WGSN – SPRING/SUMMER 12 SEASONAL OVERVIEW:
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By Sue Evans,senior catwalk editor, WGSN |
Sportswear and the aquatic were two of the strongest trends to emerge from the runways – not surprising considering 2012 is an olympiad year. Influences ranged from underwater prints and fabrics inspired by oceanic plant life, to scuba diving and 90s-inspired utility sports looks. Elsewhere, designers drew on the 50s and 60s for updated retro-themed silhouettes, along with a 20s-fuelled new tribal mood that celebrated hand-crafted artisanal techniques.
Colour has been a defining trend for the past two seasons and that mood showed no sign of abating now that the consumer has gained in colour confidence.
Next season's new direction is for a level of clean pastels along with a continuing focus on vivid brights, especially cool blues, with white looking set to be a key colour direction, along with tonal colour-blocking.
Spring/summer 2012 also looks set to be a season full of decisive fabric trends. Designers opted for unexpected fabrics like organza, brocade, lace and decorative embellishment for daywear and sports-inspired silhouettes. There was a contradictory mood on the runways too, with simple cottons worked into pristine uncomplicated looks.
Overall, the season's trends can be defined by the new print directions we saw emerge. Quirky conversational prints mirrored the mood for all things 50s, simple daisies and graphic optical art were aligned with the sparse 60s silhouettes, while Egyptian-inspired deco influences translated into bold geometrics for artisanal, tribal looks. Other key print trends included photographic imagery, decorative scarf patterns, underwater motifs and a revival of monochromatic florals.
Fashion Exposed – Fast Facts
• Approximately 800 labels represented from over 350 exhibiting companies
• 85 out of 800 labels were new to the Fashion Exposed event
• 6,083 trade visits were made over three days of the fair
• Owners/directors made up 60% of the visitors attending and store buyers and manager were the other significant categories making up another 26%
• In retail type, independent retailers represented 79% of visitors attending, of which 32% were boutique stores
• Buyers from outside of Australia represented the following countries: Austria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom
• Local buyers came from: NSW (73.1%), QLD (10.5%), VIC (8.4%), NT (0.5%), WA (2.5%),
SA (2.7%), TAS (1.3%), ACT (1%)
• Being held in Sydney, the greatest attendance was from NSW visitors, followed by QLD, however, each state was represented as well as overseas visitors
• The most successful day for visitor traffic at the event was the Sunday, February 12
• This year, the Fashion Exposed event also introduced new initiatives, including: accessories and shoe ‘Live Look Books’, a trade fair concierge and a regional ambassador (Deborah Caldwell) who was on hand to support regional visitors and exhibitors
• The Fashion Exposed business seminars drew a total crowd exceeding 750
• The fair dedicated areas to separate categories such as menswear, womenswear, intimate apparel, sleepwear, junior, streetwear and designer womenswear
• Fashion Exposed was also co-located with the Bags & Accessories Fair and The Australian Shoe Fair
• New York-based designer Rodrigo Otazu revealed his costume jewellery collaboration with singer Lady Gaga at the spring/summer 2012/13 event
• Debut competition winners included Brkich in the apparel category, and Ginny & Jude in the accessories category
Key trends, colours & fabrics
• COLOUR: Mint l Seafoam l Candy pinks l Lemon l Hot fluro brights
• FABRIC: Broderie and cut-work l Coloured lace l Pale-washed denim l Sequins | Mesh perforations
• PRINT & PATTERN: Conversationals l Tweets and twitters l Tropicana/tribal l Scarf prints