Life at TrendBible: Wendy Lowe, Home Trend Editor

Our Life at TrendBible series spotlights our team behind the scenes in their day to day. 

We speak to Wendy Lowe, our Home Trend Editor, about her life outside of work, her journey to becoming a trend forecaster and the events she’s been travelling to recently.

Meet Wendy

I live in South London with my fiancé, Patrick. We’re big into our food so it’s great living so close to Borough Market and being surrounded by great ingredients and places to eat and drink, as well as being right by the river.  

I work as Home & Interiors Trend Editor on our Subscription team, meaning I spend my typical day researching, analysing, and writing the reports you’ll find on our My TrendBible Premium trend platform. Topics and industries we cover on My TrendBible are hugely varied, so one day I might be researching for a report on how probiotics are influencing the future of life at home, the next researching for a report on the key furniture trends for Autumn Winter 2024.

“Trend forecasters always have interesting stories of how they got into the industry.”

After doing a foundation course in Illustration at Kingston University, I went to the University of Brighton to study Fashion & Dress History. I’ve always loved the study of “things” and I had this idea in my head about being a curator at the V&A. It wasn’t a traditional fashion degree – more of a hybrid between creative and the humanities side of things, so it sat across ‘the arts.’ And it wasn’t just about the study of clothes, but the study of culture.  What it really taught me which has taken me into the world of trends, is that I learnt how to really research – beyond google or just image research.  

By the end of the 3 years, I realised I wanted to do something that was more visually creative and industry relevant. We had sessions where past graduates would talk about what they were doing now – someone said they were a Futurist or a Cultural Insight Analysis and spoke about how the skills the course taught were well suited to the role of a Trend Forecaster. From there I learnt about this side of the industry and interned at agencies before starting my career as a Trend Editor.  

“After so long of being away due to lockdowns and travel restrictions I’m so excited to be back at tradeshows.”

It’s such a treat to be back out travelling again – visiting trade shows and talking at industry events. I loved visiting Ambiente in Frankfurt earlier this year and cannot wait to visit Milan for Milan Design Week in April.  

“Don’t be put off by the word ‘trend’.”

I feel like with the rise of TikTok trends and fast fashion (even in the world of interiors), trends are often misunderstood as a short ‘fad’ with connotations of overconsumption and waste. But good trend forecasting is about really understanding your consumer and what resonates with them, which helps brands and businesses create meaningful products and services.

I’m really excited by the rise of individualism and anti-perfection in the home. Consumers are becoming less and less interested in creating Instagram-perfect and hyper-curated spaces and are instead looking to designs and products that reflect their personal, support their wellbeing or simply make them happy. 

For a closer look behind the scenes at Wendy’s typical day at TrendBible as a Trend Editor, visit her reel over on our Instagram page. You can also find out more about our Premium Subscription services here.