The Zeitgeist Edit — What's Heating Up in April, and What Our Editor Wants to Leave Behind This Spring

As I write this month's edit, I'm packing my bags to join some of my colleagues at Milan Design Week, not only the world's biggest design fair, but perhaps the most influential too. With that, I'm filled with spring optimism — excited by the prospect of seeing something new, the next thing that'll capture the imagination of the world, if even just for a moment. That's the definition of the zeitgeist, is it not?

My barometer for this month is a culmination of the conversations I've been having with the team this month, but that haven't quite yet made it into our features. They're the seedlings of ideas — new shoots making a tentative appearance before, presumably, bursting up into something beautiful. Spring metaphors aside, that's to say that these are the things everyone's going to be talking about in time to come.

So, what's in the Zeitgeist Edit for April? Well, everything from cool hotel merch to a global matcha shortage...

↑ Going Up — Visible Hems

Style editor and Livingetc's resident fashion expert Julia put me onto the exposed hem trend, calling back to Prada's Fall 2025 RTW collection as inspiration, as well as bringing the contemporary design brand Juslin Maunula onto my radar.

The Finnish design studio, which launched its latest collection during Paris Design Week, is known for its reuse of textile waste, and these designs 'intercept' high-end fabrics before they're discarded and use them in clever patchwork designs with often bold, extruding seams.

The result is textile furnishings and furniture with soul and character that help reduce waste and, let's be honest, just make for a beautiful conversation piece for your home.

↑ Going Up — Knowing the Classics

My resolution last New Year was to get myself better acquainted with iconic furniture design — not, per se, for any other reason than to be more mindful about my purchases (but more on that later). With that in mind, our writers here at Livingetc.com have been diving into the classics over recent months, but it wasn't until reading writer Virginia Chamlee's guide to the icons of furniture design created by women for International Women's Day at the start of last month, that I started to read into the late designer Eileen Gray's history.

Eileen was responsible, as I came to learn, for some incredible and instantly recognizable pieces of modern design, now distributed by London furniture store Aram. In May, E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea, a new film distributed by Modern Films, will get a theatrical release in the UK and Ireland, based on the late designer's memoirs.

↑ Going Up — Hotel Gift Shops

The gift shop at a hotel might, in some instances, be just the place you buy overpriced swimwear when your luggage gets lost, but in the world's best design hotels, they take on a different form.

In fact, it's becoming, more and more, a bit of a flex to buy into 'hotel merch', and both bohemian-ly cool and prestigious luxury hotels are cashing in on the phenomenon.

I saw the owner of Il Pellicano, an undeniably hip hotel in Porta Ecole, Tuscany, give a talk earlier this year, and I bought into the cool factor of this hotel. But its gift shop might be the most unmissable thing about the whole place.

Curated by owner and tastemaker Marie-Louise Sciò, daughter of the hotel's founder, you can buy everything from posters and towels to the property's signature ashtrays. And it's not unique to this hotel, either. Pretty much any stay with an eye on aesthetics has its own online gift shop now, so you can buy into the discoveries you make when staying, and bring them home with you.

↑ Going Up — Bistros

They say you eat with your eyes first and, to be honest, I don't take a restaurant recommendation without scoping out the interiors first. In the last few years, I've been drawn to restaurants that are doing something modern and avant-garde with their design — usually either a boldly minimalist expression, or a space doing something wild with color and forms.

However, it hasn't escaped my notice that some of the best London restaurants right now are those undergoing a touch of a return to classicism. If the restaurants of yesteryear were designed to be socially shareable, the return of traditional 'bistro' style restaurants could be viewed as distinctly anti-Instagram, but actually, they're not.

Are we tired of hospitality design trying to overtly court us to elevate them to virality? Perhaps, but there's something in the charm of the experience of dining at a restaurant like Chelsea-based Josephine, led by French chef Claude Bosi and opening another location in Marylebone this month.

"The tables are close together, which creates this natural buzz and friendliness — it’s not unusual to see guests chatting between tables, which is always lovely to watch," the restaurant tells me. "We find that people are drawn to the comfort of classic dishes — they feel familiar, timeless, and satisfying."

↓ Going Down — Traditional Spring Palettes

All we seem to be talking about in the Livingetc office right now is sunshine and spring — a spell of clear skies has certainly galvanized us, and is providing us with fresh inspiration for the new season.

A little sneak ahead at what we're writing about this month, but I was talking with design writer Olivia about what actually makes a 'spring color palette'. Flipping through the combinations she was considering for her feature on how to decorate with these uplifting hues, I was struck by how unexpected the examples she brought to the table were. What I was expecting, perhaps, is those well-trodden pastel combinations, but that's not what I got.

To preview my favorite of her picks, a combination of butter yellow and oxblood, two of the biggest color trends, but not a duo I'd have ever considered go together. It's a new take on using those spring-like pastels that feels so right for right now.

↓ Going Down — Boring Outdoor Furniture

Did I mention the sunshine? And of course, it's got everyone thinking about getting back out into their gardens. But can I make a plea this year — no more bland, plastic-rattan garden furniture?

I'm in the process of picking my favorite garden furniture pieces for the year, each of which set the tone for how we're decorating outdoors right now, and this table from outdoor furniture brand Nth Degree is pretty close to the top of my list.

Have you heard about the 'red table' trick for making your home look more expensive? Well, as it turns out, it works outdoors, too.

↓ Going Down — Coffee

"I've stopped drinking coffee," I'll often tell the team, as I head down for my second latte of the morning on an office day — but in reality, I've certainly cut back. And it seems I'm not the only one. According to the Guardian, there are fears of a worldwide matcha shortage, as people move away from traditional caffeinated drinks to this trendy alternative.

I've joined the bandwagon, and tend to start my day whisking up a cup of this green elixir, which promises all kinds of health benefits. I've even been trying out different brands to find my favorite (always 'ceremonial grade', of course), but have stopped short, just now anyway, of booking in for a matcha tasting.

However, to not put all my eggs in one basket, and just in case a shortage does befall my new morning ritual, I've also been trying out Hojicha, like this one from Amazon, too. A sort of nutty, roasted green tea that is combined with milk in a similar way to both matcha and a milky coffee — a little less caffeinated, and gentler on the body, but still a hot, welcoming treat.

↓ Going Down — Supermarket Olive Oil

There's nothing more of a treat than a good olive oil, and not least for aesthetic purposes in your kitchen. Yes, it may be the emerging new world of food-based snobbery — did you know that olive oil sommeliers are a thing? — but as someone lucky to have had my fair share of good liquid gold before, I'll say I do think it's worth the hype.

It's becoming a bit of a calling card for luxury design, too (it is 'olive girl spring', after all), but not every example plays into the rusticity that's often associated with olive oil. Take this family-owned olive oil brand, La Terra di Neena, launched at Milan Design Week, as an example.

Instead of characteristic olive green bottles, Tyler Billinger, founder of the brand, opted for laser-cut steel cannisters, playing into the chromatic trend, collaborating with Crosby Studios, of which Tyler is also the co-founder, to bring the studio's signature styling to the packaging and Milan installation. "What makes La Terra di Neena distinct is its approach to small-batch, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil: we produce only what the land naturally yields, while elevating the packaging to a collectible design object,” says Tyler.

To be seen soon on all the coolest countertops.