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Vol.08  Issue 10/06, 22.10.2008

DMI/CPD Trends Womens Wear Winter 2008/2009

CAUGHT BETWEEN COUTURE AND CASUAL

Ana Alcazar

How does fashion work today? Just like any other area of life it has become more complex and multi-faceted. Individual preferences have taken the place of general rules previously applying to everyone.

Looking at fashion today we are faced with "collages" rather than clear pictures where completely different separates are joined to produce new and different looks time and again. Here style clashes and contradictions have become something perfectly normal; here fashion typically reflects our modern lives.

In Autumn/Winter 2008/2009 suspense is primarily created by the juxtaposition of the protective aspects of functional sportiness, very advanced technical fabrics and unpretentious ease, on the one hand, and feminine appeal and playful imagination, on the other. The overall fashion message is "chic and easy". High-quality materials and silhouettes with allure are key here. At the same time, it is necessary to demonstrate a relaxed slant and casualness - i.e. "casual appeal". Sporty elements are always combined with feminine separates, masculine or haute-couture details.

Fashion is dominated as strongly as ever by focal separates, so-called key pieces. Next winter these will particularly include dresses, plenty of comfortable and attractive knitwear, couture-like jackets and coats and "perfect jackets" designed to accompany their wearers like personal bodyguards through the great metropolises or across the wide open countryside. Needless to say, these key pieces also include a whole range of accessories ranging from new court shoes and boots, belts, bags, gloves, shawls and caps through to textured, woollen tights.

Annette Goertz

Materials play a key role this season. There is an exciting contrast between warm, woolly materials and cool-touch technics, between shaggy softness, felted compactness and metallic shine all the way down to varnished surfaces. It will not be a season of loud colours and stark contrasts. Neutrals continue to govern the colour scheme. Black remains as beautiful as ever while grey shades oscillate in icy cool tones from light to dark. Warmth is exuded by new beige, caramel and honey shades. Colours like navy, khaki and putty as well as black, indigo and grey ensure consistency for denims. Carefully embedded in this neutrality are red-orange, aniseed yellow, amethyst, violet, cherry and pink.

Our modern working days require functionality and perfect utility in every situation. This is made possible by typically urban, neutrals often toying with metallic effects. Super-sheer high-tech fabrics form protective shells as parkas, bike or army-type puffa jackets. Underneath we see no-frills knitted dresses teamed with belted blazers, cardigans and roll-neck jumpers with short sporty skirts or little top-stitched bombers with stretch drainpipes.
Accessories also obey this rule of functionality and utility: biker boots with clasps, big bags, belts and leather gloves sporting studs and saddle stitching.

Bandolera

Androgynous looks toy with masculine and feminine contrasts. Strictly speaking, the new "boyfriend jackets" (which have to look as if borrowed from your boyfriend) only set the scene in order to show off the softly draped jersey or satin dresses worn underneath to their best advantage.
Feminine blouses and soft wrap-over cardigans are coordinated with masculine pleat-top trousers and "tweedy" jackets with pencil skirts stressing those feminine curves. Trouser suits remain an exception to this rule since toying with high-impact separates promises greater appeal and personal freedom.

Consummate ease and a relaxed attitude are our new role models - and fashion also responds to them!
Luxurious, soft materials such as cashmere, fur and fun furs, leather, silk and supersoft knits form the basis here. Warm tones like beige and caramel are variations of the natural fur colour theme producing an almost therapeutic effect. Silhouettes are uncomplicated and comfortable. Neo-classics spread an air of familiarity and grounding. They feature knitted blazers in combination with sporty skirts, knitted dresses with cable stitching underneath straight-fit leather jackets and cosy knitted coats over cashmere jogging pants. Soft pouches in mock croc and high-quality sneakers in patent or metallised leathers qualify as accessories here. Just as perfect a match for this relaxed slant on luxury are new court shoes à la Prada, star-like sunglasses and ¾-length gloves.

Markam

Globalisation is also leaving its unmistakeable mark on fashion and providing fresh momentum. Japan's teenagers are triggering the most imaginative impulses here. Following their example streetwear and folklore references will be combined into very individual looks next autumn. The origin of these individual elements is of no importance. Striped college blazers meet with jodhpurs, mini kilts are teamed with hooped pullovers and dresses featuring Liberty prints are worn concealed under army parkas. These streetwear influences also herald a comeback for vintage denims. Imagination is the key for accessories with that "One-World" motto as their overriding principle.

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