THE TRENDIEST ANIMAL OF 2018: WHO’S IN THE RUNNING?
15. March 2018
I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with alpacas in South America. It was love at first sight, and I immediately wanted to stroke these cuddly creatures of the Andes to see if they’re really as soft and fluffy as they look. “Can’t be all that difficult”, I thought to myself, but I had no idea how difficult it would be to get my hands on even a single alpaca from this huge flock! As soon as I got anywhere near to any of them the whole flock took off again. After trying unsuccessfully for 20 minutes, covered in sweat and red in the face, I gave up. My shoes showed the only traces of contact between me and the alpacas in the form of their rather smelly dung!
Anyway, that’s the first thing that came to my mind when the alpaca suddenly appeared in our new product range. Is the alpaca now ‘le dernier cri’? They’re definitely cute, of course, but do they have what it takes to become the ultimate new trend animal. And what about the unicorn? Come and join me in a little tour of our range of trendy creatures.
SOURCE: (LEFT) WWW.9GAG.COM, (RIGHT) VIA GIPHY
IS THE ALPACA IN THE LEAD WHEN IT COMES TO SETTING THE LATEST TREND?
What actually is an alpaca? Is it a sheep? Or a goat, perhaps? The alpaca comes from the Andean region in South America and is in fact a sub-species of the camel. Some of you may think of it as the llama, but there are some decisive differences between the species. For one thing, alpacas don’t spit at you, because they’re very polite and unaggressive animals. For another, they’re considerably smaller than llamas and have much longer and softer wool. They are therefore reared for their valuable and fluffy coats, making them so to speak the ‘cuddly toys’ among the camels.
SOURCE: (LEFT) WWW.9GAG.COM, (RIGHT) WWW.KRAFTFUTTERMISCHWERK.DE
WHY THE ALPACA HAS SUCH GREAT POTENTIAL
Lots of animals have a unique emotional appeal for us, but the alpaca really melts our hearts! The upturned corners of their mouths and their cute facial expression will put a smile on every face. This fluffy member of the camel family seems to have been blessed by nature with a humorous character, and because of their gentle and calming manner, alpacas are even used for therapeutic purposes, for example with autistic patients. Their popularity is increasing so rapidly that they have their own fan pages on Facebook and Instagram – with the kind of follower numbers that many a blogger can only dream about!
HOW TO ACQUIRE AN ALPACA FOR THE HOME
Wanting to have your very own alpaca is of course the natural response, but as a house pet they need something like 1000 m² of grazing, which rules them out for most of us. Fortunately, as always KARE has an appropriate SOLUTION for you. Thanks to our accessories you can take these cute animals home with you, for example as a money box in the shape of an alpaca. Your loyal new four-legged friend shimmers in all the colours of the rainbow, and is sure to take good care of your savings. It’s also available as a colourful decorative object for the wall, ranging from Chief, the party alpaca, to the ethnic llama covered in pom-poms – both of these pictures offer something for lovers of South American fauna.
DOES THAT MEAN CURTAINS FOR THE UNICORN?
The unicorn is present everywhere you look, and that’s putting it mildly. Chocolate unicorns, giant unicorn float rings for the perfect swimming pool, cuddly unicorn pyjamas, men in unicorn costumes (!!!!) – there are even unicorn-themed sausages and toilet paper!
SOURCE: (LEFT) WWW.SCHERZWELT.DE, (MIDDLE) WWW.WUNDERWEIB.DE, (RIGHT) WWW.AMAZON.DE
When a fabled creature becomes a trendy animal, sooner or later all the magic is lost. It simply becomes too much part of our everyday reality. We connect fairytale creatures with a dream world in which there are no cares or stress – a world in which we can become children again even as adults. The unicorn remains our favourite fantastic beast, but for the moment we’ve had more than enough of glittering pink plush clouds and rainbows. As a noble decorative figure with a golden white glaze we’ve now given the unicorn a reduced glamour update which returns it to the status of a mythical creature.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE FLAMINGO?
And then of course we also have the flamingo! Even though it has figured prominently as a decorative bird on cups, T-shirts and wallpaper for over a year now, this exotic bird continues to be highly popular. And why not? After all, flamingos are one of the few creatures which have been created bright pink by nature – giving it a clear advantage over the unicorn, which is only provided with glitzy pink stardust in our imagination. In contrast we connect southern climes and warmth with this tropical bird. Especially in combination with other sunny motifs such as pineapples or palm trees, the flamingo carries us straight off to the Caribbean, or at least it gives us this feeling of bliss.
SOURCE (RIGHT): VIA GIPHY
THE SOUTHERN FLAIR OF THE CARIBBEAN FOR YOUR HOME
With this bird’s fabulous colours you can playfully add such tropical joie de vivre to your own home. Whether it’s a unique picture with a group of rose-red flamingo heads , a lamp in the shape of a flamingo or a wall-mounted coatrack with flamingo legs as hooks – one thing is guaranteed: you’re sure to add that feel-good sensation to your apartment. The decorative flamingo figures are a real highlight and add vibrant dashes of colour. The best thing is that they don’t need a specific ambience, and these filigree birds even provide fans of purist furnishing with the possibility of adding a little colour to their rooms. And what’s more, with the right tableware you can even extend this summer feeling to your kitchen – we spoil you for choice!
Are you just as much in love with the alpaca as we are, or is the unicorn still in pole position for you in the competition for the title of trend animal of 2018? Let us know what you think!
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