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Mark Walsh Abbie Lane Rhianne Patent
With increased appreciation of German design and culture, Menswear palettes expose a vibrant and playful take on military tones and echo the primary colours of the Bauhaus.
Menswear accessories feature an overarching theme of restriction. Covered faces and constricting mouth pieces reflect the desire for anonymity and address issues in the confines of censorship.
Wearable tech, still in its early stages raises the question as to how wearable its manifestations really are. AW14/15 will see a development in the technology we wear and incorporation into tailoring for the more style conscious male.
The overriding presence of war and conflict within AW 2014 trends translates into strong, geometric graphics. Inspired by the order and discipline instilled within army regimes, print and graphics look to adopt similar approaches for inspiration. Colour remains earthy and muted, in keeping once again with military aesthetics.
To reflect upon the limitations of censorship, visual merchandising for AW14/15 will be bland and void of colour in order to reflect upon concealment. This trend also draws upon our need for basic functionality over excess.
Appendix
Research from Berlin trade shows.
To create our Autumn Winter 2014 Trend Report we collated our Primary Research from Berlin with secondary research such as our team Pinterest Boards. As a team we were most interested with the consumer named ‘The Hacktivist’ and approached the design of the Trend Document with them in mind. An attribute of this consumer is the need for free speech and spaces such as online platforms where they can work and communicate freely and creatively. The anonymity of these platforms draws the attention of this consumer tribe.
Trend Union AW14/15 research This yearning for anonymity is a response to online advertising and brands that seek to ‘know’ its consumer. As a team we wished to create a trend document that would inform both these consumers and brands interested in them, discarding methods like online advertising. Following on from our research into consumer forecasts from WGSN we aimed to produce a document that targeted the Hactivists, demonstrating visual qualities like the minimal, clear aesthetics as found within our trends.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In Berlin we were greatly inspired by brands present at tradeshows including Premium, Show and Order and Bright, including Studio Nadi, Element, Vine 94 and Realm and Empire to name a few. We found the individual approaches that smaller, new brands took to design new collections had a great effect on our own work. Vine 94 is a new Sheffield based menswear brand sourced the graphics from its first collection through collaboration with a Sheffield Hallam fine art student. When talking with the designers they explained that this collaborative method allows them to produce original content that captures the eye of its consumer. The brand Realm and Empire had a similar unique approach. Its military styled menswear is inspired each season when its design team visit the Imperial War Museum in London. By recording, photographing and sketching uniforms and artefacts from the museum they create collections truly inspired by British Heritage. Again talking to the designers had a huge impact to our work, and informing us of The Imperial War Museum’s reopening this summer to mark the centenary of the First World War gave an insight into our trend surrounding conflict. The documentation of the First World War battles against fantasy based conflict seen in film and television and this approach inspired our overarching creative direction trends. The combination of brand insight with our own recordings of trends within colour, styling and Visual Merchandising decided our approach when creating our trend document.
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By Mark Walsh, Rhianne Patent and Abbie Spencer-Lane