Non-profit industry organisation Fashion Group International staged its biannual trend seminar in Melbourne recently. Assia Benmedjdoub reports on why the focus was on independent designers.
I have yet to stumble across a draped, twisted, leopard-print jersey blazer embellished with epaulets.
This is because any fashion designer who has attended a trend seminar knows it’s impossible to work every concept into one collection. With a running time of 50 minutes, the Fashion Group International (FGI) spring/summer 2010 audiovisual presentation was certainly no exception. At three looks per minute, you’d end up with 150 trends per range.
Some dissection was in order.
Independent designers Dhini Pararajasingham and Nicole Williams were invited to take part in a panel discussion following the screening, where they dissected ready-to-wear trends from Paris, Milan and New York. This was an unusual move for the Australian branch of FGI, which often includes major retail players (such as Sportsgirl chief executive Elle Roseby) as part of its panelist line-up.
But it was with good reason, according to panel moderator and fashion consultant Kate Vandermeer. Australian fashion retailers are already pumping key spring/summer 2010 trends into their collections now, so it would’ve been the equivalent of asking them to look back, not forward.
“We’re already seeing these trends filter through in the January/February transeasonal drops,” Vandermeer noted. “So by the time these trends should have actually hit the marketplace – spring/summer at the end of this year – we’ve already released the highlights. Australia is not working ‘six months behind’ the international calendar.”
Here, Vandermeer acknowledged the growing influence of new media, as more and more international designers opt to broadcast their seasonal collections online. Alexander McQueen for instance, streamed his entire spring/summer 2010 showcase live from Paris Fashion Week. With this immediacy of information comes a huge change in consumer demand.
“We’re now working very much ahead,” Vandermeer explained. “And with that comes positives and negatives. One of the negatives is that customers... expect retailers to pick up on these catwalk trends early. This can be quite tricky in terms of making that trend retail really well; some will have a lot of market appeal but others will come in as a fad and enter and exit very quickly.”
Perhaps more importantly, it also marks a significant shift in the role of Australian designers. If retailers are already stocking key looks from the spring/summer 2010 season now, what will local designers be offering in six months time?
Pararajasingham answered this question five years ago when she launched her signature label at London Fashion Week. Although Dhini Couture is now recognised as one of the more directional brands in Australia, the young designer claims her point of difference has always been not so much in avoiding trends, but intentionally disregarding them altogether.
“I’m always aware of what’s going on, but I research shows in Europe and New York so I can see what designers have done, and not follow them. I’m at the mid- to high-end place in the market [$350 - $1000] so I feel I’ve got to be doing something completely different.”
Pararajasingham is often one step ahead of international runway looks, even if she is reluctant to admit it. Embellished military jackets – with sculpted shoulder pads, ruching and chunky epaulets – were noted as a key trend for spring/summer 2010 at the presentation, a subtle development of the Balmain shoulder seen in previous seasons.
However, Dhini Couture offered its own take on this during spring/summer 2009, with a highly ornate marching boy jacket featuring gold embellishments on royal blue silk.
“Strong tailoring has always been a signature of the label,” she told Ragtrader after the seminar. “I think there’s also a collective [creative] conscious in the fashion industry that sees us move in a certain direction at the same time.”
Another key theme to emerge from the international spring/summer 2010 runways was the growth of re-engineered digital prints. McQueen scored top points again with his digitally manipulated animal patterns, superimposed onto futuristic sculpted dresses. This was around the same time Pararajasingham signed off on her own exclusive digital prints for the season.
“I went to India last year and was really inspired by Mughal architecture, which features beautiful carvings in marble and stone,” she says. “I transferred a kind of lattice screen [pattern] to a digital print and re-engineered it so it had a more abstract, futuristic look.”
The prints were developed in partnership with an Indian printing firm, in order to keep local production costs down. Hues of blush, bright midnight, black and ice blue dominate the palette, while twisted drape garments in silk jersey, micro modal and silk Georgette also feature heavily in the collection. It will debut at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in May.
It could also mark another potential scoop for Pararajasingham, with Vandermeer selecting drapery as a “big trend” from the spring/summer 2010 circuit.
“There are so many new upgrades,” she said. “Designers are draping, wrapping, tying and twisting fabrics.”
For fellow panelist Williams, founder of occasionwear brand Nicolangela, both draping and exclusive prints were a signature of her label. Other trends, such as the military jacket, could be reworked to suit her niche.
“It’s not relevant for me in eveningwear,” she said. “What I would draw from it is the use of embellishments.”
Williams also appeared unfazed by the mounting pace of Australian fast-fashion retailers, adding that wholesale clients and customers at Nicolangela’s retail store in Melbourne “appreciated” the brand for its refusal to follow trends.
“We develop our own signature prints and styles and customers appreciate the fact we have that, particularly for special occasions.”
The FGI spring/summer 2010 trend seminar was held at the Whitehouse Institute of Design in Melbourne earlier this month.
Industry consultant and www.iSpyStyle.net editor Kate Vandermeer believes local retailers have already released key spring/summer 2010 trends into the market. Fresh approaches to draping, digital animal prints and military/urban utility wear were selected as key areas by Vandermeer. Below, Vandermeer and Ragtrader look at which retailers have caught on.
1. Military – Cue
The Balmain shoulder seen in previous seasons has evolved “with much more embellishment, much more luxury and a lot of shoulder detailing,” Vandermeer said. Cue’s military jacket for autumn/winter 2010 is featured here, with detachable shoulder pads.
2. The new print – Sheike
The animal print made a comeback in spring/summer 2010, only “the merging of digital print with fashion was most apparent this season” with designers like Alexander McQueen, Josh Goot and Proenza Schouler. Sheike’s print on a moulded corset brings Alexander McQueen to mind.
3. The new drape – Country Road
The growing popularity of jersey saw many international designers take draping to a new level. “The use of draping, wrapping, tying and twisting was used as THE key statement for Burberry, Fendi, Jil Stuart and no-one did it better than Donna Karan,” Vandermeer said. Liquid jersey, transparent chiffons and silk blends were key. Country Road’s jersey top hits the spot.