Tracking Trends in the Contract Furniture Industry

by Alyssa Mellett

NeoCon, or the National Exposition of Contract Furnishings Show, is the world’s premiere event for the contract furniture industry . Manufacturers from around the world participate to display their latest creations and visions for the future. Every year, Formation attends, seeking inspiration and to keep our finger on the pulse of the design world.

High level themes that emerged from this year’s show included the blurring of lines between residential and commercial spaces, a heightened focus on sustainability , and the creation of flexible systems that can adapt to any office and any style of work. Here are four prominent trends we saw this year.

 01 | TEXTILES + TECH

Exploration in textiles was a huge theme at Neocon this year. From Haworth’s Digital knitting machine to highly textural fabrics, we are excited to see how this trend evolves in the future.

02 | COLOR

Color trends were incredibly consistent throughout the Neocon exhibitors. . The “nostalgic design” trend was embodied at Neocon through a colors reminiscent of the 1970’s. Soft, warm hues such as oranges and yellows were accented with muted greens and blues.

03 | SHAPE

Simple and soft forms were prevalent this year. The rounded shapes made the pieces feel approachable and comforting. In some applications, this approach felt playful and relaxed.

04 | POWER

With office trends continuing to move away from open floor plans, furniture companies are looking for ways to create a personal office-feel in the middle of a room. Because bringing electricity to these smaller spaces is a major hurdle, companies presented a variety of solutions this year. We can’t wait to see which will prevail in offices of the future.

Neocon 2019 was full of nostalgic influences, the return of, dare we say it, cubicles, and bringing the comfort of your living room to the break room. We’re excited to see how the emerging technology and evolving color, material, and finish trends shape the workplace of the future and influence adjacent industries. If you would like to see more from this year’s show and how we apply these trends to your business, contact us.