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We are excited to welcome The Better Trends Co. back to Top Drawer for their residency as our official trends partner. Founder Louise Healy shares her takes on the trends to know for the upcoming season.

Read that however suits your brand, but the underlying message is the same: finding your authentic vision and expressing it without apology is now your strongest USP.

Homogeneity, AI slop, deepfakes and trend cycles that turn over faster than most people's lunch breaks have made one thing clear: holding onto a genuine creative point of view is the real differentiator.

Everyone can (though not everyone should) create using generative AI. From logos and posters to films and social content, we have all seen more than enough regurgitated imagery, messaging and products.

Designer or retailer, the message is the same: your odd niche, your strange colour palettes and your imperfect lines are exactly what customers are looking for right now.

My Top 5 Trend Takeaways:

• Handcrafted Everything
• Intellectual Renaissance
• Colour Clash
• Ugly Beauty
• Maximalist Makers

See below for more detail on each and my strategic recommendation for how to act on them.

1. Handcrafted Everything

The imperfections, the one-of-a-kind products, the hand-drawn illustrations and the woodblock print; this season we are seeing the resurgence of intentional artisanal media. AI and digital tools cannot replicate handcraft, and this is where the market is growing. If you don’t produce products directly by hand, what parts of the process involve the unique hand of the designer or artisan? Can you emphasise this in your comms? Focusing on the creative hands behind your business opens up your process and showcases the care and thought that goes into your collections.

2. Intellectual Renaissance

Niche hobbies and immersive learning are the counter to the shallow, surface-level knowledge that comes from an AI prompt or search engine. Customers are looking for ways to engage with crafts and making, growing and gardening, or learning a new skill. Physical book club meets and vinyl listening bars have grown exponentially over the past few years. We all want to learn and absorb through something other than a screen and second hand information. How can your brand and product help your audience embrace their interests? What analogue pastime could you support? Can you capture a new audience through your offer?

3. Colour Clash

Digital colour looks smooth and digestible; there are apps and platforms that show rows of perfectly matched and complementary colours to use in your designs. It’s easy and transactional to choose palettes for your work, website and brand. However, the movement towards palettes that go beyond a comfortable aesthetic is growing, and this is where brands are showcasing their personality most. Review your assortments and see where you can use clashing or unusual colour combinations. It can be a small accent or a large swatch, but it has to be right for your brand. Could it be in the visual merchandising of your products? Placing unexpected hues together through product placement can attract attention and spark curiosity.

4. Ugly Beauty

This comes from reconnecting with nature and slowly realising that nature isn’t picture-perfect, but odd and fascinating. Growing trends include soil investigation, mycelium and underground networks, bacteria and microbiome exploration. Sea slugs are one of the most popular creatures featured on designs from indie makers. We love weird, and nowhere is it more evident than in our new awareness of the natural world. Embrace and spotlight elements in your product or marketing that speak to the exciting, the new and the strange within nature. Eco-conscious goes beyond recycling and other previous tropes, moving into a space of regeneration and exploration. Dial up foliage, flora, soil, mycelium, making with nature, animal ecosystems and anything that captivates and educates from this new perspective.

5. Maximalist Makers

Bold and cluttered visual expression signals warmth, creativity and real life. Streamlined and smooth visuals feel sterile and inert in comparison. Clashing patterns and juxtapositions of unlikely elements push the maximalist agenda of joyful rule-breaking. Look across your brand and ask where you can afford to be more expressive. Could your photography experiment with pace and flow? Could your displays tell sensorially rich stories? Maximalism isn't about adding more for the sake of it; it's about creating moments of delight, discovery and personality. Review  your customer touchpoints: in a marketplace of increasingly polished sameness, intentional excess can become an unforgettable brand asset.

Join Louise Healy at Top Drawer for the Retail Revealed Live session, ‘Trends in Action: What’s Shaping Retail Now and Where to Find It on the Show Floor.’

Tuesday 15 September | 11:15–12:00

Retail Revealed Live Stage

Want to find out more? See which trends are key for this and next season in our installation on The Better Trends Co. stand, ground floor in front of the central staircase.