Trend Bible Radar: Graduate Fashion Week

Graduate Fashion Week kicked off last week in London and we’re pleased to say that the standard was as high as ever. As you probably know we like to mix up our influences when we look at home interior trends, so fashion is always something that we keep a close eye on. In this report our trend researcher Victoria Buchanan pulled together the key looks from the catwalks, tying these looks in with the latest directions for home interiors. Over to you Victoria…

Nude Hues

Back in 2009 we predicted a trend for home furnishings called Epicurean for Spring/Summer  2011 and at Graduate Fashion Week we saw lots of references to this trend with students redefining luxury.  A nude barely-there colour palette provided the perfect backdrop to complex techniques like intricate  laser cutting and 3D flowers which we can see working well across substrates like textiles and ceramics in the home. This trend blurs the line where craft meets luxury. Joanna Feeley, Creative Director of Trend Bible agrees; “Florals are architectural and exagerrated, stripped of colour so that we can really focus on the techniques and the genius of the artisan.”

Above images left to right; Top; Kenji Kawasumi – Central Saint Martins, Jung-Yoon Shin – Royal College of Art, Alison Linton – Royal College of Art, Jessica Madden – Westminster Graduate. Bottom; Huishan Zhang – Central Saint Martins, Isabel Wong – Edinburgh, Yi Fang Wan – Central Saint Martins, Sharon Fernandez – Liverpool, Phoebe Thirlwall – Nottingham. Copyright, 2010.

Above Image: page from Trend Bible Epicurean story, Spring Summer 2011, published October 2009.

Out of Africa

GFW evidenced once again that the tribal trend is here to stay! This is typical end of decade behaviour (we won’t bore you with all our geeky stats!) where trends are very repetitive and cyclical before we move forward and embrace a new era. At the shows we saw an array of Aztec prints and bold embellishments. This trend is all about a culture clash of influences lending inspiration from African, South American and Asian cultures. How does this trend work for the home ? Well if you want to make a statement then mix and match animal prints in muted colours, mix tie dye with bold and bright tribal styles, or for a more subtle approach think ikat prints, beaded and embroidered cushions, geo pattern trims, dark mango wood accessories, feathers and fringing.

Above images left to right; Top; Isabel Czernin Fishlock – Central Saint Martins, Sara Zadeh – Central Lancashire, Steph Goynes – London College of Fashion, Carrie Hill – Central Saint Martins. Bottom; Flett Bertram – London College of Fashion, Buki Agbabiaka – Central Saint Martins, Rebecca Purvis – Central Lancashire, Nicholas Smith – Central Saint Martins. Copyright, 2010.

Techno Prints

The likes of Alexander McQueen and Erdem have been championing digital techno prints for a couple of seasons and now the students are on-board, a sure fire sign that this trend is going to be big news! We predicted this trend will trickle down for home interiors for Autumn/Winter 11/12. If you want to get in on the act you can opt for abstract, futuristic shapes in bold, bright neon colours.

Above images left to right; Charlotte Helyar – Edinburgh Carly Ellis – Westminster, Faye Chamberlain – Northumbria, Holly Russell – University of Northampton, Danielle Ingemann – Ravensbourne.

The Way We Were…

Ahh…the good old days. Nothing makes us part with our hard-earned cash quite like a bit of nostalgia! With the Queens Diamond Jubilee n 2012 and sad news of the recent death of the oldest surviving World War 1 soldier there was definitely a feeling of nostalgia in the air at GFW as we saw collections that took us back to the 1910`s (not that we were alive then you understand). Susie Bubble, fashion blogger, described the collection by Amelia Chester as an ‘updated wardrobe for the modern Land Girls’. Quirky prints and a soft palette work well for this trend and in particular we loved the kids collection by Anna Tiesen which referenced maps and suitcases, perfect for kids interiors. This look is something we referenced for home interiors for Spring Summer 11 in our very nostalgic and misty-eyed Voyager story, below.

Above images left to right; Amelia Chester – Northumbria, Kirsty Stringfellow – Central Lancashire, Emily McNally – Birmingham, Emily McNally – Birmingham, LCF, Anna Tiesen – Bournemouth

Above; Anna Tiesen – Bournemouth

Above image; page from Trend Bible Voyager story for Spring Summer 2011, referencing 1920s adventure stories, ditsy landgirl prints and the golden age of travel.

Colour Alert: Tomato Red

The big colour trend at the shows…. tomato red!!! Our clients are always telling us that red is one of their best selling colours for home textiles so this will be music to their ears! Home textile trends often follow fashion trends so if the fashion set think it’s cool then who are we to argue! The newness here is making sure red is executed with modernist lines and clean angular shapes.

Above images left to right; Lisa Leisos – Edinburgh, Laurell Wilding – University of Northampton, Naomi Brewer – De Montfort, Eleanor Burton – University of Northampton, Camilla Probert – Bristol School of Creative Arts at UWE, Wei Ting Hu – London College of Fashion, Karin Malm – Central Saint Martins.