The Cersaie Experience: Trends & More
the esd journal
Tiles, Tiles, and more Tiles
I had the pleasure of gathering with the Senior Vice President at Novitá Communications, Kristin Coleman, and Franscesco Saia from Tony’s Imported Tile for a round table with Jason Kamery of the TILE magazine Podcasts. As all of us had just enjoyed the Cersaie experience in Italy, we recapped everything we saw, trends for the upcoming year, and the experience as a whole.
Cersaie
I was invited by Ceramics of Italy to be a Design Ambassador at Cersaie this past year. The tile industry is vast and far-reaching in Italy and, at the end of the pandemic, as we all were able to gather for this fantastic industry event once again, we all found ourselves immersed in the experience, dazzled by the shear number of vendors and what they had to offer, as well as excited to be introduced to new manufacturing techniques.
For me, it was a wonderful opportunity to source new materials and designs that we can bring back to the U.S. and the Elaine Santos Design clients. The vendors went all in with their displays, making them engaging experiences. One vendor had created a full cafe experience where you were invited to stay, enjoy espresso, and linger amongst the designs, exploring the concepts and learning from vendors and craftsmen with decades of specialty experience.
From large-scale manufacturing to artisanal vendors reviving antique and more classical tile compositions and styles, Cersaie 2023 had a ton to offer to the growing tile portfolio we already offer. More importantly, Cersaie gave me invaluable insight into coming trends in hard finishes.
Tile Trends
TILE Podcasts host, Jason Kamery, asked some great questions to really get to the heart of what Cersaie is all about, not the least of which being the trends we all noticed. We all answered in turn, outlining what we will be seeing appear in tile vignettes across the globe in the coming years.
Kristin, pulling from her 14 years of Cersaie experience, noted that naturalistic warmth across all patterns and color palettes was a major theme this year. Additionally, she noted that muted tones and delicate designs were a part of a lot of Cersaie displays.
Frencesco, who works in the family business at Tony’s Imported Tile pointed out the frequency and beauty of large tiles of marble and other natural stones with bold veins and designs. He also noted the trend of focal point tiles with florals or intricate pattern work that draw the eye.
As for me, I noted how the maximalism trend has been translated into tile work. Far from the minimalism of a simple subway tile, I saw layers of colors, sizes, textures, and finishes. There were instances of textile-like patterns such as tile arrangements that mimicked quilting, or Art Deco patterns. And, of course, color, color, color, color, color. All nature-inspired, with lots of green, but definitely a lot of color.
A huge thank you to Tile Magazine for inviting me to this round table with Kristin, Francesco, and Jason, as well as many thanks to Ceramics of Italy for inviting me to be a Design Ambassador at Cersaie.
