From London to Paris, trendwatcher Alex Speelman is seeing a significant number of interiors and fashion stores that are making extensive use of plants for their styling again. And Anthuriums are thereby doing well as a ‘bringer of peace’. “After all the fuss and bustle we want some peace again, we want to be able to be bored again.”

The 63 year old designer from B&C Raamdecoratie (5 offices in Europe, 600 employees) is just back from Mexico. He travels all over the world in a quest for the latest trends. At the moment he is working on the trends for 2016, which he will then share with interior designers, department stores, buyers and publishers, amongst others.

Making coffee

Alex: “One of the main trends in today’s high speed world is that we want more peace. Just taking your time to make filter coffee, and then just sitting calmly and gazing into space for a while. We like that feeling from the past again. In London’s oldest department store I recently enjoyed queuing for a while for a shave and haircut from the barber.”

Rewarding plant

In keeping with the trend, certain plants are enjoying a kind of revival. “My mother had a red Anthurium at home, and I still remember it with pleasure.” Apart from the childhood sentiment, there are other reasons why the designer thinks that Anthurium fit well with the current times. The fact that it’s a rewarding plant, for example, which lasts a long time. And he also loves the fact that he never sees it made of silk or plastic: “I’m strong opposed to that – I love real. And ‘real’ also fits with the current trends.”

Contemporary twist

And what also fits with those trends is giving the Anthurium a contemporary twist. Alex: “You do need to give the plant some ‘body’. So group them together, which brings out the rugged nature of the plant well. In canvas sacks, for example, or about ten together in an eye-catching wheelbarrow. I would choose white Anthuriums for that, because personally I think they’re the most beautiful.” www.bece.com