From International Color & Trend Authority, Michelle Lamb
When it comes to Christmas, conventional wisdom holds that the most salable color story is red and green. I’m here to tell you that while this may be absolutely true for core products—the bestsellers you repeat with success year-after-year—nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to trend.
While it’s more than advisable to bring red into your trend assortment (the 20 – 35% of your offering that you should be reserving for newness and risk), and I’m actually quite bullish about the future of green, I don’t advise that you use these two colors together.

Michelle Lamb is co-founder and chairman of Minneapolis-based Marketing Directions, Inc. Established in 1987, Marketing Directions specializes in home furnishings color and trend forecasting, working extensively with clients to provide individual direction and color specification. A sampling of past and present clients includes Pier 1 Imports, ACCO, Hunter Douglas, Target Stores, Home Depot, Walmart, Gerber Baby Products, Tarkett, Hunter Fan, 3M, EK Success, Jo-Ann Stores and Petmate.
Marketing Directions publishes The Trend Curve™. Michelle Lamb is the Editorial Director of this trade newsletter which forecasts trends in color, pattern and design for manufacturers, interior designers and retailers. She also creates The Trend Curve Colors™ color-and-trend forecasts for everyday décor, spring/summer, fall and Christmas. The Trend Album™ series of European trend reports provides extensive trend insights from her travels to industry major trade fairs. Her blog is in its tenth year.