Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Printed Matter)

Printed matter? Yes, this time the printing is on clothes. Apart from the normal printings, you will find floral prints, stars and moons, geometric patterns and even a whole chinese painting. What a wonderful world it is! This trend reminds you to be more lively and energetic in your new Spring & Summer. It also gives you more options in mix and match besides simple colors. Leading fashion brands promoting this trend includes Chanel, Prada, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent etc.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Color Saturation)

After a dull gray and black winter, the spring and summer of 2008 lead us back to a colorful world. The color is not simply bright color but a saturation of colors. Oh! No. To be more exact, it should be saturated colors. Colors like chartreuse, tomato red, electric blue and neon shades of green, yellow, pink and orange are all flying along the runways of S/S 2008 fashion shows. Brands like Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren and Alexandre Herchcovitch etc feature this trend along with ethereal design fashion. To go with the simple cutting design of fashion, materials are kept to be simple and basic. Generally one type of fabric is used (mostly satin) and pure saturated colors are adopted without any patterns like dots and stripe. Let's all go along with the most basic presentation of colors and simple cutting design.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Hippie Revival)

It's not suprising that the Hippie styles of 60's has revived as fashion trend for S/S 2008. The core values of Hippie lifestyle represents freedom, love, peace and caring about the environment which are also the major concerns of modern people. During the 60's, Hippies borrowed clothing from folk cultures, used strong colors, flamboyant styles and a love of humble items such as jeans and other tattered and embellished street wear items to proclaim their non-conformism and thirst from freedom. Using anti-fashion as yet another form of protest against the establishment, they utilized clothing to tell of their plight for social equality and diversity.

This year, it was the "Summer of Love" all over again on the runways. Brands like Balmain, Giorgio Armani, and Veronique Branquinho filled their designs with masses of fringe and splatterings of tie-dye. Prada embraced both fairies and flou. Nina Ricci mashes up hippie and rock styles to give a thought to be mad effect. In all, the Hippies are reviving in new ways in fashion design. Let's enjoy this new "Summer of Love" with our love of the summer and our hippie styles.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Ethereal Design)

This year, fashion designers started the new S/S season with ethereal design elements. What is ethereal design? Ethereal design should give you the feeling of an angel coming down from the heaven. Loose fitting, see-through and sheer layers are the general features that used to describe ethereal designs. You don't have to very complicated to get along with this trend. The designs can be very simple, loose and clear cutting with fresh colors. Varous fashion brands have used silk, chiffon and jersey material to feature a feeling of lightness, freshness and comfortability. Excellent ethereal designs have been offered by brands like Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, Louis Vuitton and Loewe etc. Under this fashion trend, you should be quick to renew your gym membership as you may need to expose plenty of flesh.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Summary)

After a long long autumn/winter season, we have come to the new season of fashion - Spring and Summer 2008. Spring is the start of year and season of new hope. Fashion designers has brought along the new life of spring and fill up their designs with vivid colors and freshness. Below are some of the major trends of fashion this year :

1. Ethereal Design

2. Hippie Revival

3. Color Saturation

4. Printed Matter

As usual, we will explain each trend in more details later. Don't miss it!!!

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!!!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Couture)

For quite a long time in fashion industry, couture and ready-to-wear are two different sectors of business. Ready-to-wear goes for the general customers with a design to be more daily use and the price is also lying within the medium range such that the products can be sold at a large quantity. Therefore, the design of ready-to-wear would not be too exaggerated and more general fabrics will be adopted in the manufacturing. Couture goes for the higher end of the fashion industry with the use of high grade fabric and the design should be more stressed on the curves and shapes of customers to give an elegant effect. Gown design elements such as low cut, puffy sleeves, ruffles and laces, see-through fabric and other high grade fabrics are usually the elements of couture. However, the two sectors get much closer in design with ready-to-wear goes closer towards the couture end this year. This could be a good news to the office ladies as they can be of greater chances to try on the clothes more similiar to those dressed by celebrities to participate in some important functions. Famous brands which go for this direction include Balenciaga, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Miu Miu and Chanel.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Conservative)

For quite a while, sexy has been one of the most popular words used by fashion designers. Even in the fiercely blowing cold winds in winter, you can still see pop stars dressed in the sexy fashions designed by famous fashion designers to attract the attention of media. Off shoulder, low-cut etc are all the keywords representing sexy and above all, they are just synonyms of exposing yourself as much as possible. However, for this year, sexy dressing is out and conservative fashion like those have been popular in the 50's is back again. Fashion trend is always shifting from one extreme to the other and now it is conservative back again. Anyway, this is actually a good news for most of the ladies. Why? You don't have to expose yourself in the cold winds any more and you don't have to be in great body shape in order to show sexy. All you have to do is to follow the lastest fashion trend this year to cover yourself as much as possible. Above the sweater, you may dress in a small jacket to give a sense of layer or dress in clothes with different gray and black layers. This should be fantastic. Brands with fashion collections go in this direction includes Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Emilio Pucci, Atsuro Tayama etc. Therefore, being conservative is also a way of following the latest fashion trend.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Cape and Poncho)

Cape and poncho are always one of the hot categories in ladies's outerwear collections for fall and winter time as they are suitable for ladies regardless of their body shapes and both offer a flexible way of dressing. You should maintain certain stocks in your wardrobe such that you would not be left alone when fashion designers turn to them once again. Fashion trends always repeat themselves after certain number of years with a bit new ideas in presentation but the main theme will not be too much different. The modern design of cape and poncho were introduced to the modern ladies fashion in around 50's of last century. Around those years, fashion designers from Paris tried the new short cape design which offered a more flexible and free dressing look. Such designs were suprisingly popular that more designs have been evolved from the original idea. Nowadays, short capes were offered in various material such as fur, faux fur, acrylic etc in different colours and patterns. As an alternative design to cape, poncho offers even more varieties such as turtleneck, buttoned or sweater types and many of the designs give different ways of dressing styles for different occassions. Just use your imagination for more and better looks with your ponchos!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Go Checkers)

Checkers have been a classic pattern in fashion design. The best to present and being recognized is Burberry. It becomes so popular that it also launched another line - the Blue Label in Japan with a main tone of dark blue and black checkers. Many Japanese girls have gone crazy with this brand design. Nowadays, the checkers design in fashion has grown to a large varieties such as small or big checkers, checkers in horizonal or tilted arrangements and checkers in various color tones. In general, checkers give an impression of formal and classic. This year, the checkers have been back from various brands such as Balenciaga, Sportmax, Dsquared2 and Bottega Veneta etc. However, the checkers do not go small but bigger ones just like the classic tartan. To be more clear, the brown color tartan will be the most up to trend design in this A/W no matter it is used in skirts, dresses or jackets. But please remember, fashion trend is just a trend and you need to bear in mind your own body shapes. Large checkers dressing will be more presentable in larger size bodies. Good Luck!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Ladies and Gentlemen)

One of the trends for this Autumn and Winter 2006 is Ladies and Gentlemen which means you can dress in a more "man" outlook even though you are a lady. Those typical man's looks are shirts and trousers combinations, "Tuxedo" dressing, tough women dressing in the 80's or milliary look. Please remember this trend is rather different from last year's trend of boy's look. Last year the trend is rather boyish with some boy's typical dressing of boy's jacket, boy's school uniform etc. However, in this year, the trend is built around ladies and gentlemen and the look should be more mature and man. Anyway, this does not mean that you can simply dress in your husband or father's suit. More ladies elements should be added to give a softer and female impression. A ladies hair style, ladies boot or ladies shawl wrapping around can be an excellant matching with the "Ladies and Gentlemen" topics of this year. Such dressing is also very suitable for office ladies which shows the soft and hard sides of modern female executives.