Consumer Trends 2024/25: after a 10-year absence, how colour is preparing its comeback in the world of gardens
JdC Garden Trends is a unique opportunity to take the temperature of the market, sketch out the future and firmly establish the new strategies ahead, on a neutral ground with unobstructed visibility. To help you see clearer and further, discover the market analysis brought to you by our partner, the trend consultancy CHLOROSPHERE. Let’s take a look at the changes happening in our market.
A look back for perspective: the garden world, dominated by timeless collections since 2015
The period following the subprime crisis, stretching from 2010 to 2015, saw the emergence of some colours that were both unusual and stimulating for the garden world, reflecting a desire among consumers to reconnect with carefreeness and joie de vivre.
After the colour trio of light green, fuchsia and purple reigned over the French garden market from 2010 to 2015 – much to the surprise of our European neighbours looking on in astonishment – collections calmed down considerably: the ever-present charcoal grey 7016 became the undisputed standard, much to the delight of DIY stores in the departments of pottery, gates, stones and cladding, spas and decking.
Why this colour? Because it equates to zero risk taking: not just for manufacturers and retailers, but also, and more importantly, for the consumer: a way of avoiding becoming tired of their surroundings by modernising with a sure fire winner.
Hailing from the architecture world among other areas, this colour married magnificently with joinery, doors and windows, but also with the car.
Since then, generally speaking, in interior design and extending into the garden, our consumption has become harmonised around an ambience that may be “modern”, but has become dull to our eyes. Is a grey garden really the lush Eden we were hoping for?
Today, a garden market aiming to get greener
Since around 2019, the manufacturers in the garden market have been competing in a race to “greenitude” – to be greener than green. On a battlefield where the onus is on nature, the eco-friendly alternatives to conventional products have become a persuasive argument, particularly in the departments of garden care and treatment, textiles, powered tools, pottery and furniture.
With this in mind, a new aesthetic is now making its appearance in the mass market: the natural garden.
We can take today’s luxury hospitality industry as an example. The word “modern” is no longer associated with a grey and mineral architectural ambience, but rather with a chic, natural image where wood is placed front and centre. In international jargon, “modern” furniture collections are now primarily made of wood (Robinia, Paulownia for example), mesh, woven goods and drapes, where not so long ago the norm was aluminium, resin and mineral effects.
The latest authoritative demonstrations in the garden world endorse this trend: whether at the international garden festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire, at Jardins, Jardin, at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, or in the Carré des Jardiniers contest, landscape design today is guided by this quest for authentic nature.
Tomorrow: away with doom and gloom, bring on the colour!
Like the post-crisis period of 2009-2010, we're in the midst of the post-Covid-Ukraine-Inflation crisis. With the prospect of a global celebration at the Paris Games, a stabilization of inflation and the prospect of new universal challenges such as the advent of A.I., space reconquest and Year 1 of the climate era, the counters are being reset for a new, more optimistic start.
The first signs of this clean slate were marked by the much-vaunted arrival of Barbie who lightened things up and bucked the trend of an overly drab world.
The film, which had already been touted a year before its release as a global megatrend with the hashtag #barbiecore, was the biggest box office launch in 2023, the most profitable film of the year, and became one of the top ten most successful movies in history worldwide. Embraced by the Millennial generation (23% of the total population and 50% of its consumers), this phenomenon is a reflection of the commercial potential of this group in search of (colourful) nostalgia of the 1980s and 90s, and self-expression.
Since then, the leading names in interiors, architecture, design and branding have cared about just one thing: colour!
As seen in the biggest flower show in the world in Philadelphia, colours have become electric, contrasting, and all-pervasive.
Visuels : Philadelphia Flower Show 2023.
In fashion, beige has become the reference in chic and trendy styles. In spring 2024 it is set to be superseded by tangy, fluorescent pastel or even psychedelic combinations, as the 2023 Louis Vuitton campaign demonstrated, where Kusama’s bright colours supplanted the two-tone brown monogram.
Visuels : Campagne vuitton 2023
On a smaller scale, but just as remarkable, the car industry is registering new colours in their top five sales, such as green as seen with Dacia Duster, Peugeot 308, Kia Sportage, Toyota Highlander, or Opel Mokka.
Visuels : modèles automobiles 2023 sortis en coloris vert
With substantial support from generative artificial intelligence, the trend of a colour explosion has gained traction and reach on a global scale: users entertain themselves by reinventing their everyday lives in 1,001 colours.
And it’s no coincidence that the leading tourist destination in Europe, Disneyland Paris, has put the full weight of its 2024 strategy behind a “symphony of colours”, with new shows, decoration and parades!
Visuels : symphonie des couleurs disneyland paris 2024
Beyond all these powerful indications, the international interior design tradeshows of late 2023 and early 2024 also returned a unanimous verdict: it’s goodbye to doom and gloom, and welcome back to colour!
At JdC Garden Trends 2024: how can colour play out?
At the show entrance, you will find a display of a brightly coloured garden which will reveal the general trends of the exhibition; the sectors of open air, decoration, fittings: brands and retailers cannot afford not to include a touch of colour in their 2024-25 collections.
For the most reluctant among them, the “risk” of breaking with prudent timelessness could simply be confined to garden accessories, tool shafts etc.: small details that are discreet but present. For the advocates of a playful and colourful spirit in the garden, the most daring gambles can be attempted, to at last bring a bit of diversity to black & white-dominated ranges such as barbecues, furniture or structures like pergolas and privacy screens.
To help us in our task, some technologies and new materials have serious advantages. Artificial intelligence of course, but also technical breakthroughs like melted recycled resins or Jesmonite, which bring a more colourful, unique and sustainable touch to table tops for example by using acrylic colours on a solid gypsum base.
Between these two visions (total look versus subtle details), accessories will naturally be a choice ally: cushions, rugs, lanterns, lighting and small statues will all have a key role to play in this makeover of our market.
So book the dates of 26 to 28 March 2024 in your diary for JdC Garden Trends, where you can take a deep dive into this new exciting dynamic!
By Manuel Rucar