Colourandtrends tracks and forecasts colours, materials and fashion trends with a special focus on footwear, handbags, jewelry, watches, eyewear and accessories. Its blog covers trade fairs, designer collections, retail performance and also reports on fast emerging pop up trends.
Colour Forecasts and Trend Tracking for Fashion, Footwear, Handbags, Jewelry and Accessories
You and your phone are inseparable. Its cover has become a reflection of your personality. You might be fun-loving, or you might be constantly on the go.
Blame it on Gucci! Ferocious, roaring tiger motifs have been popping up all over Europe, and not only on Gucci handbags. Appliqués on jeans pant legs, shirts and the back of athletic as well as bomber jackets have been favorite spots to affix images of these menacing cats in London, Copenhagen and Milan.
Getting tired of that camo jacket you bought a couple of seasons ago? Don’t! Fashionistas in Milan, New York, Copenhagen and Frankfurt gave their jackets a creative update this spring.
Designers in Paris addressed the upcoming fall season with season-appropriate cover-ups.
Prints were the beneficiary of the colour explosion on Paris runways. Bold graphics dominated, from striking linear and block designs to vintage graphics.
Daytime casual and tailored looks dominated on Paris runways, and the materials reflected the mood with leather, shearling and fur, the latter faux and real.
Daytime casual and tailored looks dominated on Paris runways, and the materials reflected the mood with leather, shearling and fur, the latter faux and real.
Generous, oversized silhouettes dominated the fall/winter 2017/18 collections in Milan.
Stripes, checks, animal motifs, flowers and graphic colour blocks don’t sound very new as far as patterns are concerned. Yet the interpretations of these familiar themes received a fresh makeover on Milan’s runways for fall/winter 2017/18.
Although colour made tremendous visual impact for fall/winter in Milan, upon closer inspection one realized that the fabrics were even more important.
Shots of colour flashed on Milan’s runways making the point that there will be room for optimism next fall. Blues ranged from deep midnight to brighter, royal tints. Reds were represented in most collections, often from head to toe. Whereas the yellow-cast olive green family continued strongly, new, lighter shades of spring-like greens emerged. Yellow, usually associated with spring segued into fall in interesting ways. Another spring/summer favourite, pink, made impact often in almost fluorescent versions. More traditional fall shades, purple and peacock teal, lightened up.
Whether coats, suits, dresses or pants, designers added new twists to familiar garment silhouettes. Sleeves were a focal point, from only one sleeve to elongated fluttery sleeves to bulbous romantic sleeves. They certainly added a new look to blouses, dresses and jackets alike.
It would not be London Fashion Week without designers acknowledging British heritage classic prints and patterns. There were plenty of tartans, traditional checks, club stripes, and garden florals, even Fair Isles sweater patterns. That said, the garments looked anything but classic. London designers re-affirmed their place as heirs of Swinging London with kicky designs reminiscent of the youth quake.
As it is often the case, newness in fashion is not about re-inventing basic silhouettes, but rather it is achieved with exciting new materials and treatments. London designers, particularly the talent incubator, Central Saint Martins took full advantage of technical fabric developments and experimented with wearable plastics. Many designers opted also for extreme lightweight tech satins, sometimes iridescent, and used them for dress and casual looks alike.
London fall/winter 2017/18 collections could easily be taken to be “buy now/wear now” spring designs. (And, indeed, some of them were, notably Burberry) Designers simply ignored traditional seasonal colour delivery cut-off dates and continued to show whites and pales for winter with a heavy dose of bright highlight shades as well.
Leather and material collections presented at Lineapelle, the Milan trade fair, offered a preview of what designers will get inspired by for their spring/summer 2018 footwear and leather accessory designs. And there was plenty of inspiration to be found! Leather was still the main attraction with a multitude of new patterns and finishes. But the rise of non-leathers could not be ignored. New mesh and neoprene versions catapulted materials into the future, whereas natural straws, raffia and hemp promoted eco-friendliness and sustainability.
Sparkly sequins, silky fringe, colourful stones, elaborate embroideries and patches as well as a multitude of bold prints are the essence of Milan shop windows this spring. Ready-to-wear fashions in colourful floral prints project an exuberant mood. Shoes and accessories follow the trend. One of the most popular items is a sky-blue Gucci bag with floral embroidered patches, prominently displayed in windows and already worn by many on the street.
Traditional Brit-style checks and plaids never seem to go out of fashion. They always seem to be there, classic, demure and somewhat in the background. Not so going forward! Plaid-clad fashionistas have been spotted everywhere this season, in London, Stockholm, Paris and New York. And judging by the fall/winter 2017/18 designer collections we can expect to see everyone and everything going mad for plaid next fall.
Will fall 2017/18 be a colourful season, or will fashions be dark and somber? We will attempt to answer that question.
Spring this year is in the pink! Pale blush shades are at the pale spectrum of the pink palette going all the way to more intense, tropical, hot pinks. Designers set the pace by sending head to toe pink fashions down the runway. Accessories tap into the trend as well, from head to toe, from jewelry and eyewear to shoes.
It’s a striped season! Bold stripes, club stripes, umbrella stripes, ruffled stripes, you name it, there are fresh stripes for every mood and every occasion.
Hope, prosperity, and new beginnings are all associated with the colour green.
The proliferation of tech gadgets has been a boom for leather goods with specialized covers for a myriad of models and sizes of phones, tablets, etc.
Colour & Trends forecasts colour and fashion trends 12 to 18 months in advance of the selling season with a special focus on footwear, handbags, jewelry, accessories, watches and sunglasses (eyewear).
Copyright 2022 CCT Inc. Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
