Concluding another leg of fashion month, London Fashion Week just ended and that means another set of fashion trends are ready for your perusal.
The city is always famed for its young burgeoning talent that constantly churns fresh ideas and pioneers in eclectic construction techniques. However, this season luxury brand Burberry showed that freshness is not reserved only for the young.
Tapping into the brand’s chav heritage, which was popularly discarded as a fashion ‘faux pas’ in the 2000s, Christopher Bailey revived the trademark caramel check, a brilliant move to highlight their British legacy and ironically claiming an iconic status in pop culture at the same time.
Actually, irony was commonplace at a lot of shows and especially evident in the accessories department. With Anya Hindmarch’s takeaway boxes repurposed as handbags; pillows and blankets becoming the arm candy at Mother of Pearl and Christopher Kane’s return to bejewelled crocs as well as mop shoes in the same collection.
While these may be more ludicrous statements than anything else, the city did offer a plethora of concepts which will translate perfectly to retail frontiers for next season. Here are the main fashion trends that will be key for the UK fashion market in Spring/Summer 2018.
HAUTE RAINCOAT
Deliriously famous for their damp weather, Brit designers have taken up the humble utilitarian raincoat and made it absolutely ‘haute’ for the upcoming season. Nicopanda presented the rainy outerwear basic in bubble-gum pink with ruffle details; Toga made sleek tailored coats in red and blue that could be mistaken for floor length dresses and Burberry slapped their prominent check on clean silhouettes.
SORBET SOIRÉE
Celebration of femininity continues for another season with soft pastels in a wild variety of colours. A sugary ladylike trend that is always a hot seller for summer collections, it was spotted at Preen by Thornton Bregazzi in sheer candy hues and Emilia Wickstead on long pleated dresses. The sorbet party made its way to Marta Jakubowski and Joseph’s vibrant assortments as well.
RICH SLICE
Sometimes better than immaculate construction is its opposite counterpart: deconstruction. Slashing and slicing to repurpose bulkier silhouettes was a big hit at London’s much-loved shows. As seen at Natasha Zinko and Toga, both of which tore out sleeves and destroyed hemlines in outerwear, the trend was continued by A.W.A.K.E and Halpern in a more tailored way for spring 2018.
SILVER HILL
The festive winter mania of metallics in fashion garments has made its way to summer collections in a bright space-silver avatar. The sci-fi inspired material was abundantly spotted throughout Ralph & Russo’s debut RTW show in everything from bodycon dresses to thick coats. Even Ashish UK, who normally plays with bright primary colours went for a black and silver collection this season.
RUFFLE TROUBLE
A garment detail that efficiently couples as an accessory and gives ample architectural dimension to any outfit, the ruffle was sensational at summer collections in London. From Simone Rocha’s overbearing balloon gowns with oversized ruffles and Emilio de la Morena’s snaking shapes around wavy dresses to Christopher Kane’s use of multiple thin frills of sheer printed fabric decorating clean sheath dresses, ruffles are here to stay.
HATCH PATCH
The ‘hippie de luxe’ trend of patchworks and panelling was a strong look that featured in a lot of British fashion designers’ diverse propositions. A bohemian favourite, the style was a mainstay at the youth collective Fashion East’s entire line-up, Peter Pilotto’s shift dresses and Marques’Almeida’s slash and spliced gowns. At Anya Hindmarch and Antonio Berardi, the trend was used in bold outerwear pieces.
PINK Ft. RED
Lo and behold, pink palanquin bearers are still here and they might not leave anytime soon! Last season’s pink was paired with this season’s cherry red all over the runways of London. Ashley Williams put a red belt on a pink dress; Roksanda paired red wide leg pants with a pink flowy gown and Emporio Armani stepped up the colour pairing game with double checks: windowpane on top and glen plaid on bottom.
DRAWSTRINGS
Closures have been getting the sportswear touch since last fall and now for summer 2018, the favourite bondage is drawing inspirations from bungee cords. At Mary Katrantzou, hot air balloons was the main theme and her bubble hem skirts were are all tied together with strings. From Palmer Harding’s haphazard tie-up to Pringle of Scotland’s sporty separates, bungee ropes were everywhere.
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