UNVEILING THE FUTURE

“Unveiling the Future”: changes, challenges and how to adapt. Colour is key and every colour message has a positive statement to make.

The world of textiles is moving through a sea of changes and challenges: the strong increase in the price of raw materials will undoubtedly consolidate a direct relationship between retailers and spinners in a leaner way.

SPINEXPO Shanghai entitled the Spring/Summer 2010 trend area “Unveiling The Future”, revealing a refreshed mood of positive, modernised life. The season’s motto: it is time to make a fresh new start, and unveil a season that promotes optimism, indulgence, contradiction and most of all modernism.

This sense of unveiling offers an air of translucency, not just as fine sheers, but also chunkier counts, new blends created to overcome the cost of the main raw materials, but also the appearance of lightness and openness that offers freedom of movement and fluidity of shape.

Yarns are about quality, finish and handle. Whether smooth and polished, soft handled and peached or dry and crisp, the final finish and appearance must have its own clear look and identity to fit with the strong colour message. Colour and its usage remain the focus, maintaining a harmonious balance of bright colours from deeply saturated through to whitened and muted pastels, punctuated by strong warm neutrals and clear graphic monochromes.

With this in mind, we have developed four seasonal stories: Future Optimism, Future Indulgence, Future Modernism and Future Contradiction.

FUTURE OPTIMISM

A vibrant, playful palette of whitened brights, the balance of each colour of equal importance though with a strong emphasis on yellow as a key emerging colour. Colours appear as if they are viewed through light with a sense of gel like translucency.

Looking forward to the future with optimism whilst hinting at references from the 50’s, 60’s and 80’s as the old tradition meets the new, and femininity meets a new dynamic confidence. Activity and sports influences are reconstructed into fashion daywear playing around with pattern and stripe for dramatic effects whilst maintaining elegance and restraint. A young and fresh look that has a clean, preppy flair but given a new twist through ruffles and florals.

Silhouettes

1950’s clean and preppy looks slightly shrunken for a modern twist. Boat necks, and slightly nautical detailing. Short sleeves in menswear and half sleeves for womenswear to update a classic T shape. Exaggerated bows and ties. Fit and flare shapes. Playsuits and mini dresses.

Fabrics

Micro textures such as piques and waffles for a sporty twist. A clean, fresh play on stripes, graphic and bold. Intense colour blocking and intarsia. Fresh graphic florals, intense and modern, placed and all-overs, used in knits, prints and weaves. Added femininity in ruffles and delicate layers, a more abstracted way of doing frills. Mini preppy cables and fine delicate tucks for a 50’s refined look. Two-tone whimsical plays on colour. Spots, stripes and argyles give a twist to tradition. Pretty pointelles-all over and placed.

FUTURE INDULGENCE

A summer palette with exotic origins of surprisingly deep, saturated shades of petrol blues, fiery reds and pinks with vibrant orange and palm greens combined to create an intense harmony of colour. Colours are used in large blocks of a single tone to create an intense beauty of pure colour.

A look to give an air of luxury and refinement. An elegant aspect for everyday workwear combined with the playful indulgence of poolside glamour. A bold look that uses solid blocks of colour in tonal harmonies along with high contrasts in graphic stripes and intarsias. An exotic flair inspired by tropical far reaching climates.

Silhouettes

Floaty, open and shapes with drape and fluidity. Exaggerated ruffles, bows and exploding corsages. Tiered looks of total knit dressing. Wraps and belt cardigans that are sheer and light. Elegant dressy menswear with semi-tailored looks. Bold exaggerated sleeves.

Fabrics

Engineered rich multi-coloured stripes. Smooth highly polished surfaces using natural fibres. Relaxed stitches for off-gauge open sheers. Superfine translucent jersey that drapes. Bold blocks of colour in stripes and intarsias. Fine gauge mesh or regimented pointelles. Clean rounded overall cables as a texture. Stripes mixed with tucks for a jacquard look. Bold tropical inspired prints and intarsias.

FUTURE MODERNISM

As we take charge of our future we need to be in command. Using strong monochromes of blacks, greys and soft blues alongside crisp white and silver we can create a strong, positive image for our new modernized direction. Creating a dynamic, modern look with a future forward approach and vision.

We feel a need to cleanse and purify, allowing the building blocks for a contemporary direction to the future. We strive for simplicity, bare beauty, and a way to be expressive yet essential. We want to reconstruct our look by creating new, modernist shapes in our surroundings and our own adornment. Androgyny as a statement of boundaries blurred, men and women are equal whilst remaining elevated and sophisticated in look.

Silhouettes

Clean, bold and very simple shapes. Layering in different finishes in one tone. Oversized shapes and wide-open necklines and sleeves. Dresses and fluid shapes. Boxy and cropped with lean and long underneath. Sleeveless pullovers and cardigans both fine and chunky. A slightly tailored approach to jackets in wovens and refined knits.

Fabrics

Sheers and translucency in superfine fabrics. Stripes both ombre and subtle, using similar tones to create texture over pattern, and bold and graphic for menswear. Open looks that are hard edged instead of pretty such as meshes, chains and netting effects. Polished effects with sheen in yarns and fabric finishing and prints. Chainmail effects created using tape yarns and flat novelties. Graphic figurative iconic prints. Denim, chambrays and pure utilitarian looks. Subtle, soft shimmering, iridescent or understated shine. Nature inspired patterns creating special, textured surfaces. Metallics an essential addition in yarn, print or trim detailing.

FUTURE CONTRADICTION

As the importance of warm browns and beige continues, unusual brighter accents come in to add contrast and quirkiness to an otherwise neutral feel. Pink, green, sunny yellow and touches of gold add unexpected contradiction. Artfully reinventing the idea of ‘grunge’ for the 21st century as the salvaged, thrift and the rescued is lovingly revived.

A casual expression of personal style, expressing individuality with an eclectic feel. Looks are thrown together with touches of glamour without being precious. Simplified, modernised function that contrasts with a soft, feminine chic. A story that amplifies the essence of handicrafts but with a sophisticated flair.

Silhouettes

Slim and fitted, in womenswear cropped or waisted. Peasant looks and gathers. Long and lean cardigans for both menswear and womenswear. feminine details such as crochet belts and corsages. A slight nod to utility or safari looks using crisp linens and pocket detailing. Sleeveless tunics are belted and relaxed.

Fabrics

Natural looking yarns with dry handles, textures and a strong look for linen blends. Stripes are 70’s inspired as multi-layouts engineered using space dyes, metallics and textures for novelty.

Crinkled, gathered, pleated and crackled.

Blurred, watery and out of focus.

Mini geometrics in both textured and patterned form, angular and linear.

Eclectic mix of florals from retro and large, romantic and flowing to mini and ditsy. Chevrons, checks and mini foulards combine in jacquards, weaves and prints.

Macrame stitches, open work, and refined crochet.

Reverse textures and exaggerated stitches create novelty.

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