Reading some recent fashion and homewares features in across a variety of publications it would appear that  the debate about trends is emerging into the main stream as more and more consumers show allegiance to lifestyle collections rather than the transitory fads that present themselves as the latest fashion in clothing, accessories or homewares.

It is ironic that the very people who write about purple being the new black turn up, season after season, at Paris Fashion Week dressed from head to toe in monochrome. They preach 'fashion' but practice 'lifestyle'.

Trend now is about the 'real best thing' rather than the 'next big thing'. Consumers are more educated, better travelled and media savvy. They want solutions based products and collections that reflect their lifestyles.

Trend, in the current economic climate, is more about evolution than revolution - about how heritage and craftsmanship can be leveraged rather than how quickly we can change silhouette, texture and colour.

Many designers still seek the 'next big thing' when the 'real best thing' is often in their archive already. All it needs in a fresh adaptation, re presentation or refreshment.

That is partly why I love Dan Hillmans' hobby horses - fun for kids and imaginative for gift seeking parents, uncles, aunts and other friends who find themselves uninspired by the ubiquitous and jaded offer that pervades the high street.  Here is a simple idea inspired by the imagination of the traditional toymaker, crafted with quality and offered in all the colours of the rainbow. It has successfully survived over decades and many would agree when it comes to creative and imaginative play - these hobby horses are the 'real best thing'. Just ask then end user!

Dan Hillman's hobby horses are available at the Leitrim Design House, Carrick-on- Shannon and selected stockists around Ireland.

Eddie Shanahan. January 2011.