INTRODUCTION.

Trends get a bad rap. Most often people hear the word and think of TikTok dances and butter boards. Despite having a team of many ex-dancers and even more current food lovers, we aren't particularly interested in these fads because that is all they are, fads.

At Goesling Group (GG), our definition of a trend goes much deeper. We are interested in the major shifts happening in culture from mindfulness to extremism. Key social, technological, environmental, economical and political changes across the world act as our inspiration to identify how people will feel and what that means to our industry. Every new kitchen layout and must-have color is rooted in these larger human experiences.

We are well aware that this work can feel abstract and even mystical at times. Those are fun traits for a tarot reader, but aren't ideal when it comes to information that could future-proof your brands and spaces. We think it's time we start sharing our research in a way that is understandable, engaging and useful.

Throughout the year we will explore four global trends and their impacts on how we live. Each quarter will be a deep dive into one of those movements, from the events driving that shift to the design details that will support our new needs.

As we introduce this sister branch to GG Interiors, it only seems fitting to kick off our trend cycle with a theme we call "Seeing Double."

SEEING DOUBLE.

We have a few pillars we live by here at GG: transparency, creativity, and most importantly authenticity. It informs how we work and communicate on the daily, but it also informs how we think about the future. We are obsessed with the evolution of authenticity over time.

For the past decade people and brands addressed this idea mainly through customization. Custom colorways for your sneakers, custom configurations of your sofas, and custom lighting scenarios that reflect personal styles and needs.

Lately though, we’ve seen a distinct shift in the conversation around authenticity. As financial and emotional stress swells across the globe, people don’t only seek new ways to reflect their true selves, but question what true even means. Whether silly or serious, chaotic or calculated, one underlying idea ties together the unique ways people challenge authenticity: the number two.

Twins, reflections, doubles, call it what you will. We are testing the limits of authenticity and reality by duplicating our images, belongings and surroundings in an effort to find ourselves. Welcome to the Great Reflection.

IN THE WORLD.

In the most obvious way, we see it in digital avatars. However, look a step deeper and you'll find doubles popping up in a myriad of fields. Fashion's Alessandro Michele brought Twinsburg to his last Gucci runway, an entire collection dedicated to the chic twins of the world (or in the more likely application, best friends who subscribe to the "twinning" approach to dress). In dining, we have seen the return of sampuru, or the Japanese art of fake plastic food replicas, which is lauded not for its perfection but its ability to precisely mimic imperfection. The National Gallery of Art even has an entire show called "The Double" to explore why the concept of duplication and comparison bubbles up so regularly throughout history.

If we see this all around society, why not prepare for its impact on design?

In order to do that, we've got to take a look back to move forward. Let's dive into a time equally obsessed with challenging authenticity - the era of pop art. The 50s and 60s brought us the likes of Andy Warhol of course, but also the advent of Mid Century Modern (MCM), a recent darling of the interior design world. Both of these movements forced conversation around the truth from two completely different perspectives, one through mimicked production and one through honest materials.

Though still relevant today, we are not interested in recreating either of those movements. Instead, we consider how their guiding principles could be applied to a contemporary landscape. With our cultural strain, rapid technological advancements, and global fusions of taste, these old ideas can take on a new life.

Take pop art, a style built on the replication of spontaneity, collectibles culture, and humorous commentary of consumerism. Today though, we're less taken with canned soup and more obsessed with all the logos, everywhere. Mix that together with a touch of today’s technology and you could get a very chic critique on logomania, perhaps in the form of a room full of 3D printed trophies dedicated to the top fashion brands of the day.

Then we have MCM, a movement built on clean lines, modern materials, juxtaposed color and an outside-in approach. The proliferation of screens in our hands and homes has us pining for the luxury of tactility, a feeling only further exacerbated by Covid’s virtual push. Taking advantage of material innovations, we can envision a world of variations on leathers, woods, and stones that exaggerate surface textures in an ethical way.

So what would this new 60s twist on duality look like to us? Take a peek below and let us know what you think.