Katie Hatch Unveils Trend Consultancy

March 14, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on March 15, 2012 Home furnishings industry veteran Katie Hatch has started a trend consultancy for furniture retailers and manufacturers.

Design Intuition provides companies with trend forecasts and presentations on new technologies, growing consumer demographics and color trends.

Hatch is a 20-year veteran of the home furnishings and consumer products industries and is chief designer of Katie Hatch [Design]. She started Design Intuition as a separate business unit that focuses solely on the trend forecasting aspect of her all-inclusive product development business.

"For years I received requests from colleagues wanting to preview the analysis, reports, and presentations that we develop as part of our product development process," Hatch said. "Unfortunately I had to say no because they were private and covered by non-disclose clauses."
 
Hatch said she started the company in response to increased requests for her trend forecasts over the last few years.

"I believe the downturn in retail sales forced businesses in all industries to cut costs and streamline processes for efficiency," she said. "Successful businesses have been able to ride out the downturn with flexible business models and innovative product development. Key insights into consumer, retail, business, and design trends have helped companies reduce overhead while increasing profitability during the past three economically challenging retail years."
 
The 550-page 2012 Design Intuition Trend Report is organized in eight sections beginning with an overview of the macro environment. Each section drills down from business and retail trends toward more specific design, color, print and pattern trends.

"Our trend reports are different from others in the industry because they a key component of the Design Intuition forecasts is a section on disruptive innovations, current and on the horizon," Hatch said. "Using these tools, collaborative meetings with buyers, sales teams, and suppliers provide an action plan for the project."
 
Within each section, Hatch has outlined 12 trends. Design Intuition identifies a trend only after it has survived the early adopter phase its lifecycle.

Hatch said the 12 trends for 2012 "are beginning their journey up the bell curve towards mass-market appeal, and most have a five-year horizon. It is important differentiate between fads and trends. While some consumer goods companies thrive on the fast and furious lifecycle of a fad product, for most it is a costly merchandising mistake."

While the complete 2012 Design Intuition Trend Report was made available to a select group of subscribers in the fall of 2011, Hatch is now sharing free downloadable excerpts with her Linked-In community and she invites others to Link and join in the conversation. In addition to the trend reports, Hatch includes hyperlinks to her Pinterest moodboards specific to each trend. Currently she has more than 20,000 images organized by color, design, print and pattern trends and continues to update daily as new fashions, innovations, and styles hit the market. Her boards are available online.
 
The 2013 Design Intuition Trend Report will be available in early Fall 2012. Interested subscribers should contact Katie Hatch at (805) 886-4619, by e-mail, or connect on Linked-In. 

Hatch worked in international sourcing and product development for seven years at Powell Co. As vice president of merchandising, design and creative director, she oversaw the creation of the Powell Kids, Powell Beds, and Home Office categories.

Katie's interest in multi-channel marketing led her to her position as divisional merchandise manager for Sundance Catalog Jewelry Catalog. She founded Katie Hatch [Design] in 2003 where has been designing home furnishings, furniture, and consumer goods consumer goods. In addition, Katie works with closely with private label suppliers to analyze market opportunities for existing and new products. She works in partnership with retail buyers on behalf of her clients to construct merchandise assortments that will be successful at retail and profitable for the retailer and supplier.