003: FISH-THEMED EVERYTHING & THE HALF-LIFE OF A DESIGN TREND

"We are going to see hella fish"

In the last few weeks of summer, I texted my group chat: “I think fish decor is coming back in a big way.” At the time, I was annoyed with myself for not snagging this incredible vintage copper fish lamp from Alfie di Trolio of the London shop Oculus, and I was thinking about things like Sunfish’s sardine table and a round-up of fish brooches I’d stumbled upon earlier in the year.

Left: If anyone ever sees this fish lamp come up at auction or at a car boot sale, you know where to find me. Right: The Sardine table by Sunfish, whose name comes from the crispy sunfish bánh mì the studio’s founders often eat for lunch near their studio in the East Village.

Over the next few days, my friends came through, sending me links to vintage carnelian fish brooches, ceramic plates with fish glazed into their surfaces, a hand-forged iron chair whose back forms the shape of a fish, a salvaged metal chair whose back forms the shape of a fish skeleton, a shimmering mother-of-pearl fish bottle opener, Belgian linen placemats with fish stitched into an open lace border, and the entire catalog of Minjae Kim. I saved images of fish tureens, and flatware with scales imprinted on their handles. Ten days later, one of my friends sent me this summer fashion forecast which offered the hilariously deadpan pronouncement: “We are going to see hella fish.” “Sorry,” she texted. “Your spot is already blown.”

Bottega Veneta Sardine earrings ($1,300); articulated Svenskt Tenn bottle opener ($128); Peixa ceramic platter by Porta ($196); fish scaler by Inox ($13); fish comb by Siren Song ($66); Balik placemat by Levant ($210); Trucha rug by Charlap Hyman & Herrero for Schumacher ($675)

Of course I didn’t think I was the first person to identify that fish are currently trending. As a design journalist, it’s my job to be aware of trends floating through the Zeitgeist and to forecast which way the wind is blowing. But not only am I sometimes wrong, it can also be difficult to discern when a motif as common as fish — which are kind of always low-key trending, due to having been around since humanity’s first etchings and literally being used to symbolize Jesus — slips from Big Mouth Billy Bass kitsch into the realm of high design.

In today’s letter, I want to share all of my type-A, Virgo-ascendant fish-themed shopping intel. But I also want to talk about how maddeningly short the trend cycle has become — which everyone knows and acknowledges — and how that can sometimes make us feel like something is “over” or not worth exploring or buying into, which is not an idea I subscribe to.