As women are attaining more power in society and are now not only looked upon as desirable props in business, clothing for them has also achieved a new standard. Power Dressing, as we all call it, has made suit-skirts ‘a must have’ for all working and non-working women, owing to which many designers are now looking at this category with multi-faceted design options. Even the recently concluded Resort 2016 runways witnessed the reign of the suit-skirts, which appeared in a staggering number of collections and every version, attained popularity with its targeted segment. A noticeable trickledown effect of this trend, from the runways to the mainstream, has seen exporters exploring the opportunity, but being at a nascent stage, exporters will take some more time to convert the suit-skirts into ‘a must have’ export commodity. More importantly, with growing inclination of women towards androgynous fashion, the simple construction and comfortable silhouette makes suit-skirts a favourite amongst wearers…
With skinny jeans and slim-fits slowly becoming a thing of the past, suit-skirts are the new conservative yet elegant version of business dressing with styles for women from every segment. Coming from the runways to the streets, suit-skirts have proven to be a trend to try. Whistles’ collection conceded denim adaptations of wide front buttoned skirts with denim jacket, whereas, Ralph Lauren presented formal looking pencil skirt with beige blouse and cover-up. Suitskirts were officially named ‘a must have’ for the Fall season amongst designers but with exporters not fully aware of this growing trend, converting these styles will be difficult for Spring.
The defining piece of clothing in the wardrobe of women in the Western world is the skirt. And suits imply a lean, ladylike image for the ladies. But now the concept has evolved considerably to include walking shorts or legging like pants and culottes matched with blazers, cropped jackets and even vests. For the resort season, skirts were seen in the forefront and appeared as the best match for blazers and jackets. Adding to the freshness, plenty of surface elements were visible like lightweight pinstripes, seersucker and blurred plaids.
Paired with a matching jacket, the skirt has re-asserted its power as a component of the suit. Anant Agarwal, MD, Vaibhav International shares honestly, “Coco Chanel made a signature of jacket and skirt suits constructed from soft tweeds and these suits suggest the kind of self-possession that has no aggression but an element of constant, low-keyed personal bodily delight. But for exporters to take up suit-skirt as a single commodity, it is definitely going to take time.” Already seen to be ruling the fashion front, suit-skirts in various fabrics and designs are predicted to continue impressing the world by an assortment of ground-breaking collections in the upcoming seasons as well. Witnessed on the Resort 2016 runways, the effects ranged from urbane to rustic. Vivienne Westwood combined a short, sharpshouldered jacket with a knee-grazing, peg-topped skirt and a surplice-style blouse in a way that could have been homage to Saint Laurent in the 1980s. Dolce & Gabbana offered suits in countrified tweeds. In his signature range, Marc Jacobs proposed a suit that was black and severe with a frilled skirt; at Louis Vuitton, designers sent out a white suit patterned with pink florets and at Chanel, suits, far from seeming matronly, were girlish affairs featuring short, pleated skirts, in heavy weight plaids.
Seeing the growing appearance of suitskirts in every possible adaptation that one can imagine, the industry is sure of the fact that the suit-skirts is soon going to be a wardrobe staple. But to start with, exporters are going to create blazers, jackets, cover-ups and skirts separately in similar fabrics to give an option to the buyers to create a mix-and match themselves.
Accentuating the past, many exporters and designers agree that the pantsuit might have stolen the spotlight on the runways, but that doesn’t mean that matching skirts are far from being in the spotlight. Designers’ recurrent endeavours make the suit-skirts use diverse range of fabrics. Nandini Pal, Designer, Bershka, ITX Trading SA, INDITEX adds, “While in cotton and linen, the silhouette looks very casual, the same silhouette when rendered in men’s wear fabrics, like wool blended, knitted fleece and jacquard, bring out a very sharp and edgy side.”
Being an epitome of femininity, delicate laces are being fashioned into jackets and pencil skirts, which not only bring up the factor of delicacy but also create transparency. Orley, presented a peek-a-boo version of suit-skirt in lilac, created in widely sparse lacy design. Kanchan Kumari, Designer, Volta Fashions, talking about addition of lace in suit-skirts says, “Be it for creating layered frill on suit hems or crocheted lace elements thrown all over a skirt, collections are welcoming lace as a collection staple to create suit-skirt editions.”
Denim was another fabric which was interestingly exploited with washes, prints and jacquard. Ajay Seth, CEO, A And M International avers, “Looking at the growing demand of embroidery and patchwork on denim, many distinct dimensions are being provided to the suitskirts.” With a myriad of exquisite details and intricate embellishments adorning the already existing traditional blazers, embroideries are slowly and steadily making their way into the skirts as well. With embroidered versions impressing the designers and fashion critics seasonon-season, this suit-skirts as seen in the collections of Carolina Herrera and Chanel are all set to rule the Fall of 2016 as well.
Suit-skirts also witnessed leather as a base, giving a much tough and biker-inspired look. Bally in his burnt sienna biker jacket and skater skirt combination, chose exposed zippers and metal buttons to complete the look, whereas, Marco de Vincenzo, went for a shiny silver metallic finish with digitally printed flowers to create the effect of iridescence. Incorporating ruffles in the pattern construction, Givenchy added architectural pleats and ruffles to his single breasted sleeveless blazer with a peplum skirt. Working on the similar lines, Oscar de la Renta projected a fierce image with his red suit-skirts finished with ruffles on the hem and neckline.
Seeing the growing appearance of suitskirts in every possible adaptation that one can imagine, the industry is sure of the fact that the suit-skirts is soon going to be a wardrobe staple, but to start with exporters are going to create blazers, jackets, cover-ups and skirts separately in similar fabrics to give an option to the buyers to create a mix-andmatch themselves. Various add on to this silhouette not only makes it suitable for different types of wearers but it also becomes an evident example of suitable Summer and Fall workwear.
