Each year, our Community Experience Manager, Sarah Sewell, puts together an e-commerce trends forecast called The Flourish Forecast to help makers, designers, resellers, and independent retailers better understand why people are buying what they’re buying. This forecast is first published on Sarah’s Substack, Flourish With Sarah. We’re so pleased to republish a condensed version of it here for our readers as well.
The more you pay attention to what consumers are noticing, paying attention to, and starting to care about, the easier it becomes to meet them where they are. What people choose to bring into their homes, wear, or give as gifts reflects their current priorities, lifestyle, and what they want more of in their lives.
The Flourish Forecast looks at those patterns through a retail lens. It connects shifts in consumer behavior to real product decisions: what people are drawn to, what they’re moving away from, and what continues to earn attention and spending.
When you understand where consumer attention is going, decisions feel less heavy. Choosing materials, designs, products, visuals, and messaging becomes more intentional. You’re able to move ahead of the crowd and create or source products as demand is forming, instead of trying to catch up later.
Artists, makers, designers, and product-based retailers can use this forecast as a guide to better read the market, understand the consumer, and feel more confident when making decisions around materials, color, design direction, themes, and overall product development. It can also support how you think about marketing, promotions, and content planning, helping your messaging feel aligned with what your customers are already responding to.
With that lens in mind, here’s what 2026 is already showing us.
Color Forecast for 2026
Soft, calm, and layered with depth and contrast
These tones act as a foundation rather than a focal point. They hold space for texture, pattern, age, and details to stand out. They feel light, cozy, and familiar.
Alongside these softer bases, organic browns and forest-inspired neutrals are showing up more frequently, often paired with mustard, sage, navy, and burgundy. Deeper accents such as walnut, mahogany, jewel tones, and darker contrasts are being used as grounding elements. Blues continue to hold strong across categories, from pale icy shades to richer cobalt and navy tones.
From a retail perspective, this translates into collections that focus on layering and texture, neutral bases that are intentionally paired with small moments and pops of color, and product photography that feels calm, cozy, and lived in.
Patterns and Prints
Patterns in 2026 are playful, nostalgic, and intentional. They are being used to add personality and spark interest. Buyers are gravitating toward patterns that feel familiar, comforting, and whimsical.
Animal motifs continue to perform well. Classic animal prints like leopard and zebra remain popular, alongside a growing presence of softer animal imagery such as fawns, butterflies, birds, horses, and storybook animals across home decor, nursery, art, and accessories.
Stripes are having a moment, from classic rugby and pinstripes to more playful, whimsical circus-style designs. Metallic patterns and finishes are leaning glossy and reflective. At the same time, grandma-core influences are continuing to rise, bringing patchwork, chintz, wallpaper florals, and eclectic pattern mixing back into focus.
Materials and Textiles
Material choice is becoming just as important as visual design. Buyers are paying closer attention to how items feel, move, and wear over time. Texture communicates comfort, care, and craftsmanship, which are all highly valued right now.
Across categories, lace, sheer fabrics, woven textiles, puffy cloud-like textures, faux fur, fringe, tassels, and mixed fibers are gaining traction. These materials add depth and softness, and they photograph beautifully when styled with intention. Etsy has announced that washed linen is a key texture for 2026.. Textiles are also crossing into categories where they were not traditionally used, particularly in jewelry and accessories, where fabric, ribbon, and fiber are adding texture and individuality.
There is also renewed appreciation for visible construction and handwork. Stitching, quilting, weaving, and layered fabric details signal time and effort, which resonates strongly with buyers looking for quality.
Top trending material and textile-driven items
- Apparel with visible drape, softness, and movement
- Quilts, throws, and heirloom-style textile decor
- Jewelry and accessories incorporating fabric or ribbon
- Fringe, tassel, and woven accents in home, jewelry, and fashion
- Layered textiles used decoratively
Buy Less, Buy Better
One of the strongest and most consistent shifts heading into 2026 is a move away from overconsumption. Buyers are slowing down, purchasing fewer items, and placing more value on quality, longevity, and meaning.
This shows up in increased interest in handmade goods, secondhand and vintage pieces, and artisan-made products that feel considered and lasting. Buyers are drawn to items with story, history, and intention, and they are more willing to invest when they understand where something came from and how it was made.
This mindset supports curated collections rather than constant newness. It rewards sellers who take the time to explain materials, sourcing, process, and care.
Top trending product directions tied to this shift
- Curated vintage assortments
- Limited-run collections
- Quality secondhand apparel and accessories
Language that speaks to longevity, craftsmanship, and care is resonating more with today’s consumer.
AI Fatigue and the Return to Human Connection
There is a growing desire to see the human side of businesses again. Buyers want to understand who made or chose an item, why it exists, and what drew the seller to it. Process, imperfection, and honesty are becoming strengths rather than liabilities.
This shows up in behind-the-scenes content, in-progress photos, packing videos, and descriptions that reference memory, feeling, or personal connection. Sellers who share context and intention are building trust more easily than those relying on a generic presentation.
Top performing human-led approaches
- Behind-the-scenes making or sourcing content
- Personal notes or stories tied to individual items
- Bespoke packaging
Your presence and perspective are becoming part of the value of what you sell.
Fashion and Apparel
Fashion in 2026 continues to move toward comfort, quality, and self-expression. Buyers are choosing pieces that feel wearable and personal, often favoring secondhand and vintage for both quality and individuality. Layering, texture, and styling flexibility matter most.
There is also a strong emotional pull toward nostalgia. Styles that reference simpler eras, practical workwear, or familiar silhouettes are resonating because they feel grounding.
Top trending fashion and apparel items
- Vintage and secondhand pieces with quality construction
- Scarves styled multiple ways, including on bags, waists, and hair
- Oversized comfort clothes: off-the-shoulder shirts and wide-leg, roomy pants
- Lace, fringe, puff, ribbon, and tactile details that add softness and movement
- Capsule wardrobes: to minimize decision fatigue, reduce clutter, and promote sustainable, cost-effective, and timeless style
These pieces sell well when styled to show comfort, versatility, and texture.
Jewelry and Accessories
Jewelry is becoming more expressive and interactive. Instead of subtle finishing touches, buyers are gravitating toward pieces that tell a story, feel personal, or invite play. Mixed metals, vintage-inspired designs, and tactile elements are gaining momentum across age groups and styles.
Accessories are also doing more work overall, often carrying the personality of an outfit or look.
Top trending jewelry and accessory items
- Brooches worn on tops, scarves, hats, and bags
- Charm jewelry: necklaces, bracelets, bags, and expanding to shoes and hair
- Lockets and moving pieces with hidden or interactive details
- Mixed-metal designs and silver-forward jewelry
- Textile-accented accessories using ribbon, fabric, or woven elements
- Stacks: ring stacks, layered necklaces, stacks of bangles
Jewelry that is curated with personality tends to resonate more than perfectly matched sets. Buyers are responding to individuality and movement.
Home Decor
Soft whites, creams, and taupes do the quiet work in the background. They create space for color, pattern, and personality to show up. Deep, muted jewel tones, patchwork, brass, and mismatched details feel more intentional when layered onto a light neutral base rather than competing for attention. Within that calmer foundation, buyers are adding small moments of whimsy. A playful stripe. An unexpected motif. A nostalgic detail that brings warmth and personality into the space.
Top trending home decor items
- Mismatched china and curated tableware sets
- Vintage frames, mirrors, and layered wall art
- Brass accents, candlesticks, and antique-style lighting
- Earth-toned ceramics, wood decor, and stone pieces
These items sell best when curated and grouped or styled together, helping buyers envision a space rather than a single object.
Nursery and Baby
Nursery spaces are being designed with more nostalgia, individuality, and comfort. Parents are choosing pieces that feel calm, cozy, and flexible enough to grow with a child over time.
Within that calmer foundation, whimsy is playing a much bigger role. Storybook-inspired nurseries are especially popular, drawing from classic children’s tales, enchanting scenes, and nostalgic illustration styles. Goose and geese motifs, including “silly goose” and Mother Goose–inspired designs, continue to be very popular, alongside woodland animals like deer, bears, rabbits, mice, and foxes. Circus and magic themes are also gaining traction, with soft stripes, playful shapes, vintage-inspired typography, and classic imagery like elephants and tigers adding a sense of performance and wonder.
Gender-neutral palettes are becoming the default for many parents, with soft greens, warm neutrals, muted blues, mauves, and earthy tones replacing traditional pink and blue divides.
Vintage and handmade items fit naturally into this category because they feel personal, considered, and timeless, especially when layered into nurseries that balance calm with imagination.
Top trending nursery and baby items
- Storybook, circus, and magic-inspired wall art and illustration sets
- Heirloom-style quilts, blankets, and keepsakes
- Goose, Mother Goose, and woodland animal motifs
- Striped textiles and decor with subtle circus influence
- Wooden toys, hooks, and storage with classic, long-lasting shapes
- Vintage toys and decor that bring in nostalgia and familiarity
Products that balance function with sentiment continue to resonate most strongly with buyers in this space.
Aesthetics and Themes to Watch
There are a few larger themes running through everything right now, and they’re showing up across categories. That kind of crossover usually signals staying power.
People are gravitating toward spaces, clothing, and objects that feel cozy and grounding, things that make everyday life feel a little softer. At the same time, there’s a clear move toward pieces that feel curated and collected rather than matched.
Vintage and antique influences remain strong, not as a trend but as a way to bring history, story, and depth into modern life. Alongside that, whimsy is finding its place again. Enchantment, play, magic, and lighthearted references are showing up in subtle ways, through pattern, illustration, styling, or unexpected details that spark curiosity.
Personalization ties all of this together. Buyers are looking for items that feel specific, meaningful, and story-driven rather than generic. There’s less interest in sameness and more appreciation for individuality. Liking what you like again. Celebrating what makes something different.
There’s also a deeper emotional layer underneath these shifts. Many people are reconnecting with parts of themselves that got pushed aside in the rush of adulthood. The love of stories. The pull toward imagination. The comfort found in nostalgia and familiar rituals. That sense of magic that once came naturally is being invited back in, and it’s shaping what people bring into their homes and lives.
Personally, I see this as a welcome breath of fresh air, and I’m very much here for it.
The Written Word
Journals and writing sets, literary-inspired decor and gifts, poetry prints, text-based art, wax seal kits, and stationery are all seeing renewed interest. These items appeal not just because of how they look, but because of how they make people feel when they’re used.
This shift also favors thoughtful, story-rich product descriptions. Buyers are responding to context and care. Taking the time to explain an item’s origin, purpose, or inspiration helps people connect before they ever click “add to cart.”
What This Forecast Means for You
Feelings are what drive buying decisions. Sales are simply the exchange of emotion from one person to another. When you understand the experience your customer wants and connect that feeling to your work, that’s when things click. That’s when your product resonates. That’s when both you and the customer walk away feeling good about the exchange.
Use this information as a guide as you develop new products, curate collections, plan launches, and show up in your marketing. When you have a sense of where culture and emotion are moving, it becomes easier to respond with intention and confidence rather than guesswork.
2026 is leaning toward comfort, nostalgia, and individuality. That kind of environment naturally supports artisan, vintage, and secondhand businesses, making this a year where thoughtful work, creative vision, and meaningful curation truly have room to thrive.
Sarah Sewell
Community Experience Manager
Sarah Sewell is a business strategist and community leader with 20+ years of experience in the handmade and creative industry. After building multiple six-figure businesses in the craft space, she shifted her focus to education, helping makers and creative entrepreneurs through trainings and speaking events. She co-founded The Handmade Seller magazine and has worked with organizations such as Goimagine and The Painted Tree. Sarah lives in North Carolina with her family and is a proud mom and grandmother. When she’s not connecting with the community, she enjoys watching her daughter perform at dance competitions, cheering on her son at basketball games, and exploring local thrift and antique shops.
