MC&Co Trend Journal
Colour and Geometry in the Age of Uncertainty: Rogers and Van Duysen at Ningbo Dibao
Molteni&C's new Ningbo Dibao tower places a Richard Rogers building around a Vincent Van Duysen interior, with Gio Ponti pieces reinforcing the direction. Together they confirm what we have been forecasting across the premium category: colour is returning, and it is returning through disciplined geometry. This is what that shift looks like in built form, and what it means for the next two buying cycles.
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Why Inspiration Is Not Enough in Product Development
The design industry now has unprecedented access to inspiration. Trade fairs provide hundreds of references within days, social platforms showcase new interiors, products and materials constantly, and AI can generate fully resolved spaces in seconds. Access has expanded significantly, yet outcomes have not improved at the same pace. Many businesses still struggle to build product assortments that feel resolved, commercially relevant and clearly differentiated. The issue is not a lack of ideas. It sits in what happens after those ideas are gathered.
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Acid Cottage: A Charged Interpretation of Familiar Space
Across the current interior landscape, several aesthetic directions are exploring how familiarity is being re-engaged with greater intensity. Domestic references continue to hold relevance, particularly those rooted in heritage, craft, and recognisable spatial language. Within this broader movement, a number of expressions are introducing more energy, saturation, and personality into these established formats.
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What Comes After Biophilic Design? | The Rise of More Architectural Natural Interiors
Why nature in interiors is becoming more architectural, more disciplined and more resolved
For the past several years, biophilic design has offered the market a clear emotional proposition. Plants, natural light, earthy finishes, and organic references gave interiors a softer, more restorative perspective.
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When Visibility Is Mistaken for Intelligence
Is it just me or is there a growing cacophony of trend forecasts being released in 2026?
Every week seems to bring a new report, a new point of view, a new prediction of what comes next. With AI now able to generate convincing narratives and imagery at speed, it can feel as though anyone with a degree of intuition, and the right prompts, can present themselves as a forecaster.
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The Rise of Reduction: A Strengthening Movement Within Contemporary Design
A Clear Shift Is Forming Across Design
An evident shift toward reduction is emerging in interiors, furniture, and homewares.
Products feature fewer details, spaces use more restrained palettes, and ranges are more focused. The visual language is clearer and easier to interpret.
This trend is most apparent in businesses that prioritise clarity, focus, and long-term usability, and in businesses that simplify their range architecture and product identity.
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Retail Channel Strategy Should Prioritise Purpose Before Execution
Research on omnichannel retail, frequently cited by Harvard Business Review and McKinsey, shows that customers value consistency across touchpoints. When brand identity varies between store, website, and marketplace, customer trust declines.
Aesthetic direction forms the emotional core of a brand and should remain consistent across all channels.
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Stop Starting With the What | MC&Co Trend – Clarity for What Comes Next
Why understanding why and when is more important than simply pursuing the next trend
For years, the design and interiors industry has focused on identifying the 'what.'
What colour is “In”?What style is “Out”?What trend is replacing the last one?
“In and out” lists dominate headlines, and Colour of the Year campaigns reset the narrative each January. Inspiration is delivered quickly and assertively.
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A Louder Kind of Classic
Classic design rarely announces its evolution. It absorbs influence gradually, shaped by time, culture, and use, not reaction. Change arrives quietly, often noticed only in hindsight. Yet sometimes its language grows more purposeful and present. We are at one of those moments.
For much of the past decade, restraint defined contemporary good taste. Soft palettes, tonal continuity, and gentle contrast created environments that felt calm and resolved.
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When Shopping Becomes Functional, Where Does Meaning Live?
Retail is undergoing significant structural change. The process of discovering, comparing, and purchasing furniture and homewares is now driven by systems focused on efficiency. Products are filtered by size, colour, material, availability, and price. Search results have replaced browsing, and comparison has replaced exploration.
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Why Brutalist Discipline and Strong Geometry Are Regaining Cultural Relevance
Brutalist design is re-entering the cultural conversation as a language of order, clarity, and emotional steadiness. Its return indicates a wider change in how people want spaces to function psychologically, beyond the visual aspect.
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When Everything Can Be Generated, What Deserves to Be Chosen?
Over the past two years, the furniture, homewares, and interiors industries have observed a considerable expansion in what is possible. Visual ideas can now be created instantly. Concepts appear fully formed in minutes. Variations that once required weeks of development are now readily available.
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