Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Cross Culture)

"The World is Flat" is a bestselling book by Thomas L. Friedman in 2005. He pointed out in his book that the flattening of the world can be a force for good - for business, the environment and people everywhere. However, the world of fashion has already flattened with the creative and cross cultural designs of great fashion designers. The year, "cross culture" is a major fashion trend for Fall and Winter. Among these greats, Nicolas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga is the most admirable fashion designer with a mix and match of different enthnic fashion designs. From oriental to western, from batik printed dress to Russian military jacket, different cultural elements have been mixed to create an attractive and elegant fashion collection. In his hand and mind, flattening of the world has already been made happened in fashion. Besides Balenciaga, multi-cultural designs are also adopted in the fashion collections from Dries Van Noten, Anna Sui, Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood. To keep up with the changes, you should prepare yourself for this evergoing trends of globalization in fashion designs.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Couture Details)

In the past, couture and read-to-wear are two separate sections of fashion. Couture is commonly thought to be deluxe, fancy designs only suitable for parties and important functions. This fall, fashion designers have brought along the details of couture design into the designs of ready-to-wear fashion. Cascaded ruffles running along the front, origami-like cranes, ripples and layering etc are found in the designs of latest fashion collections. Among these famous brands, you can find Christian Dior, Lanvin, Givenchy and Gucci etc. One of the best presentations for such details is from John Galliano of Christian Dior who is really a master in presenting couture details in ready-to-wear. His designs of multi-layering tube evening dress , bias cut gown as well as knee length skirts accompanied with sequins and embroideries truly bring out the most graceful parts of ladies.

However, design is design. Not everyone is brave enough to wear clothes with couture details in common life. But why not making yourself more attractive!

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Gray / Grey Market)

If I say BLACK is the longlasting color in fashion for Fall and Winter, no one will disagree. You will be always right by dressing in black. However, fashion is about trendy. You have to catch up with the latest trends. This year gray/grey color has come into play. Unlike black, there is a great depth in gray color. Light gray, dark gray and charcoal gray or gray tones in between have offered a wide range of options for fashion designers. Following this trend, grays are adopted in different styles of fashion from dress to evening wear and from top to coat etc. Gray appeared as a simple single tone gray, mix and match of grays in different tones or gray with sequins or beads are found in the lastest fashion collections such as Yves Saint Laurent, Mark Jacobs, Calvin Klein and Vera Wang etc. To me, gray color gives a feeling of elegance and softness. Unlike the favorite black, gray offers a better presentation of clothes cuttings which is especially great in showing the detailings in fashion. The depth of gray is also a better choice in layering different pieces. So, have you found your own gray/grey for this Fall and Winter?

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Summary)

New season has come. Let's have a quick scan on the summary of latest fashion trends in F/W 2007. The key trends are as follows:

1. Gray/Grey Market

2. Couture Details

3. Cross Culture

4. Knit Parade

5. Suitting Up

As usual, we will go through each trend in more details in later blogs.

Chiffon - Another Great Fashion Material

After the discussion on satin, we would like to turn to another major material adopted by fashion designers in the design of high class fashion ie Chiffon. Chiffon is originated from the French word for cloth which has reflected its importance in fashion history.

Chiffon is a lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric. Chiffon can be made from cotton, silk or synthetic fibers, but is usually associated with silk or nylon. Chiffon can be dyed to almost any shade desired, however if made from polyester it is difficult to dye. Chiffon is a good companion with satin as both are are light weight and give a feeling of elegant and floating by overlaying each other. Therefore it is a popular fabric used in evening wear such as gowns, blouses, ribbons, scarves and lingerie. Like other crepe fabrics, chiffon can be difficult to work with because of its light and slippery textures. Due to this delicate nature, chiffon must be hand washed very gently.
Most chiffon nowadays is made from polyester (for stain resistance). Silk chiffon is regarded as the premium type of chiffon. It is dry cleanable and does not suffer from the same level of degradation and tearing as polyester chiffon.

Satin - A Great Fashion Material

For a long time, satin has been one of the major materials for high class fashion including couture fashion, party dressing and gowns. However, do you know exactly what satin is? Some people even mix satin with silk. According to Wikipedia, satin is defined as follows :

"Satin is a cloth that typically has a glossy surface and is dull black in colour. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibers such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is termed a "satin"."

The excellent features of satin such as light weight, shiny and soft surface has made it a popular material for fashion designers. Some satin manufacturers also add Lycra or Elastane inside the fabric content to increase the stretching ability of fabric and makes the clothes more wearable and fit to different body sizes. In general, fashion designers are keen to mix and match satin with other material such as chiffon, lace and embroidered silk to generate elegant effects.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Back To Future)

"Back To Future" seems to be with a bit contradiction. How can "Future" can be "Back"? This is really a true description. The imaginary future fashion trend has been a hot topic in the 60's which was brought by the hot trend of space exploration. At the time, Appollo space plan of the US was starting to explore the moon and the former USSR also achieved great results in space exploration. People during the time also got crazy about the space. Fashion being a reflection of social culture also carried elements of space. Shiny materials in silvery, ironic or other metallic tones are the elements to show a feeling of cold and mysterious space. The styles are tunic skirts, mini skirts and short pants in sharp and clear cutting designs which shows a lively looks. This year "Back To Future" is a key topic of Spring and Summer fashion trend. The leading brands with such designs are Fendi, Channel., Miu Miu and Burberry Prorsum etc. So, don't hesitate to dress in this trend and get a feeling of travelling in a time tunnel to 60's space age!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Exaggerated 80's)

I always believe fashion is a reflection of the culture at the time being. For example, 60's is an age of the universe and the styles of fashion at that time is full of concepts of the universe. When you look at the 80's, what kind of things can you remember? 80's is a time of exaggerations. Oversize, batwing sleeve, bubble skirt, shiny metallic and clothes with sequins and exaggerated vivid colors are features of women's fashion in those days. Women at that time wants to show off with exaggerated concepts after the ethnic 70's. This year, this trend is back again for Spring and Summer. Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana and Yes Saint Laurent etc led this trend by presenting an exaggerated fashion design in their latest collections.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (White Again)

White again! Just like black is a classic color for Fall and Winter, white is also a classic color for Spring and Summer. In general, black gives an impression of mysteriousness and depth. White gives us a pure and light outlooks. However, unlike black, white is a more challenging color for women as clothing in white can easily show up the "imperfect" parts of the body. Maybe just because of the challenging factors, fashion designers always like to take white as an essential color in their collections for Spring and Summer. This year, famous brands like Versace, Prada, Dior and Sonia Rykiel etc all launch their collections of clothing in white. The most popular materials used are chiffon, satin, silk and lace which gives the best out of white. In addition to the color, fashion designers also add some sexy elements into their designs such as low cut, see through etc to give a more attractive outlook. Therefore, pure white plus a little bit sexy can be a powerful tool for outstanding yourself in this Spring and Summer.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Summary)

Long time no blog. It's time for us to start our new season. First of all, I would like to take a look at the summary of the lastest fashion trends of Spring and Summer 2007. The major trends are listed as below :

1. White again
2. Exaggerated 80's
3. Back to Future
4. Get Sporty
5. Time Travel

In the coming blogs, I will discuss each trend in more details. Don't miss it!!!