If you want to anticipate trends, you have to be comfortable with contraditions.
So says Robyn Waters, author of the new book The Hummer and the Mini: Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend Landscape
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Robyn, the former VP of Trend, Design and Product Development at Target (and a former podcast interview subject here at hear2.0) writes at length not just about how it’s possible that wherever one extreme exists the other can possibly exist; in fact, she says, opportunities are built on looking for those polar opposites. Trends live as opposites.
Says Robyn:
For every trend you can spot, there’s an equally valid countertrend at the other end of the spectrum. Today we wear Old Navy with new Gucci, and couture Chanel with vintage denim. Brand new suburban homes are filled with flea market finds. We show off our Michael Graves teakettle from Target on our top-of-the-line Viking stoves in our new gourmet kitchens, complete with cabinets from Ikea.
See more about the book here.
It should provoke you to ask this question about every new trend that faces us: What’s the opposite?