WGSN: Trend to colour
Whether it’s down to the economic climate or a lack of confidence on the part of the customer, the trend cycle is slowing down, with many retailers now working 12 months ahead of the season rather than on six month lead times. The slow down puts greater emphasis on repeating best sellers and updating through new colour and fabric or detailing. To some extent, the focus on colour also explains the colour explosion we are witnessing in the northern hemisphere this summer. Colour is an enormous focus for the season ahead – and a trend that we confidently expect to see gain momentum for autumn/winter 2012/13. The final key message for next winter is the continuing importance of retro influences as designers look to the safety net of past for inspiration – from the glamour of the 30s and 40s through to the minimalist 60s, the continuing love affair with all things 70s and even the 90s.
60s POP: The first trend for autumn/winter 2012/13 is 60s POP, inspired by retro influences. It’s all about streamlined styling, bright colour and influences from designers of the era such as YSL’s Rive Gauche line. This trend accentuates the importance of ‘pop brights’ and clean, simple styling, mirroring looks from the early 60s. Key shapes include the polo neck knit as a layering piece, the pullover top and tunic, and the simple shift dress. Solid colour is also a reigning factor in this trend, with colour for outwear deemed particularly important. Neat-fit tailoring is key to the look, with simple tailored jacket shapes teamed with knee-length A-line skirts, and the tunic and matching pant is a new core item, as a 60s version of pant/suit dressing. Simple colour matched separates feature heavily within the trend and simple dress shapes like the shift are particularly important – highly commercial and extremely wearable – and the use of contrasting fabric and colour blocking can be used to add definition to the silhouette.
70s HERITAGE: This trend moves on a decade to the 70s – which sees a key trend for this summer flowing through to winter as fashion slows down and trends evolve for far longer before peaking. Next winter, 70s influences combine with traditional heritage looks to incorporate checks and plaids and traditional knits with rich autumnal colours. Key items include chevron-patterned flared skirts, belted knits, 70s pant shapes, flared jeans and 70s style accessories. Wide pant shapes demand shorter jacket silhouettes, balanced by wide-set reverse and DB buttoning, and the cape as a 70s-inspired key item has also proved hugely successful on our market last winter. The fur gilet is also a key trend on the runways for next season, and this item combined with a 70s-style smock dress or top can work as a great commercial key item within the trend. We expect below-the-knee lengths – a trend which has been under the radar for a while – to also hit mainstream next winter. Whether this be a-line or pleated, this sillouette is recoloured into autumnal brights as part of 70s Heritage looks. The pussy bow blouse, and the shirt dress, are also key items within this trend, with bird prints also present, bringing the 70s country mood into play. The trend is also great for knit development, including 70s crochet, with the knitted poncho an alternative outerwear shape – another great vehicle for colour or pattern like retro Skandi motifs or Fair Isle placements.
A VINTAGE YEAR: This trend draws inspiration from the cinematic glamour of the 30s and 40s, with a dash of ‘Film Noir’ thrown into the mix. It’s a strong trend for item development as well as the home of the season’s subtle androgynous looks. It’s a strong trend for vintage-inspired print development, with new variations on classics like the simple spot given a deco-feel, and soft belted coats contribute to the vintage 40s feel. Art deco-inspired prints are a key part of the trend, or can be worked as playful engineered devores, and dress shapes are loose and languid with the chemise appearing as a print vehicle. This is also a great trend for all sorts of dress silhouettes, from tailored 40s shapes to retro tea-dressing. Skirt lengths are also below-the-knee, with prominent styles including tailored pencil skirts teamed with neat blouses or knits. Blouses also feature as a key product area within the trend – the bow-tied neck blouse can crossover from our 70s trend, and pretty vintage blouses will be popular. However, it’s not all vintage glamour, there’s also a strong sense of androgyny running through the trend too – think icons like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo – with soft slouchy masculine tailoring, easy granddad cardigans and tuxedos offering an alternative vintage look. There’s also lots of scope for glamorous ladylike accessories too, such as fur collars and tippets or retro-style hats, and correspondent shoes in tans, browns or quickly paintbox brights to finish off the look.
CASUAL YOUTH: This contemporary sportswear style for the casual market references 50s varsity looks, with several new graphic trends emerging to play a key role alongside colourful print and patterns with a humorous twist. It’s a look we have been documenting on the street as part of our youth street reports and it includes brightly coloured collegiate jackets and playful cartoon graphics. The varsity jacket has been a strong key item, with authentic vintage varsity looks being worn everywhere from London to Tokyo, and there’s a preppy edge to the trend with brightly coloured, quilted Puffa jackets and gilets also popular. We are also seeing the return of the authentic vintage style sweatshirt as a key fashion item. Colour is important, and that translates well to colour-blocked knits with contrast detailing or a collegiate appliquéd badge. Simple logo placement returns as part of this trend, as Varsity graphics are reworked with classic brand logos or souvenir-inspired or collegiate-style placement prints subverted by twisting the meanings or mixing up the messages. Graphics which pay homage to big brands through playful interpretations of recognisable branding also feature. One of the strongest graphic messages coming out of the US Magic trade show was for big bold linked typographical letters – a cleaned up hip hop look with its roots in collegiate or varsity styling. Flowing script motifs with Americana influences is another emerging graphics trend, with cartoon imagery and kitsch graphics also tying into the “Casual Youth” vibe.
LUXE GRUNGE: Grunge was a ground-breaking look that resonated with the youth of the 90s and coloured a whole generation’s way of dressing. With A/W 2012 marking the 20-year anniversary of Marc Jacobs’ seminal Grunge collection, the look has been reinvented on the latest runways with an emphasis on layering and oversized slouchy silhouettes. Key items to make the look revolve around the parka – such as a combo of military parka and soft sheer dress. Luxe Grunge is a strong knitwear trend too, with exaggerated marls and vintage style jacquards, with the big oversized sweater considered a popular Luxe Grunge key item – preferably in exaggerated marl. Great casual tops and shirts with bold, mismatched fabric blocking and ombred effects also update yarn dye checks. Surprisingly, this is also a strong trend at the recent kidswear shows, with multiple layering and clashing print and pattern, worked in a palette of winter darks.
Ginger: trend to exotic
REMIX: The growing relationship, both creatively and economically, between the countries within the African continent and the rising superpower of China provide a key focus for the first trend for autumn/winter (A/W) 2012/13: “Remix”. The trend combines these cultures to provide a vivid fusion of graphics, prints and silhouettes with decorative and bold visuals that mix the saturated colours and tribal designs integral to African design, with the delicate and refined lines of Chinese style. A flamboyant palette of earthy neutrals, gold, intense teal and Masai red underpin graphics and prints with a charming naivety, combined with strong colour blocking, sleek lines and ornate, statement necklines. Tribal influences blend with luxury fabrics, intricate beadwork and quirky styling for a look that takes influence from African sports, traditional Chinese costume and the customary attire of indigenous cultures. This alluring marriage of Afro-Asian aesthetics sees clean, hard-angled shapes with Far-Eastern appeal provide powerful silhouettes for tribal block prints and animal markings. Shawl collars, kimono sleeves and wrap over panels propel separates from simple staples to statement pieces while echoing the Asian influence. Elsewhere, tongue-in-cheek placement graphics portraying Africa’s emblematic wild animals inject urban and trend-led collections with humorous charm. Western Africa’s daring youth culture dictates a quirky styling ethos, while the resplendent volumes and angles of Maasai-dress provide a traditional backbone. The neck is celebrated as fashion’s erogenous zone for autumn/winter as tribal conventions draw the eye to heavily embellished neck-plates while casual ranges see necklace graphics adorning outsized jerseys and sweaters. Layering is crucial to the look, evoking a nomadic identity; volume is gathered around the shoulders through exaggerated fall collars jackets and knits, best teamed with tapered drop-crotch sweatpants.
Sporty bomber jackets benefit from a healthy dose of afro-centricity as simple suede shells are brought to life with contrasting wax-print sleeves, while jeans are decorated with leather plates and rivets; for womenswear, denim jumpsuits boasting fringed and feather epaulettes offer an urban identity. A hoard of accessories is vital, celebrating a tribal sense of decoration: Kufi inspired caps, leather hair wraps and chunky wooden jewellery become essential add-ons.
SYNTHESISE: The “Korean wave” has been building for over a decade with South Korea set on a mission to secure global acclaim as an influential creative hub. Boasting a burgeoning industrial design scene, film industry and a now pivotal place on the international fashion landscape, Seoul is stamping its identity as a major design capital as the wave is set to break, flooding autumn/winter 12/13 collections with references from the Asian hotspot. Garments feature a range of influences from pieces that incorporate electronic products for a sense of functionality, the kitsch styling of “K-Pop” icons and the protective aspects of futuristic military gear. Colours are rooted in the artificial, with cool metallic tones, vivid cyan and magenta and glowing shades of tangerine, violet and teal, tempered by smooth blends and the introduction of crisp white. Korea’s juxtaposing male versus female style tribes inspire a dichotomy of edgy, androgynous and obsessively kitsch looks, while its rapid technological advancements force a hi-tech industrial edge that underpins the entire trend. Taking impetus from A/W 11/12’s “Survival” concept, defence and protection are key factors in design. South Korea’s development of surveillance robots fuels an armoured aesthetic that sees quilted panels wrapping around the body’s most sensitive areas while cable-work, seaming and straps envelop the torso in complex robotic networks. Korea’s vehement investment in augmented reality and 3D technologies supports a demand for layered and fragmented digital prints, further displaced through multiple overlapping collars and free-fall panels. Up-and-coming German designer Michael Kampe’s “Exploded View” collection provides a valuable reference, exploring the 3D capabilities of fabricated design and its interaction with digital print. Contemporary typography is also distorted, digitalised and reconstructed to create fonts with an electronic style. Elsewhere, the “augmented” message is communicated through “K-Pop” kitsch as Korea’s saccharine-coated pop culture and trend-besotted youth dominate Asia with their fashionable form of “cosplay” that pushes alternate identities and over-styled bubblegum looks. Here cropped padded gilets in metallic tones, printed leggings, leotards, retro gaming motifs and brightly coloured fun fur bring a vibrant tongue-in-cheek element to a predominantly hi-tech trend.
MYRIAD: The concept of “luxury” is redefined for contemporary times, eradicating the ostentatious in place of innovative design and a need to equate with sustainability. Increasingly, consumers are refusing to compromise the eco-credentials of their purchases for high-end design and top quality manufacture, and vice versa. A prime example of this mind-set is within the growing Arabian market, where designer fashion, pioneering sustainable architecture and deluxe living has become the norm for a rising consumer group that put such values at the top of their purchasing agenda. It is these values that underpin the aesthetics in the third trend for A/W 12/13, “Myriad”, which combines values of luxury and sustainability with a strong sense of Arabic tradition. A sophisticated palette of subtle pastel tones blend with classic camel and opulent midnight blue, setting the tone for collections that ooze sumptuousness. Ornate designs are inspired by complex Islamic tiling, influencing lavish textile prints, intricately layered graphics and delicate embellishment. Garments adopt the elegant draping of traditional Arabic dress with oversized hoods and soft cowl necklines in fluid silk. The radial and geometric patterns intrinsic to Islamic design become a key element across all collections, reinvented for modern times. An ultra-chic style ethos reigns as cutting-edge tailoring adopts a quietly exotic silhouette, employing subtle references from Western Asia and North Africa. Long-line layers are crucial, reminiscent of traditional hijab and djellaba robes. Ankle-grazing tailored jackets sport characteristic side vents, while re-worked smock and nehru-collared shirts come in crisp organic cotton and silk. Sparkle and embellishment are rendered sparingly, evoking the Arabian penchant for glamour and decoration; sporadic interwoven metallic threads and a peppering of micro crystals ensure a modern veneer. Fresh white, camel and Saharan twilight blue are used in clean blocks, occasionally softened with a hand-crafted finish. Here, laser-cuts beadwork and tonal knit patterns also mimic the hypnotising geometrics of Middle Eastern design.
Giorgio Armani’s Saharan nomad collection for spring/summer 2011 proffers inspiration with shaded navy hues and a dusting of sequins referencing thematic ideas in a viable way. Luxury layers communicate an urban identity as tailored and jersey dropped crotch pants are teamed with contemporary staples such as a fitted leather biker jacket, while “Lawrence of Arabia” becomes a fashion icon, pushing desert utility looks. Flak-style vests, jumpsuits and silky cargo pants are integral items while tuareg-inspired head-wraps and cut class jewellery finish trend-led looks.