The lines are heating up on Twitter about the Housewares Industry, so it’s time for me to do a post. The industry’s association lays claim to the housewares show growing by 500 exhibitors this year. And it does attract a fairly large audience, but I believe this is all about to change.

With Wal-Mart’s announcement that it plans to go direct with 80% of it’s products and the Housewares Show making up at least half of Wal-Mart’s vendor base, do we really think this is the show they will continue to display their wares at? From having worked this show for some 30 years, and being in that industry, I also know, have felt, and been keenly aware of how much has changed since the early heydays of the Housewares Industry in the 80’s. This show, traditionally held at McCormack Place in Chicago since it’s inception, used to have a building that we all knew to be where the start-up creative companies were. That building died out and got replaced by a larger segmented Housewares Show based on big business deals years ago. The little guy, if noticed at all, was shoved in a corner.

Now, international exhibitors are there in the back, the very back,(read Asian manufacturers) so if you need to source something just bypass your vendor and go straight to the back to make your deals. All very messy, but in the name of progress.

Still, as early as 8 years ago the industry also understood that it was putting on a show for about 5 accounts…Wal Mart, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club and maybe Container Store? The association was smart to start focusing on the kitchen and on the cooking side…more gourmet which nearly got wiped out in the 90’s but is now seeing a comeback. But is it wise to maintain this show on the basis that the merchandising team, product development team, and buyers of Wal-Mart along with Li & Fung can walk the halls (hiding badges) to copy what the vendors are doing instead of doing business with them?

My recommendation is that the show splits itself off into three parts, the cooking and tabletop guys go to the Gourmet Show held in San Francisco at Moscone Center, the creatives head for the gift shows especially the New York Gift Show in January or the Atlanta Gift Show held in July, and the housewares/hardlines guys head for Las Vegas for the Hardware and Lawn & Garden Show. There is also the craft show for those who were smart enough to forge into that market early on.

For the past three years I have been live blogging the Housewares Show, and industry since sustainability became the Hot Topic. With Wal-Mart both co-opting the subject and the industry by last May creating their Sustainability Index and the maxim that all vendors jump on board, I have moved on and recommend others in the space do the same. Target will be able to soak up only so many of the vendors that will depart Wal-Mart. Hopefully they’ve already seen the writing on the wall and have begun their exodus. This morning’s article from AdAge on Wal-Mart losing market share highlights the problems going on in this sector as well as some of the opportunities for vendors, and Warren Shoulberg, HFN’s editor, who is as honest as I am and equally if not more so knowledgeable about the industry, released both a video and a statement with the same recommendations I have. Kids, it’s time to diversify.

In the meantime, don’t believe everything you read or hear about the Housewares Industry especially if it is coming from the Housewares Association. It is very possible it has passed it’s prime. I still have not decided whether I’ll be attending this year as I have mostly moved my cheese already, but the show is next week. If for no other reason, the show will be good for color palettes which is a pretty sad state of affairs don’t you think? Whatever is being prognosticated and held up as trend worthy has already been presented to Wal-Mart and Target and maybe even mostly decided upon. Half the industry is going the route of supply chain to create a more sustainable company and most of us all already know about the 85-95% post consumer waste. I already know about the company in Brazil who has done some great product but it’s from food sources and people are reluctant to place this kind of demand onto farmers. Tabletop has been the most progressive with even that slowing up in recent years.
I covered some innovative companies last year, bodum and fusion brands, on 2modern’s design blog, and still consider them to be innovative companies, but really not much else is happening. Last year the show’s producers pushed color in countertop to be the thing that would make people buy. Color helps, but in this economy, I think real innovation is what is called for not half measures. This industry can run on some pretty low margins (thanks once again to Wal-Mart and Target) so innovation is not always what these manufacturers can afford. Aside from the mentions I’ve already written about here on my blog and 2modern’s, not much has changed, other than their color palettes and if I may say so, the color marketers may have been having their day in the sun as a result.

The only hope is if Rubbermaid or Sterilite licenses some of the innovations made in biodegradable plastics and those get placed in Wal-Mart and Target and then the pricing comes down so everyone can start to do the same. And if this is the case, I have not heard about it. I know it’s been being discussed, but I think we are still a few years from this kind of progress being made.

Info on show dates and exhibitors for 2010 is here. For more past article I’ve written on the Housewares Show visit this link here.

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It’s taking too long for the government to get a decent jobs bill out and if banks are only investing in sure things, where will the real innovation come from?

Seems to me putting people back to work is the fastest way to getting the economy back on track, and small business creates some 60% of the jobs, not to mention the innovations that tend to drive growth.

As much as I appreciate all three of these individuals, their soap boxes are getting tiresome to me. Actions speak louder than words. All three of these people and more are putting vast sums of money into third world countries. And while I applaud those efforts, we’ve got some work to do at home on our own shores right now.

So, Oprah, Bill, Warren, et al, let’s get to it. The dithering that is going on in Washington over how to spend the taxpayer’s money on programs that aren’t working for the country is scary. I’m thinking we shouldn’t wait for the government to make the difference. But that will require the private sector step up to the plate.

Above all, I believe in small business-now more than ever. And big biz, well, they’re showing their true colors, and it’s not pretty.

What say you?

For further reading on the impact this expanded period of unemployment will have read this sobering and indepth analysis of How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America from the March 2010 Atlantic.

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Tavi Gevenson, 14 year old internet fashion blogging sensation (image British Vogue).

When I put this piece together, I was watching Law & Order, the one where the Mom of a family of 10 adopted special needs children is murdered and the Dad, the day after, puts the family on a reality show. It ends with a dead locked jury so the suit is thrown out and the reality show host creates a new format with a new judge he has picked to decide on a whole other set of criteria (that the reality show host set forth), which didn’t have much to do with the mom who got murdered in the first place.

Burberry Prosum streamed their collection live as did others. I hope this trend continues.

It’s a seemingly far fetched possibility, yet the lines are getting pretty blurred in most everything, on an everyday basis between truth and fiction. Thank you cyberspace, cable television, Judge Judy and American Idol. The old adage believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see is never more true than this moment in history. With fashion, live streaming a runway collection has brought fashion so close to the masses that the mystique of the shows is gone with some designers making their clothing available, on the spot, straight from the runways. As a consequence how fashion is getting covered during these shows has changed too. It’s big business for the publications and all of them are all over it. Twitter has added a great element to following the shows so you’re never very far out of the loop. The fashion folks have been great about announcing the live streaming collections so if you can make it, you’ve got a front row seat, complete w/ 140 character tweets describing insiderey elements to a designer’s collection. Better than being there, almost.

In the process some fashion bloggers have become the latest internet sensation…deserved or not, it’s the novelty they offer and the demographic they speak to the industry is after (Tavi, above). Nonetheless, they are all the rage. Fashion itself was the least of the news, and in some cases rose to that level only. Where the medium became the sole message.

Balenciaga, left, Vivienne Westwood Red, center, Rodarte, right

That said designers at first blush were all over the place for fall 2010 (of course with the massive amount of coverage, most bad some good, what else is going to be your takeaway?). Taking a closer look myself, I was able to determine there were two significant profiles to emerge, a more feminine, almost girly one vs a more severe serious minimalist female with a third, and oddly enough lesser, one based solely on a creative expression serving to feed the sensationalism that speaks to a visual medium vs the female body.

Haider Ackermann, left, Lanvin, center, Prada, right

Beyond that, you will have lots of fab coats to choose from, fashioned leather to die for, fur (faux and real), velvet, feathers and, ladies, get ready, the waist is back. While the controversy over models on the catwalk being too thin has the industry putting models with slightly more meat on their bodies on the runway this season (thankfully) the designers have created overall collections that are more body conscious. The heavy layers of the past, while still there in some collections, focus more on the fact that women have waists and curves whether a more feminine or severe look. Turns out we’ve all got curves.

Well, you don’t say. And high time designers you figured that out. Of course some managed this obvious reality better than others. John Galliano for instance for Dior is apparently being criticized for an overtly romantic collection yet women love it. And Lanvin, who doesn’t do anything for the sake of sensationalism, turned out a unique body conscious yet easy collection for women. It combined successfully the best of both worlds, tailoring and draping. So you have a professional look that is feminine. He worked at that. Then you have Balenciaga who turned out a tremendously creative collection inspired by artists (and packing materials) but it has nothing to do probably with what women want. No matter, it makes a statement, if that is what you want and will be worth something in the aftermarket collectors have discovered on ebay and in vintage shops. Rodarte falls into this category as does Issey Miyake and Prada.

It’ll be interesting to see what the retailers do with what’s been handed them. Hopefully they’ve learned something from the past few years….worst thing they could do is badly knock off what they’ve seen on the runways using some unknown factory in India. With so much talent unemployed, it’s not necessary to use half measures. I guess we’ll see.

3/09/10 12/:53 p.m. Update:

Raf Simons for Jil Sander, Phoebe Philo for Celine, and Stella McCartney have all turned out highly minimalist collections, which most definitely has strength and I for one love the simplicity and strictness (tends to be more my style of dress); however, I see this as being specific to their design aesthetic vs a strong trend; infact, I will stick by what I’d alluded to above: that there is some nice combo of feminine and minimalist which Lanvin and Haider Ackermann as well as in New York Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan and Michael Kors spoke (did not forget you New York). (images to come).

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Last night during St. Louis Symphony’s performance of Mozart’s Requiem I bid farewell to Alexander McQueen and gave thanks for prayers answered that the world was spared of the horrors of a disastrous tsuanmi.

By now I am sure I’ve convinced you I’m a Twitterholic and not ashamed to admit it. It’s for now a very useful means of doing research, keeping people apprised of what I am up to, quickly, and getting my news fix, and lots of it.

The past few weeks however have been nearly intolerable. Not because people are unkind: exactly the opposite. If you like or think in big picture terms, however, as I do, sometimes the massive amounts of information that come at you in such short periods of time have you on more than a merry go round as I mentioned a few posts back; it’s more like a roller coaster and one of the biggest and meanest ones around. You’ll come away with more than a case of whiplash.

This morning when I got on Twitter, the news of the earthquake in Chile and its eventual full destruction was just breaking. That alone is horrifying. When you’re sitting there having your coffee and trying to think of quippy statements to say on Twitter, suddenly anything you might want to say seems pretty insignificant compared to what someone in the Southern hemisphere is going through at that same moment. It’s just too unbearable to think about and then ultimately how helpless you feel. I am not embarassed to say, it brought me to my knees.

News of Alexander McQueen’s death by suicide is still pretty fresh in my mind, even though it seems like eons ago….and of course we know the Haitians are still in hell and fighting like hell to get through whatever hell they’ve been through and are now in trying to get out of. God continue to give them strength and supplies.

The Olympics in Vancouver have conspired to be a part of the drama with the death of the Georgian in the Luge competition to begin with, but then we’ve got the lovely but heartbreaking story of the Canadian skater whose mother died 4 days before her competition where she showed a near Herculean strength to go on to win a Bronze medal. Thank God for Apolo Ohno and his unrelenting high spirits which he has been freely sharing while tweeting to his many fans.

And how can we forget the domestic terrorism from one of our own with the pilot who kamakaze like flew his airplane into an IRS building. Those of us on Twitter were made aware of the suicide note that he put online, but taken down in a few hours. Like Alexander McQueen’s twitter account was taken down very shortly after the announcement of his death.

People get to (and have to) react pretty quickly today because we are hearing about these things as they happen and sometimes at the same time. I am reminded of the riots in Iran. Innocently in a way you are on Twitter to do a job, at least I am trying to, and sometimes you just have to stop and get off in order to somehow square the mindbending events that have infiltrated your brain in the span of sometimes only a few hours. It can be like watching 4 of the worst horror flicks imaginable on different sets, all at the same. Why would you ever want to do that to yourself?

One thing I can say right now is that I wish I were John Travolta and could call my friends in high places and fly my own plane in to do some rescue work somewhere, anywhere in the world that it was needed. That was almost a Superman act on his part for the Haitians, one we are all grateful for. But then we are all doing what we can, when we can, with what we have.

Today though, no matter what I do, it just doesn’t feel like it’s enough. Prayers for the moment are the best thing I have at my disposal. And right now, on Twitter, that is what many are doing. So today especially I am going to believe in the power of the group and know that all those prayers and uplifting thoughts being sent to Chile will in someway, somehow make some difference and help give people the strength to get to safe harbor so they can help their loved ones or others in distress.

God bless, my thoughts and prayers are with you people of the Southern Hemisphere and on the Pacific Coast. Know that right this minute, I wish I could make it stop,now, and am praying that it will.

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designer Narciso Rodriguez

An outstanding round table hosted by Charlie Rose “Fashion Week Update” includes fashion critic Cathy Horyn of the New York Times, designer Narciso Rodriguez, CEO of J. Crew Mickey Drexler, and Elle Magazine’s fashion editor Roberta Myers.

The discussion is some of the most relevant I’ve heard about fashion and the state of it in well over a year. It’s frank, it comes from different perspectives and it gives some pretty clear direction in terms of where or how a company needs to position itself for future growth and some of the problems you’ll encounter along the way.

For an extra, extra treat, Mr. Rose ends the discussion with an interview he had with Alexander McQueen in 1997….this is a must see. The internet has changed how fashion and the market has functioned, forever. Time to get on board with it and start to understand how to salvage creativity and still earn a living, or become public and still be considered creative, and how the fashion editors fit in and will continue to fit in.

Great job.

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Alexander Wang…………………….Carolina Herrera………………Prabal Gurung FW 2010

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Today creativity suffered a severe blow with the death of Alexander McQueen. A true visionary, McQueen never failed to delight and to inspire the senses. In a world where there is too little of pushing the envelope and too much of going with the sure thing, McQueen always took the more difficult path. There was none other like Alexander McQueen.

His 2006/7 Autumn/Winter collection deeply informed my first trend newsletter, Trendcites, which has been on my site since. As such that is the collection I want to feature here as a tribute to his storied and brilliant career in fashion. Ironically that show was his tribute to Isabella Blow, another industry stalwart credited for discovering the brilliant Alexander McQueen and who had committed suicide a few months prior. But it was his Spring/Summer 2010 collection that he went live with in a collaboration with Nick Knight and ShowStudio that showed just how much Alexander McQueen was going to lead the fashion industry out of the woods. I guess he has left it to the rest of us to figure it out from here. R.I.P. Alexander McQueen. You will be deeply missed and never forgotten.

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As a small business owner myself, I have insight into this banking vs. small business vs. Obama’s small business proposals, much better than the pundits do and I can see there is many a slip between cup and lip.

Maria Bartiroma discusses Obama’s push for small bs lending w/banking executives…

It’s interesting to note that Maria didn’t have several owners of small business on this program to combat what the bankers were saying. I’ve heard nothing but war stories from small business owners looking for funding from their bankers, they having particulary good credit but needing to either purchase inventory for purchase orders or raise capital for purchasing product to resell (companies who have been in business for over 10 years, have steady clientele and can show they can pay the money back). In the course of running a business these are not unusual requests in any given year and heretofore businesses got the funding. Everyone I am speaking with these days can’t get funding (access to capital), at least the small businesses that the Obama administration is trying to support.

I wonder who these banks and Bartiroma define as small business. Listening to this report tells me they don’t know anything about how small business operates. Most of the companies who have been able then to gain access to capital for short term lending have had to reach out to angel investors or even friends to cobble together what they need or go without, thus the laying off of employees and the no hiring. So Obama is acting on good intel, however, what the bankers are saying about the federal regulators is also what I am hearing….the regulators have clamped down to a significant degree and have tied the lenders hands, as if things weren’t difficult enough anyway.

The New York Times reported on how badly the ARC loans (the Small Business Administration America’s Recovery Act program that was to have provided emergency bridge loans) have been administered. A lot of the banks aren’t even doing the loans because they seem so risky to them, and the ones who are have been very slow to respond to the small bs. owners needs. Sounds like what I’ve heard also from home owners who are trying to get their loans renegotiated….it’s a process that is slow to happen, constant keeping up….calling to make sure their paperwork has not fallen through the cracks, and then to only have a short term fix on the loan created.

In the private sector we talk about how all successful programs are based on good execution of a plan. And here is where this administration is failing is in the execution. Leave it up to Congress to create the details? That’s a surefire recipe for failure. While I don’t agree with most of what is said in the above video, I do agree that everyone needs to get on the same page. That’s not that difficult. We all speak English. However, the expectation that Congress can do its job accordingly is just foolish, too many in Congress act on the basis of their own agendas and petty squabbles come with the territory. We have a White House administration for this purpose, to set and administer policy. Leadership sets the directive, and makes sure the team has all the tools necessary to do it’s job.

True what they say that government should not be in charge but our private sector isn’t doing it’s job either. They are doing whatever they can to hang onto what they have (with the exception of the no account banking system which seems to be the one making money hand over fist & keeping it….this will come back to haunt them).

Maybe I should have titled this post the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, clearly.

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Could not help but notice:

Effeti Kitchen……………………………Dior Haute Couture 2010

Motivo-Ceaserstone ……………Mickey Rourke Golden Globes 2010

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“>Apple’s Classic 1984 Superbowl Ad

A number of trend forecasters, myself included, are jumping on the “act local” bandwagon. I say this at the same time I am encouraging small business in particular to consider the BRIC countries for export to help them through this sluggish economy.

This notion, acting local, is the single biggest factor to my launching a manufacturing business in St. Louis, MO. For My BFF is a pet bed and accessory company attempting to manufacture product right here on US soil, in my backyard, creating jobs and pumping money into our local economy. It’s a noble exercise and one based as much on faith as research. To say I’ve come across a closed and tight fisted community is an understatement, but that’s due more to our economy than my company. If anything, I have not been discouraged to continue on by our community’s leaders. People by and large want to see me make it but I do have to do the heavy lifting in the beginning. That’s just the way it is and I’ve accepted the challenge and picked up the gauntlet. So far so good.

But to all of you out there, as this is a blog that speaks about a range of topics which more or less highlights trends, be they socio-political, design, business practices, or color they are trends that you are supposed to be considering when you are planning next steps.

And going local is going to be a big movement. I’m sure you wonder about that given the size and nature of Wal-Mart, the power and influence of brands like Oprah and Martha Stewart, but that in and of itself speaks to the movement. These very institutions while enormously influential in our daily lives for a very long time have also created a sort of lock step life, a homogenized society because we’re all listening to a few voices, buying the same things, and going to the same places. Where’s the variety, where’s the innovation, where are the opportunities for millions of Americans to do it for themselves, to grow, to prosper themselves instead of making someone else very very very rich while they’ve lost their homes, their retirement accounts, their health insurance and their dignity?

Now if the emotional side of this argument isn’t interesting enough for you, I found this post at a fellow competitor’s blog and feel it’s only good business to link you to it. If you are looking for a way forward, know that there are more than a few of us who are in the same business and are on the same bandwagon. Besides, PSFK has an infographic and specifically talks about how the money flows when people shop local.

Then there is this article from the L.A. Times about trends for 2010 wherein Faith Popcorn speaks out about the movement to act local, “In fact, trend forecaster Faith Popcorn has made the concept of localization the cornerstone of her predictions for 2010,” say the authors of the article (see page 3).

For me when I think a trend is strong, strong enough for people to make money on, that’s usually where you will find me in action. So I don’t just forecast it, I get myself in the middle of the movement…thus the creation of For My BFF in St. Louis. It has a social component to it as well which again speaks to the need of the community.

It’s a little like Bill Gates (dare I speak about myself in the same vein as him?) who in speaking about innovation which is another very hot topic right now, illustrates how innovation works by talking about the things he is doing right now (The Gates Notes) that employ innovation as a tactic for finding solutions to societal ills such as discovering vaccines for malaria or creating a new educational system that will work for the future of America and keep it competitive on the world stage. Others write about innovation and dissect what it is, which depending upon who is doing the writing (that link is an excellent description of innovation called “Design Thinking”) or explaining, can be helpful or in fact damaging. Nonetheless, innovation is a key tactic to employ in your strategies for creating business in 2010 and beyond. It’s not a me too world anymore, it’s a “let’s break the mold,” kinda world.

It’s not for the fainthearted either but let’s face it, in a world where the status quo threatens our very existence instead of extending it, thinking outside the proverbial box has become a mandate for creating a sustainable future (and why I invoke the now infamous 1984 Apple Superbowl ad above…afterall look what Apple has accomplished since the breaking of that ad, need I say more).

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