WGSN
Summer Wallbank
WGSN Australian Trend Editor
Womenswear
Sports Couture: The mood for sportswear continues, but for next summer it takes on a new look, as typical silhouettes – the blouson, sweat top, athletic short and sports vest – are all worked in unexpected fabrics like organza, satin and sequins. Other key looks within the trend revolve around colour-blocking, sheer peekaboo effects, scuba-style halter dresses and cutout detailing. We see clean modern shapes in unexpected fabrications with a strong colour palette defined by white combined with this season’s brights. Holographic treatments, crystal embellishments and transparent materials update accessories.
Boudoir Grunge: A new mood emerged on the runways, as designers opted for a soft femininity to counter-balance the ongoing trend for masculine tailoring.
Here we are looking at the return of feminine dressing – it’s a new look with it’s roots in early 90s grunge. Remember 2012/13 is the 20th anniversary of Marc Jacobs seminal grunge collection for Perry Ellis that changed the way we dressed throughout the 90s. Spring Summer 13’s Boudoir Grunge trend however has slightly subversive elements, with seductive colour and fabrics contrasted with the ongoing mood for masculine influences and androgyny which we have had for the past few seasons. Accessories should reflect the softness of the mood with roll-top accordian clutches, soft leathers and even faux fur – and chain handles for that grungified feel.
East meets West: The international designers were looking East this season, drawing inspiration from the simplicity and rigorous lines of the kimono to inform silhouettes in a muted palette of blues, green and aqua. Asymmetry and origami-like pleats and folds give this look a quietly sophisticated look, making it the perfect trend to develop for the contemporary market. Look to Japanese and Chinese references with artisan detailing, 3D floral motifs and opulent silks for a traditional update on accessories.
60’s Modernist: The 60s is another ongoing trend, which shows no sign of abating. Influences are taken from the early part of the decade and groundbreaking designers like Courrèges and Mary Quant, who worked silhouettes with sparse graphic lines. It was a big trend on a diverse number of runways, with neat linear styling emphasised through graphic stripes and checks, making it a key look for the more junior market. Graphic aesthetics, geometric patterns and strong black and white colour combinations deliver this trend into the accessory market with retro statement eye-wear and box clutches seen on the catwalk.
California Dreaming: Expect to see a 70s vibe filtering through for next summer inspired by Hedi Slimane’s debut at Saint Laurent. The designer reached back into the glory days of the YSL archive, with floor-sweeping ruffled silhouettes that were influenced more by Stevie Nicks on Haight-Ashbury than house muse Catherine Deneuve. We see this as a key trend to develop for the summer’s perennial festival looks, reflecting a laid-back West Coast lifestyle rather than the usual 70s references to the glamour of Talitha Getty. Use warm earthy tones for accessories with traditional bohemian styling such as fringed trims. Key items such as the patchworked bag, gladiator sandal complete the look when used with coloured leathers and brushed suedes.
Menswear
Sports All-Stars: Sporting influences were one of the strongest trends to emerge from the runways, drawing inspiration from all-American sports like baseball and basketball. The key look was for oversized exaggerated silhouettes, verging on the old 90s formula of XXXL proportions, making this a strong trend for junior and youth developments. For accessories think hip-hop vibes with luxe hi-top trainers and paisley-printed caps or opt for vibrant colour blocking for sports trainers and oversized rucksacks.
Preppy Resort: Preppy resort looks are a summer perennial, but they carry a new resonance next summer with the introduction of bold Crayola brights worn in vivid mismatched colour blocks for simple clean-cut separates. For this story, basics like the polo shirts and the simple flat-front tailored pant get a fashion makeover through the use of colour. It’s clean and fresh and highly commercial with the added attraction of functional casual jacket shapes and streamlined tailoring. The look came across for accessories with vivid brights being used for brogues and casual leather briefcases. Crisp whites pared back the look while scarf prints injected a hint of formality.
Urban Warfare: Another highly commercial trend that updates the perennial military theme, bringing new proportion and oversized silhouettes into play, with the accent on functionality and utility detailing. Camouflage prints are set to be a huge trend next summer and sit neatly within this look, recoloured and resized for an updated modern look. Multi-layers are key along with classics like the 4-pocket jacket and casual tailoring. Incorporate more functional styling for men’s accessories, from sturdy leather sandals and utility rucksacks through to eyewear with protective top bars.
The Future Laboratory
Alison Bishop
LS:N Global retail and fashion trends editor, Alison Bishop.
Digital Surrealism: A new style of design is emerging that takes its inspiration from the early days of the internet, as first explored in LS:N Global’s macrotrend, Netstalgia. Rejecting the slickness and seamlessness of today’s digital world, designers are experimenting with a new visual communication style that is curated rather than created, and playful rather than minimal. This sometimes chaotic, but vibrant design direction shows the most compelling examples of Digital Surrealists connecting with the hyper-connected youth of today. Digital Surrealism is influencing print and styling within fashion design. Cassette Playa’s latest video references computer puzzle-action game Katamari in which players roll a sphere that tumbles through worlds picking up objects along the way. With acidic colours, intense rave music and text messages running along the bottom of the screen, the video is a brash and challenging viewing experience with the live feel of online chat rooms. Tom Nijhuis’s 1995 shoot features Gabba -inspired models set against blue screens and, in some cases, superimposed over urban backdrops.
Psychadelia: A vibrant and animated aesthetic direction emerges from the desire to create ‘a sense of wonder, escape and magic’ as mentioned in LS:B Global’s Faction Marketing trend. Inspiration is taken from the 1960s and 70s psychedelic era where clashes of intense colours meet distorted forms. An array of patterns and a multitude of colours collide to form a hypnotic visual illusion. Designers are drawing attention with carefully arranged shapes that play on our perception allowing the audience to explore their alternative consciousness through visual stimulation and trickery. Australian fashion label, Limedrop SS/13 collection captures a psychedelic print using a combination of bright and muted colours. “We have always been adventurous with our use of colour and that flows into our exclusive digital prints,” says co-founder Nathan Price. French fashion label, Hermes’ womens ready-to-wear 2013 collection consists of printed geometric shapes in assorted bright colours on shiny silk material. The blouse deliberately jars with the equally busy and colourful trousers, making for
a bold, eye-catching statement outfit.
Adventurism: A new design direction is referencing Survivalist living and a naïve sense of discovery and adventure. Inspired by historical voyages, designers are providing garments with a modern sense of discovery through their narratives and motifs, which are realised with lighthearted injections of vibrant colour, providing a playful take on practical performance wear. A recent collection by Ostwald Helgason was inspired by a 19th-century Antarctic race between Britain and Norway. The collection features a modern design aesthetic, with multi-coloured nautical stripes, sportswear details and stiffened fabrics. Flared silk skirts are paired with sweaters gilded with sea monster motifs referencing ancient maps and Nordic seafaring tales. In addition to adventurous narratives, designers are experimenting with in-built backpacks and exaggerated hoods featuring acid-coloured accents. These suggest
a more playful take on weather protection.
Industrial Futurism: As storytelling and fantasy emerge as increasingly important ways to engage consumers, designers are seeking inspiration from science fiction. Dystopian futures, as explored in films such as Fritz Lang’s 1927 classic Metropolis, and more recently The Hunger Games, are informing an aesthetic that focuses on fantasy
and narrative rather than on earnest authenticity. In Prada’s autumn/winter 2012 video lookbook Real Fantasies models inhabit a strange industrial landscape, sometimes set in space, but juxtaposed with futurist architecture and criss-crossing railway tracks. Designers are moving away from fabrics and finishes associated with tradition and heritage. Theatrical forms and shimmering metallics infer a sense of fantastical narrative, while neutral tones and iridescent fabrics root the designs in an ephemeral and simple beauty. Sculptural, restrictive accessories and detailing mimic the aesthetic of machinery and demand that the wearer moves in a robotic way. Central Saint Martins graduate Serena Gili created bell-like skirts from resin, designed to restrict the wearer’s movements and body language.
Sublime Materiality: As we enter a period which LS:N Global has described as The New Sublimity, consumers are questioning what they must do in order to feel fulfilled in a world of overload, Stuffocation and confusion. Taking time to focus on spirituality and happiness has become a great concern for many. Signalling a move away from
the brash aesthetic of the Design It Yourself era, the Sublime Materiality direction includes a group of designers who are encouraging thoughtful consumers to think much more spiritually in reference to their belongings and their connections with objects and interiors. Luxurious in its colour palette, this trend has a sense of minimalist reductionism. With waves of cooling, calming and comforting pastel hues against resplendent white backdrops, it suggests purity, lightness and transcendence. Fashion designers are exploring the use of transparent layers and hazy print designs to create gauzy illusions on the body. The aesthetic appears blurred and inconstant, adding to its emotionally poetic feel. A recent collection by Bora Aksu featured dip-dyed dresses in a glowing orange that morphed into faded floral prints, suggesting the idea of memory and story like a shadow on the garment. Issey Miyake says: “We wish to work in
a way that gives everybody involved in making and wearing these clothes dreams and hopes.”
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Reality Bites: Realness is returning as a novel aspect of fashion and culture. In response to the skewed perspective of reality TV and the fakeness of celebrities, we find ourselves craving something altogether more honest and unaffected. It’s about the freedom from specialness, and the thrill of the ordinary. This sincere style is expressed through a wholesome palette of brown, rust, gold, blush and stone grey. The romance of flowered pajamas, the reassurance of sweaters, and wearing clothes as something to inhabit, a second home, a shield against the world. Easy layering is key, with oversized sweaters, long skirts, and slip dresses conjure up 90s grunge. Plaids mixed with other plaids or juxtaposed with florals. Sheers or openwork crochets add romance and nostalgia. This trend works well for contemporary and youth markets.
Sirens call: Oceanic living creatures inspire exquisite embellishments this season, raising the bar for ready-to-wear. Surfaces represent the sea floor with pebbled prints and encrusted jewels. Pearlescent, transparent layers are key for day and evening. Fluid drapery for modern goddess feel. Nonchalant attitude keeps ethereal colors and fabrics from becoming too precious. Sheathed in pearly paillettes and cellophane seaweeds. The stresses of the modern world are reinforcing the importance of wellbeing. Observing the emotions is expressed through subtle moody hues like indigo, navy, mulberry, pale lavender and off-white. This trend is strong for knits and evening categories.
Art + Reason: The elegance of mathematics, the timeless aesthetics of Fibonacci’s spirals and the “golden ratio” formula. This trend has a minimalist yet rich feel. Here, cleverly constructed Mod shapes are created with origami folds, precise seams and laser cuts, executed in papery cottons and crisp organza’s. It’s a meditation of harmony and composition. Regular planes of vertical and horizontal lines act as a framework for prints and graphics. Softened colors lend a gentle graphic effect using tones of dark grey, beige, almond and milky white, while red adds punctuation. Boxy silhouettes and mini lengths. A great trend for career dressing and suiting.
Paradise Found: Poets and artists have, for centuries, depicted island paradises with heavenly landscapes and all the elements required to reach nirvana. Heady, luscious jungles recall exotic flora and juicy fruits to delight the senses. Embracing a clash of color, scent, and sound, allowing ecstasy to unfold. Rare blossoms push up between sidewalk cracks. Color mixing appears in new forms for S/S 14 with a penchant for jarring and clashing effects. Vibrant tropical colors and island-inspired silhouettes. Wrap dresses and sarongs are key. Ombré, animal, and floral prints using digital techniques. Pinks and greens comprise the lush vibrant effect with soft touches of almond and banana. Leave shoulders and midriff bare. Great for swim, denim, and streetwear categories.