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A lot can happen in a year, and in an industry as fast moving as fashion an AWFUL lot can happen. What were your fashion highs from 2011? We heard wedding bells with the Royal wedding and the wedding of fashion royalty, Kate Moss. We had controversy and law suits with John Galliano’s anti-semantic remarks and Louboutin suing YSL for using their trademark red sole. The Alexander McQueen retrospective was the most visited fashion exhibit of all time and Lady Gaga continued to shock with her weird and wonderful outfits. On top of all that we had midi skirts, pussy-bow blouses, faux fur jackets, maxi dresses, jeggings and florals galore. Here’s the skinny on what we think will be hot in 2012.
Trends
2012 is looking blue. At the spring/summer catwalks there was a decidedly aquatic theme from Mary Katrantzou’s psychedelic sea beds to Chanel’s underwater world. There is a great variety of blue shades to look forward to as seen at Vera Wang, Elie Saab and Alberta Ferretti. Yellow too provides a shot of colour for 2012, as seen at Matthew Williamson, Moschino and D&G. The seaside theme continues with ice-cream shades at Mulberry, Ralph Lauren and Nina Ricci; Mulberry’s Neapolitan maxi dress is sure to be a model’s dress down fave for next summer. Vintage trends aren’t going anywhere, from 50s seaside trends at Daks to wifely dresses and 70s styles at Jonathon Saunders. However, if you’re more of a classicist there are plenty of white, black and monochrome options as seen at Armani and John Paul Gaultier.
High Street
2011 was a tough year for the British high street. One in seven shops on UK high streets currently stand empty, although in some towns as many as four in ten shops are vacant. Jane Norman and TJ Hughes are just two of the stores forced into administration this year and the future of La Senza looks uncertain as we head into 2012. Britain should be proud of its high streets, we have some of the best affordable fashion in the world. The problem is that we probably have too much choice now, as retailers struggle to compete. The future lies in internet shopping and collaboration. H&M have managed to create an immense stir with their designer collaborations, most notably Versace for H&M and 2012 promises Marni for H&M. Perhaps it was inevitable for the fast fashion bubble to burst, perhaps the local stores will struggle but major towns and out-of-town shopping centres will boom. As the Sunday Times reports: “The only certainty is that the high street as we know it will never be the same again”.
Olympics
2012 will be remembered as the year of the London Olympics, but how will this influence fashion? One might have expected the S/S catwalks to be awash with luxe sportswear, but they weren’t the stand out trends. Not in London anyway; it was New York that continued to show sports inspired looks in sorbet colours and soft silhouettes. Gracie Carroll, fashion blogger, writer and ex-ELLE girl told Clothes: “Global events have always played a huge part in influencing fashion trends. With top designers such as Giorgio Armani and Stella McCartney tapped to outfit their country's teams, it sparks the interest of the fashion folk and gets them to pay attention. Already, sportswear has been quite a big influence on the runways as of late and this will continue to trickle down to the streets.” One thing for sure is that thousands will flock to London next summer with money to spend. The new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre has been built right next to the Olympic village and houses a handful of brands that are completely new to the UK.
Virtual Fashion
Thanks to the internet, the way that we shop and digest fashion is changing. 2011 saw Vogue’s first Online Fashion Week, the launch of Valentino’s Virtual Fashion Museum, and Burberry’s Twitter catwalk show, where photos of the collection were tweeted before hitting the catwalk at LFW. So will we need to attend the shows in person at all in the future? “I don't believe that fashion week attendance will decrease with real time show streaming,” says Gracie, “There is nothing like the thrill of watching a show in person, and for a lot of people in attendance, it is their job to be there. Real time streaming widens the shows audience to a global scale, there is such a small number of people who are able to attend shows, it is an amazing thing for anyone to be able to watch the shows, from anywhere.”
Celebrities
Middleton mania is set to continue for 2012 as the public continue to crave the look of the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister. 2012 is also set to be the year of the teen fashionista with Chloe Moretz, Elle Fanning and Hailee Steinfeld carving their way in the acting and modelling worlds. Men have plenty of super stylish male role models to emulate in the coming year, such as Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper.
Ones to Watch
The new fashion designers to watch for 2012 as chosen by Vogue’s Hot List. Never argue with Vogue.
· Huishan Zhang – Having graduated from Central St. Martins in 2012, Zhang worked for Dior for a year before starting his own label. His trademark piece? The cheongsam dress.
· Timo Weiland – New York designer supported by the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Fashion Incubator programme 2012-13.
· Anndra Neen – Jewellery designer sister duo, Phoebe and Annette Arnold won the Dorchester Fashion Prize 2011 for their arts-meets-crafts creations.
· Teatum Jones – Design duo Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones made their LFW debut last September and Liberty has brought their S/S collection.
· Elliot Atkinson – Atkinson’s dark and romantic looks showed at last September’s LFW as part of Fashion East collective.
Follow Gracie Carroll on twitter: @GracieCarroll
