With temperature rising continuously, Spring/Summer 2016 seems to be the hottest summer ever. Not only in terms of climate conditions but also for the scorching silhouettes it brings with it. As the warmth from the runways translate to the streets, exporters get inspired and are ready to offer the season’s hottest trends. In the midst of summer sampling, exporters are making sure that they don’t miss the opportunity and offer their buyers the best of the summer trends at the perfect time. Spotted on the runways of last summer, some styles are sure to go ahead and get incorporated in the upcoming summer collections as well. Whether it’s bold printed shorts or a dramatic bodycon dress, following five chic trends are guaranteed to make rounds in the industry…
RETRO HOT PANTS
Hot pants, or ‘short shorts’ have been a fashion item since 1960s and are popular today as well. With consumers looking for styles most suitable for summers, the trend for shorter and brighter shorts for women has started to become a wardrobe staple. Born as running or gym shorts worn by girls, now hot pants have become a normal wear as they have an inlay made of a comfortable fabric such as cotton, similar to swim shorts. It’s not surprising that most people have a love/hate relationship with hot pants and the daring trend has had its fair share of ups and downs throughout the years, and is a notoriously tricky clothing item to pull off for most. But thanks to so many remarkable collections featuring outrageously stylish versions of these micro- sized shorts on the runways, many exporters have got drawn towards developing these styles. Rupa Dutt, Vice-President, Lady London elaborating on the trend said, “Crop sets are in demand, continuing from the last summer season with matching shorts. And short shorts are items that are making rounds this season, as everyone nowadays is moving towards trendy comfortable styles and shorts are one such item.”
Every designer had their own version of hot pants in S/S ’15 RTW runways and it further paved way for more versions to grow in the S/S ’16 collections. Labels successfully managed to make short shorts look completely chic for daytime and equally glamorous to suit nightlife. Balmain went for a structured pattern in all white, where Tommy Hilfiger presented its wild side, creating hot pants in dark gloomy colours in pinstripes and suiting fabrics. Equally noteworthy, albeit more feminine was the pair of upper-thigh-baring shorts in the collection by Tago. While hot pants are clearly having a moment on the runways, this trend is taking some time to translate well into real life too, but that’s something the coming summer will decide.
BODYCON DRESS
The body-conscious dress this summer will be a subtle combination of sheer and opaque panelling with a shaped rib waist for dynamic proportions. Short for ‘body conscious’, the bodycon dress is a style of skintight clothing that emphasizes the contours of the body. They are also sometimes called bandage dresses but not all bodycon dresses are of the bandage dress nature. With society moving towards a healthy lifestyle, women prefer to flaunt their fit silhouettes in figure accentuating forms, and bodycon dresses have become a necessity in that front.
Seen is glimpses on the last S/S runways, bodycon dresses showed extreme potential of becoming the most popular bodywear garment this upcoming summer. Alexander Wang and Herve Leger by Max Azria, went the archetypical way and showcased bandage dresses in strapless and sleeveless varieties adorning textures and fabric manipulation, whereas, designers like Balmain, created amalgamation of sheer and tightly woven mesh to create an interplay of light and shadow. Expecting this silhouette in midi lengths with serious attention on soothing fabrics, Zakir Hussain, Owner, Cotfab (India), manufacturer of skirts and dresses for European markets shared, “The trend started in 2014, but soon mellowed down and now it’ll only go bigger in the next spring. Bodycon dresses are and will be doing good business in future collections.”
BANDEAU BRALET
With summers compelling people to shed off those extra layers, décolletage baring is in trend again. Whether you go delicate and girly or sleek and powerful, this is the zone to buff-up over winter before the big reveal next spring. And helping doing the same are the bandeau tops that were seen all over the catwalks of S/S ’15 and are definitely going to continue in the Spring of 2016. Whether worn over clothes, under layers or on their own, bandeau bralets put minimalistic yet revealing femininity on display. Worn underneath for a subtle hint of skin, worn with overalls with plunging necklines or under menswear-inspired suits, leather jackets and sheer tops, bandeaus in varied varieties of bows, frills, sparkles and sequins are expect to be seen in the S/S ’16 collections.
Bandeau bralets are all set to replace the cropped top for the midriff bearing aficionados, and are following the bright colour-pop palette and super white textures. For some exporters, orders have yet to come in, whereas for some others like Sangeeta Jain, Proprietor, Kuttu International, the bandeau obsession is on. “Concentrating on the European and US markets, we have developed a few samples in crochet, which we are hopeful that will do well,” shared Sangeeta. Starting from the sporty bandeau to an elaborately embroidered one, bandeaus were seen on the runways in all variations. Accentuating individuality, designers like Dsquared2 and Ermanno Servino created tops in leather and jute, whereas Michael Kors and Ports 1961 added additional straps to bandeaus to give way to myriad of options that can take this trend from there to the next season allowing designers to also do an excellent job in styling the bandeau all throughout next season.
CROPPED TROUSERS
With skinny jeans and slim-fits slowly becoming a thing of the past, cropped trousers in varied guises are entering the industry to suit the styles of women from every segment. Coming from the runways to the streets, cropped trousers have proven to be a trend to try. Suno’s S/S ’15 collection conceded cotton adaptations of wide legged shin length pants, whereas, Veronica Beard and Badgley Mischka presented formal looking cropped trousers in golden brocade and pinstriped fabrics. Discussing about the increasing demand of cropped pants for S/S ’16, Nandini Pal, Designer, Bershka, ITX Trading SA, INDITEX said, “The gradual shift from super skinny to cropped wide- legged or boot cut, is quite prominent. Trousers in the upcoming season, though straight and structured, will not be as form fitting, as the lowers of the seasons past, but will be relaxed and cropped.”
ASYMMETRY
While high octane glamour certainly took a backseat for Spring 2015, complicated forms refused to follow suit. Instead, designers worked with casualness creating mind-boggling asymmetry at every collection. Be it flawless fusion of brocade blazers with asymmetric ruffles at Badgley Mischka, alternating patterns and bias cut skirts at Peter Pilotto and Toga or one- shoulder garments with spliced fabrics at Mugler, asymmetry was embracing the concept of layering with such elegance that it has decided to continue till the next few summers. Asymmetrical hems by nature are sexy as associated by the uneven cut that flows along when walking, highlighting the legs and the movement more. The asymmetric cut provides the garment with an added fluidity and flexibility, owing to which this silhouette gets stereotypically pushed into the category of summer. Foreseen by many designers and exporters, this fashion has been predicted to be in full bloom in the S/S ’16 collections. “This is one trend we never skip; we always do some dresses with asymmetrical hems in our collections. Hemlines this season have definitely gotten a little blurred, and no longer are we wearing just straight hems, giving rise to the use of asymmetry,” shares Pramod Rathore, Proprietor, Indus Valley Exports.
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