How styles and trends come and go – and what’s calling the tune?

“We constantly review consumer behaviours, motivations, and decision-making processes by looking at what is happening within their environment.

“Politics and governance; the cost of living and economics; pandemics, wellbeing, lack of stability, sustainability - all these things influence consumers.

“We have a central team and local teams researching and reviewing surveys, news articles, and social media as well as feedback from the market and our customers to really understand consumer behaviour.”

Beatlemania was still on the horizon when Fritz Egger Senior started his business in St Johann, Austria, in 1961, while Take That had still to make their big breakthrough when, 30 years later, Oldham-based HPP began trading to supply melamine-faced chipboard (MFC) components to the fitted kitchen and bedroom industry.

- Aimee Fletcher, Product and Design Manager for EGGER UK

“By blending contemporary trends with timeless traditional elements, we can create designs that are both current and enduring.

“This fusion allows for the incorporation of modern innovations while respecting the comfort and reliability that tradition offers, giving customers the best of both worlds.”

- Laura Walker, EGGER’s Product and Design Specialist

“Our most established colours are the light and warm greys that are classic and stand the test of time. They mix well and are a collection staple.

“The soft blues and greens like our U638 ST9 Sage Green for instance has longevity, as it is a very classic green that works in both modern and traditional interiors.

“We are always developing woodgrain and stone finishes as the technological advancements to really simulate wood, mineral, metallic and fabric have improved immensely over the years and so these get upgraded more often.

“For the UK market, oak is traditional and is always a classic that can be used in anything from minimal styles to those with more character, making it a staple in our portfolio. Classic warm whites, cashmere tones and greys are also a great base and so always stand the test of time along with pastel green and denim blue for more subtle and soft schemes.”

- Aimee Fletcher, Product and Design Manager for EGGER UK

“The average lifespan of a trend can vary widely depending on the type of trend and the context. In general, trends can last anywhere from a few weeks to several years,” explains product and design specialist Laura Walker.

“In our industry we used to see interior trends lasting for four to six years, but now the trends are moving faster with the influence of social media/influencers, unstable environments and social changes and technological advancements.

“We track them by looking at trend leaders in our industry, paint manufacturers, visiting furniture fairs across the world and fashion colours too. We also work with the paper printers to develop the styles and the colours we see evolving to ensure we have the right designs for our collection.”

- Aimee Fletcher, Product and Design Manager for EGGER UK

“Currently we are seeing a surge in mid-century modern style. Furniture that is classic and in the mindset of timeless, meaning the faster moving trends evolving around this style can easily be adaptable with core key pieces.

“With fitted furniture we’re seeing monochrome texture layering (smooth and stone surface structures in similar colour tones) combined with classic woodgrains fitted in a modular design meaning the end user has the option to adapt as trends evolve.”

- Aimee Fletcher, Product and Design Manager for EGGER UK

“We tend to always be looking at what is next, but in terms of our global collection, we now work on a two-year cycle to add new designs and textures to our collection and make sure we always have the most current colours and décors to inspire designers.

“In addition we run a small trend collection every opposing year giving customers even more trend options and this allows us to be more reactive to ever changing trends.”

- Laura Walker, EGGER’s Product and Design Specialist

“The younger generation are certainly becoming wiser to products and their lifecycle, which is good for us as we have a great portfolio of products that are green without compromising quality.

“The more mature generation are often more price conscious and focused; they don’t want to pay extra for a more sustainable material, but they do care about investing in quality and products with longevity.

“Sustainability becomes a bigger topic with every month that goes by, and it’s our job to educate our customers about our sustainability credentials, while recognising it can be difficult to hear the truth of sustainability through all the noise and greenwashing, we see about it.”

- Aimee Fletcher, Product and Design Manager for EGGER UK

“Chipboard from EGGER is a carbon negative material, it stores more carbon than it releases. Chipboard has a 10 to 20-year lifecycle and then you can recycle it again afterwards.

“Both HPP and EGGER are keen to get that message through to our customers, and we are doing everything we can to support it.”

- Dan Mounsey, HPP’s Marketing and Business Development Director

“Our plan is to ensure that our customers are prepared with clear, accurate and fully transparent information about our products, their advantages and quality.

“We explain our manufacturing with customers, often giving them a tour of the plant showing the investments in our new recycling facility and explaining the quality process of using the recycled content as to not compromise quality.

“We also explain the full cycle from the forest to our factory to end consumer. It’s a great story to tell and we often do this on a one to one case with our customers to get full engagement and can also understand any frequent questions or concerns. Customer engagement and service is key.”

- Laura Walker, EGGER’s Product and Design Specialist