CMF Trends + Forecasting
PriestmanGoode’s Colour, Material + Finish (CMF) team is at the forefront of material innovation, with in-depth knowledge of new materials and technologies.
Our expertise spans a vast range of industries, which enables us to transfer knowledge and find new applications for materials. We are driven by an ambition to innovate and create sustainable and circular materials that enhance our experience of the world around us.
Material exploration and research
Great design comes from having an intrinsic understanding of the materials and processes you are working with. To that end, our CMF team regularly carries out experiments, both internally and with materialists and suppliers, to enhance our understanding of the properties of various materials and their potential for application across a range of projects. This is especially the case of many new materials that are being developed from waste resources: an important and necessary development from an environmental perspective.
Trend forecasting
Future trends forecasting is an essential part of CMF development. From our own materials research to maintaining close working relationships with suppliers and materialists, keeping an extensive database of existing, new and experimental materials, and attending online events and major shows around the world, our team ensures we’re at the forefront of trends.
This knowledge and foresight allows us to help you navigate the complexities of bringing new products and services to market. We can work with you to develop bespoke material trend reports to help you stay ahead of the competition, ensuring that we use materials responsibly, that are fit for purpose, efficient, better for people and better for the planet.
Working with the next generation of materialists
Relationships with academia and industry bodies form an important element of our future-focused work. These offer an opportunity to forge closer links between design practice and education, help shape the future of material innovation and challenge the next generation of design leaders to apply their skills to real life challenges. We have a number of ongoing initiatives, including our relationship with Loughborough University or with the Royal College of Art in London, with whom we work each year on an industry brief for the Masters in Textiles course, and our role with the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology, with whom we’re advising on delivering sustainable innovation within the textile supply chain.
PG x RCA – Imagining the future of travel in 2030
Each year, PriestmanGoode teams up with the Royal College of Art in London, to run an industry brief with the MA Textiles course. The project is an opportunity to forge closer links between design practice and education and offers students an opportunity to apply their skills to real life challenges.
This year, the students were challenged by PriestmanGoode’s Colour, Material and Finish (CMF) team to explore and experiment with the idea of a sustainable new luxury aesthetic for transport environments in 2030. They were tasked to embrace materiality and examine the possibilities of using waste or by-product materials, and create a new aesthetic that would be sustainable, desirable, tactile and functional.
This exhibition charts the work of seven students whose projects were selected. Each was asked to give a brief overview of their concept and to submit three images of their work: a moodboard showing their inspiration, an image from their design process as well as the final material they developed.
