Global Trends Ambassador Patti Carpenter on how design trends develop and change
By Aly Dela Peña
For trend forecast leader Patti Carpenter, design sensibilities in the years ahead will herald optimism and hope after a time of collective worry. As we anticipate the 2025 edition of Manila FAME, here's a look back to an exclusive interview with the global trend ambassador.
Carpenter candidly shared that the Philippines makes for her 60th visited country. During her first-time visit to Manila FAME 2024, she offered her insights on trends for 2026 and beyond. Taking the stage, she captured the audience with an exclusive forecast on color, textures, patterns, fragrances, and more. She drew an impressive crowd of manufacturers, local and international designers and buyers, and design enthusiasts. After a quick introduction of her illustrious career, she delivered a dynamic presentation exploring how trends are shaped by various influences, how manufacturers and buyers can leverage them, and their impact on everyday consumers.
After her discussion, Carpenter, in her unreserved and joyous demeanor, indulged the FAME Team by answering a few questions.
How are you finding Manila FAME so far?
I'm enjoying being here at Manila FAME. It's my first time. They invited me last year, but I couldn't make it, and I'm so happy that I was able to do it this time. It's one of the most innovative and creative shows that I've ever attended and I'm so inspired to be here.
Can you tell us how attending events such as Manila FAME is beneficial for people in the HFL industry especially in the world of exports?
I think it's really important to come to trade shows like Manila FAME to give you the information that you can't gather when you're sitting at home just scrolling on your computer. The idea of engaging with the vendors and exhibitors here, the idea of seeing the different types of products, the idea of relating one product to another, being able to reach out, touch, and look at the quality, craftsmanship in person–all these things are really important and coming to a trade show in person is really where you see that.
How do sustainability, design principles, innovation, and emerging technologies play a role in shaping current trends?
Of course, the word trend means the direction in which things will tend to move. And so you need to understand when you're making a product or when you're buying a product, depending on which side of the equation you sit on, where are things moving? What are your customers looking for? Both sides of that. And so when we talk about trends, that's really what we're focused on.
We're talking about what is the direction in which things are tending to move? What are the key things that people need to focus on? Color being one of those things that 50 to 85% of choices from consumers are made around color. So if you have the wrong color, you've already lost them. So it's the idea of understanding and knowing those things up front.
That's actually my next question! You mentioned that objects are personal and they should evoke emotion. So how can we find the correct colors for a product?
Yeah, I mentioned a great deal because all of it is interconnected. You're talking about a space that's going to have the lighting, that's going to have the seating, that's going to have a carpet, it's going to have various objects within it–all those things need to relate. And people creating all of those things need to be on the same page as they talk about trends, so that it makes a cohesive statement, a comfortable statement, a connecting statement for the consumer.
For me, the way that we do that is by seeing a tremendous amount of product. And then I put it through a sieve. I talked about SPENT, which is the acronym that we coined many years ago for clients. We're talking about looking at things socially, politically, economically. We're always looking at nature because we're biophilic beings. And then technology. How does technology play against all of that as well?
When you look at those categories, it really helps you to begin to shape how you're going to create your product.
How about pop culture? How do they influence trends or fads?
You mentioned the idea of what's happening with something like the film Dune or what's happening with the Barbie trend that was. And again, that was very much of a fad. We look at it as up and down as a fad. Things that go up and rise very fast, but come down very fast.
We like to talk about trends, things that have longevity. So that's that horizontal line for us. So when I'm giving a trend talk, really, we don't focus on anything that has less than three to five years in longevity because it doesn't make any sense. You're making things by hand. You need to be able to have time to work on them, to hone them, to get them properly done, and then to bring them to market. So if we're only talking about fads, you have no time for that. So the whole idea for us is really to talk about things that have longevity, that gives you a reason to take them into consideration and to apply them to the products because many of the products here are handmade, so it takes even longer. So you definitely want to know that what you're putting out into the market has longevity.
Watch the full video below and stay tuned for more design and business talks at the upcoming Manila FAME on October 16-18, 2025 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila, Pasay City.
Also on FAME+: A kaleidoscope world with multi-awarded global trend ambassador Patti Carpenter at Manila FAME 2024
