| Profile: Li Edelkoort - Trend forcaster |
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Li Edelkoort is one of the world's most renowned trend forecasters.
 Her work has pioneered trend forecasting as a profession; from innovative trend forums for Première Vision in the late 1980s to long-ranging lifestyle analysis for the world’s leading brands in the 1990s and on. Li announces the concepts, colours and materials, which will be in fashion two or more years in advance because, "there is no creation without advance knowledge, and without design, a product cannot exist." In this way, she and her closely-knit teams orientate professionals in interpreting the evolution of society and the foreshadowing signals of consumer tastes to come, without forgetting economic reality.Travelling, shopping and searching the world over, she is constantly steaming information and emotions, studying as well as her fabric of society, picking up materials, words, figures and flowers like a global beachcomber. More recently, her work has evolved into the realms of education at the Design Academy Eindhoven, humanitarianism within the Heartwear foundation, and curatorship as she delves into the art and design domain illuminating museums and exhibits around the world, such as ARMOUR in the Netherlands (2003), Skin Tight: the sensibility of the Flesh at Chicago’s MCA (2004) and North meets South at Centre Culturel Suédois, Paris (2005) and Stockholm's Nordiska Museet (2006). Born in Holland in 1950, she studied fashion and design at the School of Fine Arts in Arnhem, and upon graduation became a trend forecaster at the leading Dutch department store, the Bijenkorf. There she discovered her talent for sensing upcoming trends, and her unique ability to predict what consumers would want to buy several seasons ahead of time brought her to Paris in 1975, working full time as an independent trend consultant. Li Edelkoort has received continual recognition for her work in providing inspirational stimulus and fostering creative talent. In 2003, TIME Magazine named her as one of the world’s 25 Most Influential People in Fashion, while she received the Netherlands’ Grand Seigneur Prize one year later for her work in fashion and textile. 2004 marks the launch of The New York Times’ lifestyle magazine, T, to which Li contributes regular articles alongside Suzy Menkes and Stefano Tonchi. In 2005, Aid to Artisans honoured Edelkoort with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her support of craft and design. More recently, in March 2007, she has been named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. 2008 will see the launch of an internationally touring exhibit honouring Edelkoort’s forecasting as a landmark medium of social commentary. TREND UNIONTrend Union is a group of companies created by Li Edelkoort that encompasses interacting divisions, each specialised in a specific area of activity: trend forecasting for Trend Union, strategic consulting with Studio Edelkoort, publishing for Edelkoort Editions, Li Edelkoort personal consulting with Edelkoort Etc. and nonfor- profit humanitarianism with Heartwear. The group employs more than 30 people.  TREND BOOKSEvery six months, Li Edelkoort personally conceives the general Trend Book, which sets forth the main trends 2 years in advance. Printed in a limited edition of 250, this book expresses the trends in pictures, words, fabrics and materials that are sourced from all over the world and carefully compiled by the Trend Union team. Seven other books are part of a constantly renewed trend forecasting library: • The Colour & Lifestyle Forecasting Book presents the newest trends in the field of design, architecture and decoration. • The Colour Card for the season is a large fabric edition of the season’s colours, complete with a trend book of colour harmonies, and scissors with which to cut and develop personal colour cards. • The Beauty Book, which sets forth the trends specifically for the cosmetics, make-up and perfume industries. • The Pattern Book, which defines motifs and colours for coming seasons. • The Key, which sets forth the key shapes, forms and details for the clothing industry. • The Touch Book, for tactility trends in fabrics. •  The Menswear Colours for the men’s fashion industry.• The Colour Tool, a new trend book with colour combinations in the five interdependent fields of industry, casual wear, children’s wear, intimates, automotive and design. • The Well Being Bible, created for the growing well being market. The bible consists of fabric swatches,colour combinations and photos.  AUDIOVISUALS, PRESENTATIONS and TREND FORUMSTwice a year, Li Edelkoort creates a 20-minute audio-visual presentation that sets out in a clear and inspiring manner the trends that correspond to her general Trend Book. This presentation is shown to the Edelkoort Group’s 2000 clients, with viewings in Paris, London, Stockholm, New York, Tokyo, Seoul and Amsterdam. • Trend Union also creates specific trend books and audiovisuals for key industries. We have created hairstyling audiovisuals and trend booklets for Wella (Germany), a fabric trend book and audiovisual presentation for Luigi Botto (Italy), and a trend intranet site for L’Oréal International. • Trend Union also designs trend forums for professional salons. We have conceived and created the colours, trend audiovisuals and trend forecasting forums for the Pitti Filati yarns, Prato textiles and Moda Pelle leather fairs in Italy. Trend Union has agents on five continents, specifically in the following countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States.  STUDIO EDELKOORTOUR BACKGROUND AND OUR PHILOSOPHYStudio Edelkoort, established in Paris since 1991, is a creative, artistic and operational think-tank on an international level. Relying on its expertise in matters of trend forecasting and market study, Studio Edelkoort has developed made-to-measure services and offers an original, rhythmic, sensitive, generous and humanistic approach, where thought and analysis nourish intuition and creation. As such, we maintain privileged relationships – indeed veritable partnerships - with our clients, based on consistency, mutual respect and confidence. From that standpoint, our philosophy can best be described by four key words, which are our leitmotif: holistic, understanding the singular thanks to knowledge of the global; audacity, choosing for our preferences; exclusive, made-to-measure, that which is unique and confidentiality; prospective, providing a modern and avant-garde approach. OUR TEAMGert van Keuken and Sophie Lattes, Heads of Artistic Direction in coordination with Sophie Carlier, are surrounded by a highly qualified team of resourceful individuals: graphic artists, designers, artists, stylists and consultants. OUR EXPERTISE 1) Elaborating and advising product identity & development strategy. Designing and defining strategic directions regarding a brand’s identity, conceiving and designing products, operating as much on the mass market as on that of the luxury / upper range. 2) State of affairs, brainstorming and prospecting. By means of our studies, we help you understand the past to better visualize the future, in order to accompany you during the various stages of your thought process. We seek to grasp how the company functions, why it does and what is its nature. All of this is elaborated by an approach linked to heritage, to know-how, to the brand’s patrimony, crossed with our knowledge of trends, markets and competition. This is the basis for our work on identity, the brand’s DNA, allowing us to determine its mark and to cement its fundamentals for the future. To conceive these studies, we work in osmosis with our clients, always providing made-to-measure, unique work. 3) Trend studies and work on concepts. We have been listening to consumers and observing socio-cultural phenomena for over 14 years, in order to analyse and study fashions and lifestyles and to define as such major trends. Thanks to this background, we can develop new concepts in compliance with a given brand’s identity and legacy, as well as define the means necessary for implementing its strategic plans in the best manner possible. 4) Color and fabric inspiration. Following study of identity, we define innovative color ranges and harmonies, customized in keeping with the brand and its products. We conduct thorough fabric research (appearances, textures, performance…) in order to provide the “right” attributes for products. 5) New language. Whether it concerns work on iconography, sound or olfactory illustration, or even a study on naming, we help you define your language. 6) Graphics, packaging & communications. As a complement to your strategy, we also intervene regarding product design and graphics, packaging (2D and 3D), publicity concepts and events, developing forums for trade fairs. OUR CLIENTS Studio Edelkoort’s field of action encompasses both global and local customers; our forecasting ranges from the short (6 months to 1 year) to the long term (3 to 4 years, even 5 to 10 years). Following is a condensed list of the multiple areas of activity for which our know-how and services are renowned: • Paper industry: from paper to hygiene • Automobile industry: from concept to equipment • Beauty universe: from perfume to cosmetics • Mass consumption: from food industry to maintenance products • Accessories: shoes, watches, jewelry… • High-tech industry: from telephony to electric and electronic devices • Textile and garment industry: from sportswear to lingerie • Home environment: kitchen, bathroom, table arts, textiles EXAMPLES  Beauty and CosmeticsIn the beauty industry, for over fifteen years Studio Edelkoort has developed colour and material concepts for Estee Lauder cosmetics and has worked on the concepts for Trésor perfume by Lancôme, Noa and Nemo perfumes by Cacharel, and Envy for Men by Gucci. In the realm of concept and design, the Studio developed the concept, packaging and store concept for Shiseido’s Qiora products and brand identity and packaging studies for Procter & Gamble. Studio Edelkoort also did the naming for Gucci’s Rush perfume. The Studio has created its own perfume in collaboration with Quest; entitled Enjoy!, this fragrance is redolent of fresh hay and civet. Food and Drinks Studio Edelkoort has developed new product concepts for Coca Cola as well as brand identity studies for existing brands. It has worked on lifestyle studies and their implementations on product development and communication for ice creams and soups and realized studies on the future of tea and coffee for Douwe Egberts. Automobile Along with its long-term collaboration with Nissan, Studio Edelkoort also worked on concept studies for European brands. Indeed Li Edelkoort is at the origin of the first Micra’ concept, sacred in 1993 as the best car by the Car International Award and of the new Micra.  EDELKOORT EDITIONSEdelkoort Editions produces its own (advertising-free) trend publications, in collaboration with highlytalented stylists and photographers. VIEW ON COLOUR : The colour forecasting book  View on Colour's goal is to speak the language of colour and creativity to inform and inspire professionals all over the world.The first issue of View on Colour was published in October 1992 and it is currently published four times a year. View on Colour investigates colour trends and explains how they will influence and find influence in different areas of the market such as fashion, textiles and yarns, design, cosmetics, automobiles, art, cuisine, and many more. The trend information is given in thought-provoking photos, drawings and text, all created specifically for the magazine. The magazine has received several international awards. Number of copies published: 12 000 NB: currently “on sabbatical” BLOOM : a horti-cultural view  Bloom, created in 1998, is a magazine devoted to trends in flowers, plants, seeds, and gardening, both indoors and outdoors.Bloom is the first magazine of its kind, analysing with informative and inspirational photos and texts the major trends in this area. Bloom speaks to all levels of the industry, from hybrid creators to growers, buyers, distributors, retailers and florists. It is also destined for the public as well as professionals in industries as varied as cosmetics, packaging, etc. Current number of copies published: 6 000 EDELKOORT ETC. This is the personal consulting company of Li Edelkoort. Whereas she has a number of the highest-qualified stylists and consultants working in her companies, Edelkoort Etc. involves clients she works with personally, as well as the many trend and lifestyle speeches she gives to professionals in all industries all over the world. In 1999 Li was elected chairwoman of the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Spending a week of every month at the Academy, she has been instrumental in re-creating and developing the curriculum and the student body. Along with Liesbeth in’t Hout, Li created the IM (I am) Masters Course in Design, which focuses on self-realisation within an atelier that mixes industrial, interior and identity aspects of design. On September 11, 2001 they decided to launch the Master Course in Humanitarian Design, convinced that sharing and giving back will have to become a part of the future of the planet. Li believes that “design must integrate the functional and formal aspects with spiritual and emotional ones, and find a balance between the virtual and the handmade.” She strives to create fusion and blur borders between disciplines, dreams and realities. Since 2002, Li has worked with Marcel Wanders’ Moooi brand to develop Moooi Weer, an annual colour forecast in paint for renewing furniture and illuminating interiors. Launched each April at Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, the first two colours featured were Sunshine yellow and a bolt of fluoro Thunder. In the summer of 2003, Li curated a multi-disciplinary exhibit at Fort Asperen, the Netherlands. ARMOUR: the fortification of man brought together the likes of Marina Abramovic, Estudio Campana, Shirin Neshat, Yoko Ono, and Marcel Wanders, for a look at our recently-revived need to defend ourselves through fortification, narration, concentration and sharing. The exhibit received worldwide acclaim and even inspired a television documentary produced in collaboration with the VPRO Network. The project has led to curatorial requests for other exhibitions on art in design in 2004–05 in Chicago, Paris and The Hague.  HEARTWEARIn 1993 with a group of stylist friends Li Edelkoort created the company Heartwear, a non-profit association which helps artisans in developing countries tailor their products for export, without compromising the skill, knowledge, culture and environment of the region involved. Heartwear has chosen to manufacture high-quality products and to distribute them on a confidential scale, by mail order, direct sales and wholesaling. Once Heartwear has established a link with a region or a collective, it tries to sustain a long-term relationship by developing and evolving the local offer. For instance, Heartwear has developed indigo textiles for home and fashion with artisans in Benin, ceramics with potters in Morocco, and khadi cotton in India. Profits are re-invested in the home country with the ultimate purpose to make these cottage industries become independent and generating an economic impulse to the region through local and export markets.  CONTACTS • TREND UNION phone : 01 44 08 68 80 fax : 01 45 65 59 98 e-mail : commercial agent: Corinne Lassalle • STUDIO EDELKOORT phone : 01 44 08 68 88 fax : 01 43 31 77 91 e-mail : Sophie Carlier • EDELKOORT ETC. phone : 01 44 08 68 88 fax : 01 43 31 77 91 e-mail : personal assistant of Li Edelkoort: Philip Fimmano press & communication: Stéphanie van Delft • EDELKOORT EDITIONS phone : 01 44 08 68 88 fax : 01 43 31 77 91 e-mail: • HEARTWEAR phone: 01 44 08 68 88 fax: 01 43 31 77 91 e-mail: Share this Article:                        Advertisement |
