While most consumers are busy trying to decide what fashion trends to indulge themselves in this spring the fashion industry is placing it's bets on what trends will be major this fall. Last night the Seattle Chapter of Fashion Group International held it's semi-annual trend forecasting event featuring a video recap of fall trends followed by a panel discussion featuring Seattle style experts Sarah Caples (Owner, Impeccable Style), Cece Gehrig (Fashion Director, Endless.com), Melissa Middleton (Editor, JNSQ magazine) and Patricia Wolfkill (Owner, Merge). Major fashion themes for Fall '12 include a continuation of color, menswear inspired apparel and accessories for women, computer generated prints, the new three-piece suit, the evolution of the peplum, a resurgence of velvet, and the luxurious return of brocade. Seattleites need not worry about a complete wardrobe shift from spring to fall. In fact, as seen in many of the runway shows- there's a little bit of something for everyone and as usual, almost anything goes. The military-inspired trend will continue to be relevant and look refreshed next season when paired with the perfect piece of leather that best suits your style, perhaps a leather top as shown at Alexander Wang or a leather dress as seen at Michael Kors.
In terms of Seattle specific trends that are wearable for fall, stylist Sarah Caples loves the three-piece suit shown on the runway by Ralph Lauren, telling the audience, "It's perfect for Seattle because when it gets cold you can add layers and still look amazing."
Girly girls will love the opulence that accompanies fall fashion trends in the form of texture (velvet, fur, exotic animal skin, feathers, lace), color (ox blood, citrine, teal, royal blue, purple, gold), and accessories (jeweled brooches, elbow length gloves, statement necklaces, jeweled heels). Getting dressed up this fall promises to be a lot of fun with so many ways to mix and match the trends.
"For fall anything goes," says Melissa Middleton of JNSQ, "You can pull things form your closet and literally re-style them!" She loves the menswear inspired trend for fall including all the tailoring, trousers and fitted suits. "Everything needs to be tailored!" piped in Patricia from Merge boutique in Fremont.
Although many fashion fans felt that the collections seen on the runway for Fall '12 were a major mismatch of trends, Cece Gehrig, Fashion Director of Endless.com offered this explanation,"What you're seeing is the designers reaction to fast fashion and how absurd it can be." And she's right. The entire industry is moving full speed ahead in a million directions at once.
(And these days, aren't we all?)
Coming as a shock to no one that knows her, the fall favorite for Patricia of Merge was the overabundance of leather seen on the runway. Taking on many shapes and forms for fall the leather top as shown above by Michael Kors was one of the crowd favorites at last night's event.
One of the trends I'm most excited about is the carry-over of the peplum as seen above on the runway at Lavin. Etro showed the peplum as it evolved into a belt, while Dior chose to make it's peplum update in the form of a jacket.
So many trends to choose from, so little time to shop. Need a strategy? Take a tip from Cece of Endless.com and think about your seasonal fashion buys in terms of portions. "Think about your trendy items for the season as your dessert, then think about your core items as dinner. There should be a good balance in your wardrobe. And besides, [for many women] accessories are the most realistic way to wear a trend." Well said. We couldn't agree more!