TREND ANALYSIS SUMMER 2012 By Sophie Marjoram
THE OLYMPIADS
1)
‘summer of fitness focused fashion’
3
Olympics fever struck this summer. With a strong spirit of athleticism in the air, fashion was on a fitness streak. The new luxe sportswear wasn’t just about hi-tech anoraks but taking performance fabrics and fusing them with feminine lines, mostly creating a fuss-free modern silhouette. The sports brands we know, all too well, were also taken apart and put back together in a new chic way. Marc Jacobs and Thomas Tait sent out luxury sweat shirts - spring summer 2012’s new statement jumper, alexander wang was hot off the mark with BMX bandit style. Peter Pilotto, went techno fabulous with scuba zip detailing. Racer-front vests, two-tone, crop tops and this season’s Marmite piece, the wedge hi top trainer finished first this summer.
4
1.1) The Label Lovers... ..play a big part in this spring summer 2012 trend. When previously thinking of large Nike ticks and Adidas emblems the word ‘chav’ springs to mind but no longer is this the case. The declaration of what sports brand you are wearing has become cool, a statement of originality, and the stlye ambassadors on the street have been declaring hard.
5
‘People prefer to possess and wear branded products than the inexpensive and cheap imitation in this brand conscious world’
6
Motivations behind wearing A strong attitude within the fashion society nowadays is the want to give off the impression that you don’t care what your wearing and that it took you about 2 minutes to ‘throw’ together. This is the motivation behind the consumer that wears the branded sportswear.
the logos... Usually only a staple piece in their outfit, but still makes the whole ensemble feel dressed down and slightly vintage. The muse wants to show how they can successfully pull off a sportswear brand and interpret it in their own unique way, making it look stylish.
With these brands becoming increasingly more expensive, wearing their logo’s plastered across your chest or foot is always going to give the people around you an insight into how much you paid for the product i.e. how much disposable cash you have. 7
Brands/ Personalities associated with this trend: Nike’s collaboration with Liberty Adidas Originals Nike Adidas Adidas and Jeremy Scott Vintage sportswear Supreme Rita Ora
8
1.2) The Boyfriend Stealers Women no longer strive for the tight fitting clothes that show off their athletic bodies, its all about the baggy ones which make you look like an athlete spruced up. Anything oversized or which looks like it should belong to your boyfriend will do. Celine got it spot on with their billowing basketball dresses. Basketball style shorts were also a key piece, all of which sport an elasticated waistband, no pun intended! With basketball being a key theme in this oversized trend Christopher Kane nailed it by creating the Versus runway on a basketball court!
9
‘Fuss free, modern silhouette’
10
Motivations for
wearing oversized clothes:
Visually you would think people follow the oversized trend to hide whats underneath and to flatter their figure, making their hidden frame look tiny under the enlarged clothes. However reading more into this trend it is apparent that this baggy aesthetic has a ghetto past. Stemming from the ghetto, clothes were once worn oversized, as they were hand me downs from an older sibling - hence being too big for them. This then caught on as a fashion trend among rappers which of course then led to it becoming a mainstream trend.
11
So again this oversized trend is reflecting a dressed down, street-style attitude. The societies wearing this fashion conceive themselves to look hip and non fashion conscious. Most of the oversized pieces have a minimalistic character, which shows that your style is more evolved and you aren’t concerned with what your wearing. Casual goes! Brands/Personalities associated with this trend: Celine Alexander Wang LnA DKNY Stella McCartney Victoria Beckham Christian Blanken Nicole Richie Kate Moss 12
1.3) 90’s kids Its all about the 90s flashback and the updated sporty spice look. With comfort coming first, sports wear was a key trend of the early 90s. This was portrayed through bomber jackets, baggy shirts, caps, backpacks and everybody walking in ked sneakers and converse chuck taylor all-stars! We can see this has been mirrored during SS12, taking direct influence from their predecessors in vintage but also new designs.
13
Neon has grown up a little from its rave ancestors of the 1990‘s, becoming a key feature of the sports luxe trend. The minimalism of the sports trend is beautifully accessorised with flashes of neon yellow and electric pink which we have seen teased through the collections of many designers and then dripped down onto the high street. Neon has become a staple to have in every ss12 collection, even if it is just the odd fluorescent trim or zip.
14
The reason society wears a certain trend or follows a certain fad is in order to portray a certain image of oneself or to fit into a certain clique. Maybe this is sometimes even done subconsciously but even so the motivations behind why people continue to wear this 90’s trend is to create a youthful and laidback impression.
15
The neon reflects back on the rave fad and injecting this into parts of the clothing means that it gives that edgy vibe to whatever your wearing. Giving off the impression that you are a fun person, abit quirky. The bomber jackets and backpacks have a juvenile innocence to them in a cool teenage way reflecting on when times were easier and chilled out which is why i believe people are provoked to wear them. Brands associated with this trend are Sass and Bide, Urban Outfitters, Altuzarra, Jason Wu, Supreme, Celine, Topshop Unique, Jeremy Scott and alot of vintage! It can be seen from the associated brands that most of the brand images try to give off the same relaxed, old school days image and consumers are drawn to this as they want to present themselves in this way.
Cara Delevingne and Rihanna are personalities associated with this trend.
16
Total Print
2)
‘head-to-toe prints in digi florals, daisies, tropical blooms and zigzags, sprawled everywhere’ 17
Stripes, florals, ornate geometrics, mind-bending swirls and spots - the catwalks were brimming with prints of every size and shape for spring/summer 2012. A key lesson to take from the catwalks for this trend was, don’t be scared to mismatch your patterns like D&G or Mary Katrantzou or if you really like to keep things clean go for a a uniform print from head-to-toe, like Diane von Furstenberg. Spotting an onslaught of print, colour and texture on the streets its clear to see that the consumers have been bold and brave with their choices for the spring summer print and somehow it just works.
‘This season prints break all the rules, whether you like it floral or a bit eclectic, summer’s patterns are made to suit you’ 18
2.1) The Prince’s of Bel Air Bomber jackets, crop tops, novelty tees and oversized shirts, masked in what can only be described as electro retro prints, surely scream Will Smith in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air?Yet another trend inspired by the 90’s! Although this stream of prints has mostly been seen and adapted by the street style kids in vintage attire, it did infact originate for ss12 on the runways from the likes of Dolce and Gabbana to Prada who reinvented this fresh style and bought the much missed brightness of Will back into our lives.
19
20
The motivations behind wearing Fresh Prince Prints are the same as the 90’s kids. Its all about re-evoking that bit of old school inside you and living in the 90’s where everything was just 100 times cooler. People wear this trend to be noticed and to be seen as a quirky individual who is bubbling with life. With this trend the more vintage a piece is, the more unique and expressive you are perceived to be. Although the brands associated with this trend range from D&G to River Island to Diane von Furstenberg, who all have very different target markets, i think it shows that even the most diverse group of people all still strive to be seen as the most individual.
21
2.2) The Tropical Suiters Tear up that book of rules, matching and clashing is in. Fact. A tailored two-piece with an all over ditsy print was extremely popular this summer with fashions elite in our not so summery weather. Inspired by pyjamas, what better way to look every part the power woman than in a stand out suit? It’s an updated and fresh alternative to a printed dress!
22
The Tailored print’s consumer is all about empowerment to the women! Wearing a powerful suit covered in a bold print is demanding attention and authority. I believe that the attitudes behind the women wearing this trend are that they want to show dominance by dazzling eyes and pushing themselves into the forefront by wearing such a statement. The ditsy prints show the womanly side mixed with the dominance of a tailored masculine suit.
23
24
Brands and Personalities associated with this trend: Erdem Anna Sui Peter Pilotto Stella McCartney Lindsey Wixson Anna Dello Russo
25
So why was the Olympiad trend so big this summer?
26
Sports wear has influenced fashion throughout history: from Coco Chanel’s use of jersey & Fred Perry’s iconic wear, through to Alexander Wang’s love of grey marl. The influence is continually apparent, but with the huge anticipation behind the 2012 Olympic games coming to London this summer, it was obvious sportswear would be back in a big way. Now more than ever before, big fashion names are collaborating with sportswear brands. Stella McCartney & Jeremy Scott are two of the most famous, along with the recent announcement that Alexa Chung is the new face of Superga. Richard Nicoll & his Fred Perry collection, not to mention the exciting talk of Alexander Wang & Nike. Plus the recent boom in anyone who’s anyone wanting to design their own trainer. Trend forecaster, Lucesca Holmes, from WGSN spoke to A Fashionable Sport about how she believes the sportswear trend was inevitable. ‘Taking into account the increased growth of collaborations taking place between both the sports & fashion industries, the complex & diverse relationship between the two industries has merged & is finding a balanced harmony.’ She goes on to say, ‘Both industries have heavily influenced each other over the past few years, especially witnessed on the catwalks & through designer/sports brand collaborations.’ 27
Before all of the high fashion designs, it was us mere mortals that first took sportswear from the running tracks & made it our own. Olympic fever hit, with street style photographers seeing a growth in sportswear style. 28
Although the sports luxe trend obviously originates from the Olympics coming into town this summer and the huge excitement that has been created, i think that there is also a deeper reasoning to why we are seeing meshy fabrics and baggy shapes all over the catwalks and now our high-streets. No longer do women feel the need to dress womanly to impress the opposite sex they want baggy shapes and cool fabrics during the long working day that make them feel empowered but at the same time at ease.
29
However sportswear has left a more lasting impact on our society other than empowering buisness women with lightwieght fabrics! In August Dazed and Confused Online published an article commenting on Nike’s launch of the Flyknit collective workshops over the summer. Inspired by Nikes lightest and greenest shoe yet, sculpted for the Olympics, they wanted to create a series of workshops which took the high elements of performance of the shoe and translated this into a group of struggling unemployed teenagers to create an also highly performing group. The workshops saw the likes of progressive architect studio ‘We Made That’ brainstorm ideas for the future of our streets whilst acclaimed artists Alice Moloney and Daniel Frost This just shows that sportswear collaborated with participants to fashion has become a major and very important create an east London sustainability part of the world this summer, using it as art map. fuel to change our society. 30
31
Non-Olympic Sports: The Athletes
An interesting shoot in i-D magazine about the non-olympic sports - the games you used to play as a child being re enacted. This is a much lighter approach to the Olympics and is an interesting way in which the fashion industry has included it.
How magazines have responded to the Olympiad trend...
Marie Claire Italia June 2012
32
Vogue Vietnam July 2012
33
British Vogue June 2012
34
To Conclude The reason why the olympiad trend has been so big is because the fashion industry is and always will be one of the leading industries in responding and reacting to social, environmental and economic issues and some of the biggest names in fashion were behind it this summer.
35