Bonjour,
With Fall/Winter 2011 fashion weeks coming to a close around the world, I thought I'd share this article that I found about trends and how they come about. Enjoy!
With Fall/Winter 2011 fashion weeks coming to a close around the world, I thought I'd share this article that I found about trends and how they come about. Enjoy!
"Every runway season, designers across the world show similar colors, fabrics and silhouettes that become known as the trends of the moment. For autumn/winter ’10, for example, the collections were one big blur of beige, while spring/summer ’11 was all breezy, diaphanous dresses. How is it that so many creative visions align?
Designers purchase their fabrics from mills, which show new collections twice a year at fairs such as Premiere Vision in Paris and Pitti Filati in Florence. The fabrics that are highlighted usually end up on the runways. “The fabric mills show colors, yarns and proportions to all the designers,” explains Kevin Carrigan, Global Creative Director of Calvin Klein. “From these fabric fairs, designers begin to decipher the major global trends of the season with each house interpreting the inspiration in it’s own way and putting their spin on the fashion zeitgeist,” he explains.
The colors that the fabrics come in are often influenced by a handful of color trend services such as Peclers Paris and Nelly Rodi whoconsult with the fabric mills. These companies hold seminars and create concept books that predict trends up to six years in advance.
Once a collection is shown, there is a whole copy-cat cycle where designers will mimic what they see being done by fashion leaders such as Miuccia Prada, Marc Jacobs, Alber Elbaz and Phoebe Philo among others. Thus, as was made famous by Meryl Streep’s tirade in “The Devil Wears Prada,” a color like Cerulean Blue can travel from the catwalks of Paris to a Casual Corner near you after the course of a few years.
Designers purchase their fabrics from mills, which show new collections twice a year at fairs such as Premiere Vision in Paris and Pitti Filati in Florence. The fabrics that are highlighted usually end up on the runways. “The fabric mills show colors, yarns and proportions to all the designers,” explains Kevin Carrigan, Global Creative Director of Calvin Klein. “From these fabric fairs, designers begin to decipher the major global trends of the season with each house interpreting the inspiration in it’s own way and putting their spin on the fashion zeitgeist,” he explains.
The colors that the fabrics come in are often influenced by a handful of color trend services such as Peclers Paris and Nelly Rodi whoconsult with the fabric mills. These companies hold seminars and create concept books that predict trends up to six years in advance.
Once a collection is shown, there is a whole copy-cat cycle where designers will mimic what they see being done by fashion leaders such as Miuccia Prada, Marc Jacobs, Alber Elbaz and Phoebe Philo among others. Thus, as was made famous by Meryl Streep’s tirade in “The Devil Wears Prada,” a color like Cerulean Blue can travel from the catwalks of Paris to a Casual Corner near you after the course of a few years.
To trend or not to trend?
Whether or not the fashion world’s trend cycle is good for creativity, is a source of debate. “The rapid dissemination of information via the Internet, social media, and streamed live fashion shows facilitates the instant travel of trends,” says Tamara Albu, Director of the A.A.S. Fashion Design Program at Parsons School of Fashion in New York. “For many designers who struggle to stay competitive, getting their hints from such sources, processing them as quickly as they can, and translating them into their own collections often results in redundancy and lack of trust in their own self expression,” she adds.
-Louis Monoyudis"
Source: Metro News
