Christmas trends 2018

I think most people in Sweden know I am a huge fan of Christmas. I love Christmas. At the country house we have three Christmas trees and two table sets with only Christmas decorations, etc, etc.

I love Christmas so much that Arlanda airport actually called and asked me to do their official Christmas installation. They called twice!!

This year, I am doing something different. Last week I invited approximately 50 journalists to a conference with just Christmas trends. And this is what I will share here. These are the Christmas trends of 2018.

Christmas has really changed over the years. In the olden days Christmas started on Christmas Eve and lasted through the darker months almost all the way until Easter. Today Christmas starts late November with glögg and parties with friends. You can also see how Christmas has shifted from full focus on families towards more with friends.

But overall Christmas has been a season to treat yourself. Noone starts a diet in December. And Christmas has become a season when you treat yourself some nice decoration such as a new tableset or new ornaments for the tree. This is why all the premium brands now are launching Christmas stuff. These things aren’t necessarily gifts for someone else but for yourself. Treat yourself. So focus is shifting from being nice to grandma and instead doin things that you like.

We will see how consumerism goes this year. Retail is going down and the number of people saying they want to spend less money compared to last year, is increasing.

Just one example of how all premium brands now are addressing Christmas. This fancy ornament is not something you give to someone else – you treat yourself. By Monica Förster for Georg Jensen.

This is my absolutely most expensive Christmas ornament. This is a Christmas bulb by Hermès. I think is costed me 200 euros…. Damn…

Yet another exampel of how Christmas is changing. All of a sudden we have started buying Christmas tableware. And this is really, really strange. Who would want a table set you use once per year? But this is yet another example of how Christmas has become a holiday where you want to have nice things around you. And yes – treat yourself. This by Royal Copenhagen.

So I have been scouting the world and visited numerous fairs to try and filter down what trends we could expect to see for Christmas.

A tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. Here are my four Christmas trends for 2018. Red and black, a trendy colourful, Scandinavian and a historical one.

1. 1. Red, black and lots of text.

So this year we have seen a lot of statements and text on everything from t-shirts to plates and pillows. We will of course see that on our Christmas ornaments too. The Christmas bulb above from Macy’s.

This from Donkey Products.

A bit blurry but you get the idea. “All I want for Christmas…”. From Räder.

But it will of course also be red. Lots of red. As usually for Christmas. But I see it a little more matte than usual. This from House Doctor.

This from Shishi

More red. Here the annual Christmas ornament from Swarovski.

A Christmassy tray by Åry Home.

And Alessi.

There is also talks about Scandinavian midcentury inspiration. Graphical details and almost African. These from Madame Stoltz.

More from Donkey Products.

And Räder.

2. Trendy colours

The second trend I want to emphasize is the one with colours. You could do a very colourful Christmas tree with all sorts of colours you like. You could even do a rainbow tree. You can add quirky stuff and just make it fun. But – there is of course also an extremely trendy alternative. I am pretty sure our social media feeds will be filled with the “right” colour combinations. These colour matched trees will be extremly trendy.

Here a super trendy colour combination by Broste.

And here are two non-branded colour settings. As you can see the colour of the Christmas bulb is extremely hand picked. There is actually no easy answer to which colours you should get… My suggestion is that you flick through a fashion magazine and pick out some colour combos you like and try to match with bulbs.

This trend includes a bit of humour. Make sure it is balanced and in the right colours you use… The blue and pink santa and the uniqorn/raindeer is from Anthropologie.

Strange Christmas colours by Alessi.

Again – just look at the colour combination. This by Shishi.

Tons of uniqorns and llamas.

And of course all kinds of candy and icecream. All these from Goodwill.

3. A Scandinavian Christmas

Well, Santa is from the Nordic region. Finns and Swedes fight about where he is from originally. This is a calm, crafty Christmas. Very “hygge” or “lagom”.

Christmas ceramics by Cult Design.

Madame Stoltz again.

The two pictures above have a solemn and Scandinavian feel to it. And everything here is from Rusta.

Wooden details. Basically no colour.

Raw branches and trees with just dark colours.

House Doctor

Madame Stoltz.

House Doctor.

Inspirered by nature.

Even Christmas bulbs get inspirerd by nature.

From Goodwill.

Last year I announced the Christmas colour of the year to be brown. This year I would say it is more green. And this suits this Scandinavian calmer trend.

4. A historical Christmas

There is almost always a historical or manor like reference among the Christmas tree installations I see. Some companies call it “lodge” or “chalet”, but I think you get the idea. Lots of tartans, brass and historical references.

Picture from Goodwill. In the corner we see a stag. And yes, I guess Santa will stop working with raindeer and focus on stags continuously. Anyway – plenty of stags.

Here from Bloomingville.

Also Bloomingville.

All these Christmas ornaments are from Goodwill.

And of course you will see plenty of stags.

And I would say that fancy cut crystal fits this Christmas tree as well. Here by Frederik Bagger.

God Jul and only four months til Christmas – or if we think about it – only two and half or three months until we can start decorating for Christmas.