alcova. I know some of my trend colleagues want to talk about chairs becoming jewellry. We’ll see…

But both shiny metal and matte.

Here Convey.

But also a we are starting to see more gold. Here Dimore Studio.

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(examples of design that feels computer generated. First two from Rossana Orlandi, purple easy chair at Nilufar Depot, butter yellow sofa from Urquiola at Moroso, purple sofa from Secolo, outdoor sofa from Ethimo, lilac chair at Cassina)

The Glitch

AI is no longer a novelty; it’s part of contemporary design. Over the past year, we’ve seen a surge of organic, almost sci-fi silhouettes shaping sofas and armchairs—fluid, otherworldly forms more generated rather than crafted. One of the most recognisable examples came from Patricia Urquiola for Moroso, though similar explorations appeared across brands such as Meritalia.

And yet, in 2026, something has shifted.

What we are now witnessing feels like a quiet counter-movement—a subtle resistance to the polished perfection of artificial design. I think of it as the Glitch. A deliberate imperfection. A rupture in the system. Perhaps even a longing for the human hand. Or maybe it is simply nature reasserting itself—unpredictable, irregular, impossible to fully control.

Craft is here too. The presence of a human hand.

One of the first pieces I saw in Milan Design Week was the gallery collection by Front for Moroso. They have previously flirted with how nature is affecting design, but now more in the presence of the hand. The geometry inspired pieces have textiles that are AMAZING. Everything is woven. Even the shading. Could AI do that? Maybe, but it feels real.

A similar dialogue emerges in the work of Ai Weiwei for Rubelli. His collection draws from digital culture yet is realised through traditional Chinese craftsmanship—a compelling collision of medium and message, where the “glitch” becomes both concept and process.

Elsewhere, the tables by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) for Nerosicilia stood out. Formed from sustainable lava, their surfaces rise unexpectedly at the centre, complete with cracks and irregularities. These are not errors to be corrected, but features to be embraced—gestures that feel “real”.

At Rossana Orlandi’s gallery, the narrative continued. A softly contoured rattan bench made no attempt to disguise its material or origin; it was proudly handmade, its construction legible.

Sketch-patterned furniture by Kiki & Joost.

Even in smaller details, the theme persists: the fractured surfaces of side tables by Nikari, or the subtle irregularity in wallpaper by Vivienne Westwood for Cole & Son. Imperfection, here, is not a flaw—it is the point.

Which brings me, perhaps inevitably, to Gucci.

Their installation wanted to be “the glitch”—Renaissance-inspired tapestries disrupted by digital distortions. On paper, it aligned perfectly with this emerging narrative. In reality, it felt hollow. Everything was machine-made; the “imperfection” felt calculated and computer generated. Even the floral elements— arranged in plastic trays—lacked any sense of craft. It was more “over the top” than genuine or authentic.

Ornaments, Non-Ornaments — and Layering

Opposites attract. I would say we see an equal amount of minimalism (but focused on geometry) and ornamentation. My trend friends at the Forecast Club and especially Alina and Susanna see a lot of ornamentation. Alina would say it is a season for art nouveau, but then again also art deco.

The cabinet above is from Natalia Triantafylli and Andrew Pierce Scott at Alcova and I see it return at many reports. As I understand it Scott is a carpenter and Triantafylli is a ceramicist giving the doors this ornamented look. Ornamentation means personalisation and if you buy it, you will most likely keep it for life.

Also part of the Forecast Club is Elisabetta and she talks about layering the interior room. Add things from different decades to give it personalisation. Like how Dimore Studio is doing.

Ornamentation is very often non-functional. It is something else. Part of this are all the fringes. We saw fringes everywhere. From Moroso to Knoll and to the young designers.

Art deco was a big part of the Louis Vuitton presentation too. A design with strict reduced shape we also saw at Hermes. And at Marni cafe.

Even Mutina celebrated the square.

Also outlines, something we saw by Faye Toogood at Meritalia, Johanson Design and by Studiopepe at Zanotta.

Spikes and Punk

A third, more vague theme emerges at the edges: punk.

It would be an exaggeration to call it dominant, yet it lingers in the shadows. I am starting to read about it a bit… We will see how it grows. Spikes, chains and a roughness.

Spikes. Above first from Alcova and second from Uzbekistan exhibition.

Chains at Alcova. The thing is – this is not in my aesthtics so I tend to miss a lot of these references…

Hard, stainless steel. Here at Polish exhibition. This is Mati Siporia.

Deliberate broken things. Lamp shade at Dimore Studio and a candle with no candle holder at Muuto. Raw, rough and reuse. Punk?

A gesture and attitude at Rubelli by Ai Weiwei.

In conclusion, it feels less like a fully formed movement and more like a reaction. A pushback against the softness and romanticism that has dominated recent years. The overtly “pretty” is receding.

This rose has thorns…

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