The Arctic weather conditions in New York and London was reflected on the collections of many designers as fancy furs, cozy winter coats, woolies and other warmers. Vibrant furs were big news in Fall 2014, and Fall 2015 hasn’t dropped the pace. As designers oscillated between the 60s and 70s era, there was experimentation with the idea of uniform, with hints of workwear. This was the direction for carrying androgyny looks on the runway. While ornamentation was kept on the down low at New York – functionality and protection against the cold were top priority – London’s designers were feeling a little more frivolous. Runways at Paris and Milan showed that patchwork has become the luxury market’s way of setting itself apart from other market segments with tricky piecing together of fabrics or working of print. Trend analysts at FFT have listed out the biggest Fall trends from the coming season.
fall ’15 Fun Fur
Seventies being such a big trend, fur coats were everywhere. All the fashion capitals churned out their versions, whereas New York and London presented fascinating faux furs, Paris and Milan went for patch worked ones and more innovative ones. Of course, the safe fur coats included traditional shapes and various coloured pieces in the most divine pelts. But this season was more about the frivolous furs – fluffy Mongolian lamb furs at Philipp Plein in bright shades, two-tone grey and white at Just Cavalli, Saint Laurent’s haphazardly colourful patchwork fur coat. Plain furs were incorporated in unusual shades – emerald at Versace, red at Emilio Pucci, aquamarine at Max Mara and baby blue at Dolce & Gabbana. Matthew Williamson used long Mongolian lamb fur in lilac, caramel, raspberry and turquoise in garments. Erdem trimmed the collar of a camel coat in golden fur and Roksanda made use of brightly coloured shaved fur in stripes.
fall ’15 Androgyny Ahead
Italy and France saw the trend of androgyny adopted by a range of designers with heavy workwear referencing. Dries Van Noten used shades of khaki on cargo pants that were made dressy, at Chloé, a straight, pastel blue corduroy suit which resembled denim, buttoned up all the way with utility pockets, Nina Ricci did something similar, though in navy with jet pockets that was paired with a ribbed sweater. A more sombre theme came through in starkly androgynous tailoring and outerwear. Aquilano Rimondi’s dark charcoal and black palette played across hip-slung pants and blazers fasted to the neck, with only a flash of silver sequins hinting at luxury. Costume National kept things very serious – chalk-drawn pinstripes on three-piece suits, longer line blazers, patent black leather and deep navy velvet.
fall ’15 60s-70s Blur
It was back to the 1970s era for Fall 2015, with elegant, but louche workwear with tailored flared pants and turtleneck knits, as well as shimmering dresses and maxis ready for the disco dance floor. Dutifully, they followed in the 70s image, with fur capes, wide brimmed hats, flared pants and culottes and disco tailoring. However, designers in Milan, like in London, strayed from the decade merging it with 1960s references such as mini-skirts, modish bomber jackets, printed tights and neat A-line coats. Designers to watch for this retro appreciation include the casual tailoring and flimsy bow blouses at Gucci, the acrid palette and geometric prints at Bottega Veneta and the movie-star glamour at Just Cavalli. In fact, many designers merged their 70s and 60s referencing within the one collection, Jonathan Saunders and Topshop Unique included.
fall ’15 Patchwork
Patchwork, so popular in New York and Milan, was back in force during Paris Fashion Week. Designers in Paris presented three options for this: the first a literal patchwork in spliced fabrics on offer at Stella McCartney, Guy Laroche and Jacquemus. The next route was neatly patch worked layers that felt more like wall art – see the frame worthy panels at Christian Wijnants or the woven dreams at Nina Ricci where sequined panels and feathered pieces were merged into one. Lastly, patchwork effects were created through a clever print. They were knitted in grey tones at Acne, used on skintight leggings and long line blazers. At Cédric Charlier, varying widths and colours of stripes were spliced together, giving the haphazard effect of a patchwork. The strongest use of patchwork however goes to Chloé, who spliced colourful printed and woven panels of fabrics together in 70s style ponchos and floor length dresses.
fall ’15 Fringed Upon
It’s almost as if designers anticipated how well their tasseled, fringed and shaggy collections would perform. Fringing was seen trimming boots at Rebecca Minkoff, forming skirts at BCBG and on bags and shawls at Ralph Lauren. Fringing is also a great way to get products to stand out online, plus it offers fantastic movement. Gentle fringing to the edges of jackets, bags and booties, has been consistently popular through New York, London and Milan. So we turn to Paris to unearth the more extreme versions of this trend we now know will be big for Fall 2015. We found it in Nina Ricci’s navy pea coat, cape-like with black fringe. There was drama in the twine-coloured fringing at Sacai, which boldly hung from the bottom of a leather coat and Ellery laser-cut lurex and worked into heavy fringed rows across a strapless dress.
fall ’15 Everything Embellished
Milan’s established houses love ornamentation and finery, so it is no surprise that embellishment comes through from the week as a trend. Versace’s high-impact collection ended with a number of sequined bejwelled pieces, mini-dresses and jumpsuits, bearing the motifs of the digital age – hashtags and symbols, as well as letters spelling out the brand’s name. Better were the embellished and appliqué birds on a sweater and dresses at Gucci, the metal studwork at Philipp Plein, the scattered sequins at Just Cavalli and the children’s doodles turned into appliqué at Dolce & Gabbana. The raincoats at Mary Katrantzou bore embellished squiggles from plastic ribbon, not unlike cassette ribbon and Burberry’s bohemia was underlined with the unusual use of mirrored discs, alongside embroidered floral blooms.
fall ’15 Cape Around
There were endless furs, used in coats, jackets and stoles, but the real newness came from the cape. In tweeds, shearling, wool and leather, capes were seen at Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Lacoste, to name a few. By now capes are so entrenched in Fall 2015’s dictionary that it was expected to see them included in the collections of the big designers in Paris. Of course, they did not disappoint, with Lanvin and Lemaire revealing versions befitting of the most gallant journeyman on horseback. Sonia Rykiel paired her velvet cape, which fell to ankle, with a matching printed velvet jumpsuit. At Kenzo, capes came in weatherproof poncho shapes, or knitted forms which swaddled the wearer and were hemmed in blanket stitch. At Chloé, the sleeves of a grey woolpea coat were given such fare that the whole thing resembled a cape more than a coat.
