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I study Fashion Design at Westminster University. This blog documents my work throughout the course and random things along the way!

2.11.11

Show Report

From the most recent Spring Summer 2012 Fashion Weeks which showed in London, Paris, New York and Milan, various trends became apparent for next season. Each designer has their own approach to these trends but nevertheless they continued to crop up throughout Fashion Week. 
A very striking trend which regularly appeared in many of the shows is the reinvention of the biker jacket. A designer whose Paris show was almost based upon this trend is Junya Watanabe. His continuous reinvention of the biker jacket throughout, presents it in a very striking electric blue, bright red and the typical biker jacket colour - black. Each one featured huge frills creating a silhouette with very broad shoulders. This trend also appeared in Marc Jacob’s Louis Vuitton collection, with a pastel yellow biker jacket amongst the lace and embellished tweed skirt suits in their Spring Summer 2012 show. With the reptile skin jacket creating such a contrast in texture to the other fabrics used in the show, the biker jacket added a modern edge to Louis Vuitton’s collection as a whole.


Maison Martin Margiela, who showed in Paris and Julien Macdonald, who showed in London both used a similar colour palette of black and beige for their biker jackets yet they adopted a completely different shape and design. Margiela’s jackets were far more structured with a very stiff look to them and angular lines. On the other hand Julien Macdonald’s softer leather jackets had a more classical approach and included a longer, sleeveless biker jacket. Celine’s interpretation of the biker jacket was probably the most classical of the designers I have accounted for. Using black leather and making a feature of the classical biker zip fastening, this jacket was the most traditional. Moschino’s jacket, although quite similar in shape to Celine’s, was reinvented with very graphic flower and heart prints in bold colours.





















Another trend which is apparent in some of these designer’s collections and more, is the use of tassels. Again, each designer has adapted this trend in their own way, resulting in very different looks. Etro embellished the necklines of printed dresses and finished off the hems with silk tassels. The thin tassels added a lot of movement to the dresses and those with a colour gradient created a feather like effect, which is very similar to those used in Louis Vitton’s collection. The feathery tassels decorated the Louis Vitton lace dresses in pastel ice cream colours. A designer who also uses silk tassels in the same way Etro does, is Julien Macdonald. His silk tassel dress is covered with layers of shiny, ivory colour tassels. Moschino is another design who has interpreted this trend into his collection. Moschino’s use of tassels has a cowgirl feel to them as they trim the edges of jackets and jumpsuits.


Mark Fast, who showed in London Fashion Week, used tassels in a very feminine way. The romantic crocheted dresses were finished with gold tassels which stretched to the floor, the gold tassels also featured on a crocheted shawl. This trend reoccurred in a much more minimalistic way from Dolce and Gabbana. Rather than featuring tassels on the garments, D&G took a unique approach and only used tassels on little clutch bags. These were very colourful, which really complimented the looks they were teamed with. 





















Shirts buttoned-up right to the top is a very prominent trend in the Spring Summer 2012 collections. Two designers who created black chiffon shirts almost identical to one another, although worn under completely different looks, were Christian Dior and Mulberry. The transparent chiffon emphasises the opaque, sharp, black collars of the shirt. This use of transparent material was again used by Marc Jacobs who showed a chiffon shirt with a green gingham print; the shirts in his collection also had the top buttons fastened up. Marc Jacobs even integrates the shirt collar into a bright yellow sweatshirt, which is something I am yet to find in another designer’s collection. He also takes this concept one step further by placing a typical shirt collar onto a jacket in a different colour, making it noticeable feature in the look.


It is evident that the shirt is reinvented in another way through Givenchy’s Paris show. In this collection we see it worn in a very traditional and classic way, with a sleeveless blazer suit set, as well as in a very modern innovative way. The shirt, again made from a transparent chiffon, is layered beneath a clean cut, chiffon, ruffle dress. Louise Gray even interprets this trend into her unique style with geometric prints on shirts, layered beneath brightly coloured jumpers or floral jackets. 








Finally another unmissable trend is the late 1950’s silhouette, with the small waist and broadened hips. This silhouette has been created by many designers in very different ways. Louis Vitton presents this silhouette shape by exaggerating the size of the hips with bell shape skirts. Other designers however have formed this same silhouette shape with a cinched in waist. Rarely are belts positioned on the hips in any of the Spring Summer collections, if a belt is worn it must apparently be worn on the waist. Christopher Bailey represents this trend in Burberry Prorsum by creating a smaller waist with leather belts to tighten trench coats and pleated skirts which flare at the hips. 


Gareth Pugh expands the size of the hips with his typical structured style, creating a more angular version of this 50’s silhouette. In a similar way, Prada has presented a very simple, quite structured jacket which is, like Burberry Prorsum, cinched in at the waist with an embellished belt. The small waist and wide hips is shown again in many of Jean Paul Gaultier’s looks. Fabric is layered and gathered to build up the size of the hips, whilst the waist is tightened with a thin leather rope tie or a very wide, metallic leather belt. 










There are many more trends that are evident from the New York, London, Paris and Milan Fashion weeks and I have chosen to analyse the four that to me are the most striking. Each trend can be found in many more collections from the Spring Summer 2012 shows but the designers that I have selected, represent just some examples of how each of them have interpreted the trends in their own unique way.