There are many strong collections that came out recently, but there is one that is in my view the most “newest of the newest” collection: Rust and Bloom by Sarah Sczepanski for Free Spirit Fabrics. It has shipped to stores this week.

The new Marcia Derse collection Marble Run for instance, is a very good collection - as is always the case with Marcia. I'm such a fan! - , but it is not totally new. The colors are following the traditional basics. The new Kaffe fabrics.. I had to have them... but not totally new. His signature style is not trend related.

Sarah's "Rust and Bloom”  is a collection that hits the current trends perfectly. It is a collection that wouldn’t be made like this a year or so ago. It’s truly "all around new".

I would like to invite you to take a look at Sarah’s video where she introduces the collection and her technique of creating it. She paints on glass and adds all kinds of little objects, creating monotypes, one of a kind pieces of art. Next, these pieces will go through a printing process. I don’t know enough about this art process, but I believe she and Marcia Derse, Seth Apter, E Bond, and probably many others, are children of the same art family, where a design is being created by layers over layers over layers. For that reason they all look so “organic”. They are using different mediums for this, but the layering concept is a common factor. All these collections have a wonderful depth. They are not so flat.

The most "artsy" designers are working with different colors, but we are seeing a lot of collections that are rich in design with less straightforward repeats.  There is a need to add some fun, some surprise, to an otherwise serious creative process.

Rust and Bloom is inspired by nature. That by itself is trend number 1. We are bringing the outside inside, wanting to have a better connection with the outdoor environment. This trend is at the moment at a very high and visible everywhere, of course also being helped by the Fall season.  You can’t buy clothing, kitchen supplies, groceries, anything really, without being marketed by elements of nature. It’s really unbelievable how much wood, branches, birch trees, mushrooms, forest animals are used to make displays in stores and online.

“Nature” can be a lot of things, but the most modern designers are not looking at trees, flowers, bees etc.  in their entirety.  They are looking at tiny little elements of trees, flowers and bees to design. It is as if they are walking around with a big lens to take very close up pictures of the tiniest details of nature.  I did that myself during a hiking trip this Summer and found this leaf laying on an old and rotten branch. How beautiful is that?  Just in this one leaf I can see the possibilities for many fabric collections and I wouldn't change or add much. It's gorgeous. It always comes down to that "look, Carly", as that formative Kindergarten teacher told me. I wrote about that in one of my first blogs. Look!

This nature inspired approach results in designs with, for instance,  the curves of flowers, the lines in bark etc. If you wouldn’t know it, you wouldn’t see that a particular tree or plant has been the source of inspiration. Sarah is a master in this process. In Rust and Bloom there is a beehive pattern, a rolling tide and crystalized ice. Who knew that those would make such wonderful designs? Eyes of artists!

By the way, almost all fabric companies are  coming out with nature collections, but with the more traditional designers nature is much more “in your face” and indeed depicting happy butterflies, foliage etc… It is much less detailed and  especially much less close. For instance, take a look at Woodsman by Riley Blake or Autumn Splendor by Northcott, nice collections in their own way, but not trendy new. There is quite a distance between the designer and their inspirations. 

The second reason why Rust and Bloom is so super trendy is because of the colors:  mostly darker tones, no white and especially that color rust. Rust is such a perfect color at the moment: it combines beautifully with darks. With browns, blacks, grey and navy it can be the pop color, as it is in this collection. Or  it can be the dark color (foundation) combined with greens, beiges and softer pinks. It's super versatile. Last year the trend was going towards the mid browns. This year it is with the mid browns! 

Also, have you heard the term "maximalist interior design?" This is supposed to be the opposite of "minimalist interior design". Minimal design has been super strong the last few years, with white and very light accents. Uncluttered, clean, simple, Japanese, negative space....all words that fit the minimalist style. At the moment we are at the beginning of a swing towards the other side: Baroque, cozy, busy, surrounding with personal memories, vintage, different textures. We will have to see how far it will go, because some rooms that I have seen are quite a carnival of clutter.  It's hard to believe that that's where we are going to and maybe we will not. A trend is only a trend after all...  but we are definitely making steps in that direction. Already there is a lot of velvet in furniture coverings. Wallpaper is back, bringing design and colors to walls. Old libraries are sources of inspiration, not in the last place because of all the issues that are suddenly connected to books and reading. The look of a library with a comfortable chair, darker light, darker walls filled with colorful titles and endless letter combinations. How did previous generations look and think about things?

Rust and bloom is picking up that sense as well by giving in 12 bolts so many different and interesting textures.

For combining all this,  trendy design, trendy color and  trendy texture together in one collection, I think it is a fascinating winner!  You can use them all together as is, but any of these bolts will add a new element when combined with other fabrics. The collection can make any of us creative!