Looking at today's design, it can be observed how visual trends repeat themselves after some time by citing styles from past eras. This happens in a cycle of about 20 years. In the process, the origins of today's trends are mostly unknown and it seems as if there is a constant imitation of already existing designs. 

But how do design trends emerge and who determines the formal language in which contemporary design unfolds? By tracing historical developments in design, the book deals with the reappraisal of the hitherto undocumented remains of Studio Vernacular's trend archive, which, beginning in the 1980s, had a great influence on the history of European design and whose work continues to this day.