While the industry battles on to regulate the level of toxins in fibres and fabrics (see page 16), Melinda Oliver takes a look at the lighter side of trade. How can retailers marry the trend for hard leather, soft nostalgic silks and tweeds into a cohesive offer for winter 2011?
Capturing the international trend zeitgeist is a smart strategy for Australian high street retailers striving for commercial success. For autumn/winter 2011, WGSN senior catwalks editor Sue Evans advises local brands to embrace heritage looks, military traditions and 1950s retro nostalgia in order to help profits.
The UK-based trend forecaster recently demonstrated to a Melbourne audience how these three key themes, stemming from recent international catwalk shows, can be diluted for every-day consumers next winter. Her advice is not to slavishly salute a look head to toe, but rather to embrace select pieces of apparel, or pepper trend references throughout a range.
Evans says the essence of adopting the heritage theme is creating timeless, classic styles that have broad market appeal.
“You can take this many ways,” she says. “You can have very simple contemporary designs or you can go down the country route.”
Outdoor pursuits such as equestrian riding, hunting, fishing and alpine skiing are key inspirations for the look.
Flat-quilted jackets, duffel coats, gilets, A-line skirts, blanket wrap-coats and shirts with knitted sleeves are important. Evans says more directional labels could adopt a full, mid-calf length skirt, perhaps in checks or tweed.
“I think it’s going to take a little time to hit the mainstream, but I wanted to make you aware of it,” she says. “I think it is a really key, strong silhouette.”
Similarly, she expects the knitted cape, and variations on it, to succeed. “We’ve talked about the cape for several seasons. We are seeing capes outside the [catwalk] shows in Paris on the streets, so people are already wearing it.”
Knitwear is central to the theme, with hand-crafted looks, intarsia and jacquard patterns in the mix. Adding patches of tartan to classic jeans, trimming a denim jacket with a shearling wool collar or placing leather trims on a kilt skirt are all ways to acknowledge the trend. Patchwork can be used to create a rustic edge.
Ever popular, the military trend is again on the cards, but Evans says it is moving forward with romantic, rococo or baroque references, particularly for youth brands. She says European designer label Balmain, which led the trend for peaked shoulders in 2009, has influenced this progression. Other designers sporting military touches on the runway were Burberry and Marc by Marc Jacobs.
This revived take on military embraces Napoleon-era skinny trousers with tie-up detailing near the ankles, brass buttons on coats, high ruffled collars, touches of lace and vintage hardware detailing. Evans says a key step is to move the bomber jacket trend along to an aviator-style jacket – still in leather and cropped, but with wool trim or collars.
Drawing on the success of television series Mad Men, which centres on the 1950s advertising industry, Evans says retro style is a likely winner. Louis Vuitton, Prada and Giles Deacon have all referenced the trend.
“It’s all about the hourglass silhouette, timeless femininity and longer skirt lengths,” she says.
Prim dresses that nip in at the waist then flare out, bold floral prints, crop sweaters, fitted jackets and early 1960s shift dresses are ways to capture the mood. Across all themes, Evans says a dominant colour palette for the season combines camel, navy or midnight blue and various shades of grey. These tones are not only for apparel, but shoes, accessories and lingerie.
“All the lingerie shows we attended this season show smoky grey is almost the new black, and taking that colour story through to sleepwear with pajamas,” she says. Rich browns will be particularly prominent, serving to contrast the camel shades.
“Speaking of browns, for footwear it really is a fashion [mainstay] now, really glossy chestnut browns. And going into all accessory areas, the caps, gloves and belts, there are really rich dark browns.”
Khaki, olive and intense dark greens are also strong for the season, particularly for men’s knitwear and outerwear. To liven palettes, Evans says intense berry tones, aubergines and grape shades are important. “I see these working as accent colours with the camels, the greys, the sax blues.”
In terms of fabrics, luxurious wools are informing ranges, with cashmere blends, tweeds, brush mohair and shearling prominent. Shearling made its mark on the European catwalks, embraced by Pringle of Scotland, Hermes and Burberry Prorsum among other brands.
“You’re not going to do coats and jackets in shearling [for the Australian climate] but you may do it in a collar detail or a trim,” she says. “You may take it for accessory use – a shearling bag, or shearling trim on boots. [That way] you are addressing the trend.”
Leather is vital for the season, she says, as evidenced by the way the UK high street retailers have adopted it with gusto.
“I went to the [UK high street retailer] Marks and Spencer press day [recently] and they have done a leather full-length skirt, a leather pencil skirt, two leather dresses and a leather t-shirt,” she says. Adding surface interest to leather will update its use.
“A little bit at odds with the timeless quality I talked about for the season, designers have taken on the wet and patent-look trend for next winter. It is an early ‘60s trend and more for the youth market.” Lace can be used to emphasise the vintage rococo look, perhaps mixed with leather for a stronger take.
“We are still seeing a huge amount of lace at the moment, but coming through it is much more structured, much more solid,” she says.
Lush velvet also plays a part in the theme. “It is a fabric-led season. Everything is quite tactile: plush silk velvet, working along with tweed or leather for contrast.”
Another way to define the season will be to embrace monochromatic prints. “Lots of greys, lots of blacks and black and grey combinations, painterly stripes, smudge prints and abstract checks in grey, black and white,” she says.
Bold florals are also significant, carrying on from their success in the northern hemisphere for summer 2010. “[Florals are] probably the strongest print statement we are seeing at the moment.
“There are lots of ways to include the floral into the season – a collage mixing your prints together, abstract scribble florals, florals on a black background for emphasis.”
Evans believes animal skin prints are perennially useful to attract customers, however the way ahead is to create them with ombre effects, mixed colour tones and to combine various prints in one garment.
“They don’t go away, they are very commercial, everybody loves them. It’s how you move them on,” she says.