Skip to main content

Trendsetter Fox


"As the sun sets" - charcoal,ink and watercolour sketch . Copyright Wilma Simmons  
The "woodland" creature  as a trend in  fashion and home decor and  bespoke design was (and in many places, still is) very popular. Dashing deer antlers, awesome owls, and then fantastic foxes.... I know I am often behind the times with trends, but I was surprised to hear that foxes have been "in" for well over 3 years! Perhaps a year I thought, but it seems that foxes have been on the rise as a popular design motif for some time. At the well known  international Renegade Craft Fairs  there were reports of items with "fox" images to be the best sellers as early as 2011 and then followed the predictions...
 "Trendspotters  called it  back in February. (2012) More and more, foxes are popping up on the radar as stylish elements in design, outfoxing the omnipresent owl as the It thing in woodland animals. Could foxes be the new owls in hipster home decor?...  Remember when every store you went into had some sort of Owl decor? Well bye-bye owls...Foxes are in! Amanda Etty was ahead of the game calling this trend out back in the January 2013 issue of Style At Home , and it's still going strong!   ( (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/trendspotting-are-foxes-the-new-owls-181403 and http://www.styleathome.com/shopping/buying-guides/article/foxes-are-the-new-owls)
Fox amigurumi - handmade purchase from Renegade Craft Shop, Townsville Queensland 2016 
How did the fox replace the owl as the "hipster" animal design star? 
I am not sure if anyone has written a PHD thesis on how trends are determined? 
However, some reasons for animal trends have been attributed to : 
- pop culture   The owl certainly didn't lose in the popularity stakes when Hedwig was featured in Harry Potter books and movies? Which animal has been featured in the latest Disney movie?
- current financial situation/lifestyle It has been said that we may have subconsciously turned to the owl, the symbol of wisdom during the Global Financial Crisis 
-adaptability of form, offering many  depictions and interpretation s appropriate to many different audiences. 

Art Tag "Kitsune" - Copyright Wilma Simmons 
I think foxes captured designers' imagination because of their multiple personalities - I am sure you have seen cute,  clever, mischievous, wily and wicked versions of foxes. The fox as a form can be adapted to many age groups and tastes across cultures.  For example, I think the fox can be a symbol for males or females and  stylised in a very contemporary minimalist way, traditionally depicted in a more English aristocratic "stately home" setting,  or even illustrated as a cute  child-friendly cartoon character. With so many stories about foxes, both folk tales and children's stories from so many different cultures, it would appear that the fox has a universal appeal. 

Is it now time for the fox to fade into oblivion too? From what I see, both the owl and fox seem to be still popular design choices and appear destined to be in favour for a lot longer  . However, here's a tip - one of  the style forecasts for 2017 by Home Beautiful  is  Botanica, with its rich ripe colours and textures from nature. Perhaps the plant world will take over from the animals as style trendsetters... What's your prediction?     
 

  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is it a mutant? Is it an alien? It's an octopus - or is it?

Have you ever thought how strange a creature the octopus is?  This week's fascination started when I asked the question, "What colour is an octopus when it's underwater?"  The answer is  "any colour it wants to be " -  An octopus' coloration depends upon its surroundings.  An octopus possesses the ability to alter its coloration depending on its immediate environment. This defensive technique protects the animal from predators and entices prey to come close to the animal . ((from  https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/color-octopus-be94f74fcdc74ebe)    . Why did I want to know the colour of an octopus? Because I wanted to draw octopus tentacles as mermaid hair for my art journal! Then, I began to think it might be considered a little too weird and even perverse to give a mermaid octopus hair.... Facebook friends assured me that this was not so, citing Medusa and her snake hair as a precedent, and even one friend said that she thought it was l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stitched Faces

I   've always enjoyed that imperfect line of  "not quite in control' free motion machine stitching....  I think it really suits creating portraits , giving them some character and even a quirkiness that hints of personality plus.  These ones below are from my " Red Cheeks" series from a couple of years ago, and are amongst my favourite stitched portraits.  The current Stitch Club ( textileartist.org) workshop, by  Batool Showghi has inspired me to stitch more this week. Batool , of course, is in complete control of her machine stitching and her works are exquisite and they tell a moving story.  ... " Working with paper, print, paint and stitch, her textile art bears witness to displacement, silenced women and the damage that authoritarian regimes impose on ordinary lives. Batool’s mixed media wall pieces are incredibly striking, but her artist books truly set her apart. Printed imagery of family photographs, birth certificate documents and her o...
Post a Comment
Read more