Our first key menswear trend for Autumn/Winter 2013 is North Sea. Inspired by growing populations in need of fuel and an increasing number of rigs and drills being built in the state of North Dakota, North Sea is about embodying a mans strength. This trend brings together chunky fisherman knits in a colour palette reflecting the working environment, and super thick waterproof coats.
The Roaming Nomad is all about comfortable travel wear. Now more than ever, people are leaving their familiar to explore the world beyond them. This look sports light weight knitwear in subtle Aztec prints and a lot of jersey in muted beiges and greys. The overall colour palette is fresh yet traditional; the pale blues bring it straight into summer whilst the olive greens hint at a more foreign look. It is important to note that the models showcasing this trend always have scruffy beards, thus adding to The Roaming Nomad appearance.
The Bowie era highlights the Postmodernist’s refusal to be defined. Bowie had many alter ego’s but we focused on this more dapper look that he was often seen wearing. It featured sharp tailoring and power shoulders. This trend has come to light due to the Bowie V&A exhibition being held this year.
The Local Traveller brings together our desire to travel afar and explore unknown lands with a growing sense of home pride. Local Traveller is all about showing closer to home jaunts through memory picture walls, desire to travel further afield through globes, compasses and exotic wall art. Within this trend is also the transport of the Local Traveller, mainly motorbikes, bicycles and scooters; never intended for a long journey but an adventure nevertheless. This has been seen instore through the use of bikes and globes in flagship windows, and in concessions and smaller stores through maps and travel parafenelia.
The second VM/Instore trend we found was masked identity. This is where masks have been used to obscure parts of the face on a mannequin or to give the mannequin certain traits. In berlin we saw animal masks in both store windows and at bread and butter. We have also noticed that this trend doesn’t necessarily have to involve an actual mask it can range from plastic bags to exotic flowers as shown in these images. It’s a simple but effective way to create a particular atmosphere in store.
The Craftsman’s workshop has evolved from the popular make do and mend trend that has stormed the industry over the past years. Hand formed design uses straightforward, locally sourced materials that can be found your back garden or neighbours skip. It is a most welcome change from the 90’s mass production frenzy. The trend includes makeshift fixtures and a lot of wood. This can be seen in the forms of mannequins and tables. This look can be modernized by using a wood print instead.
Geometric print has been seen on many catwalks in the past few years. Modern Geometric pushes this trend further through more irrational shapes, layout and colour. It has been inspired by our desire to re-connect with mathamatical principles such as pythagoras theorum and the Golden Rule. The colour palette is bolder than previously seen with electric oranges standing out against dull grey backgrounds.
A print trend we noticed reoccurring for AW13 was painted florals. Bold feminine florals used in menswear. These were often seen head to toe and tailored in opulent jewelled reds, pinks and blues as seen at Ana Locking. Daring and bold but they look expensive. These may filter down as more subtle floral patterns on the high street like the ones seen at Alexander McQueen. Or even in vm and creative direction.
A Cultural Eccentricity emerges from the Wanderlust trend that has been popular over the years. It features traditional prints taken from all areas of the world most notably India and Egypt. The colours are bright and reflective of designs used for pottery and rugs but modernized with a clash of new geometries. Prints are often quite symmetrical and feature floral patterns and acient scripture.
New Wilderness encompasses a desire ro re-connect and be inspired by the outdoors. The industry has taken inspiration from iconic explorers new and old and allowed the world to have a little piece of explorational terriotory in their lives. This trend will be seen across fashion design and interiors, combining modern functionality and traditional elements of explorational tools.
The Neo-Geo concept is that man-made waste becomes geological material to be used in art or product. Artists are learning to be makers again; they are with their product all the way through the designing and making process. This trend combines low tech techniques with advanced digital systems. Instead of recycling by grinding everything down to a single matter, designers have begun to take objects apart and rebuild them using new technology to make something beautiful and abstract.
The last creative direction trend we found was power pixels this is inspired by the i-generation. This generation have been brought up by viewing the world through their iPhones with Facebook, twitter and instagram. Constantly uploading their lives online. Power pixels represents the blurring of boundaries between technology and real life with innovations such as 3D printing entering the world.
TED BAKER Menswear could showcase: Blazers with painted floral linings A line of casual travel bags A selection of accessories printed with the tropical florals i.e socks and underwear