The Past for the Future

Designers are always looking to the past before creating fashion for the future. If you remember, in one of my previous posts, I had proclaimed my love for the history of fashion. From this comes my hobby of breaking down the fashions and finding references to past eras. It's actually become a bit of a habit. And when you think about it, it’s quite inspiring to see that these fashion leaders have been no better equipped than you or I in developing the skills to tackle fashion today and make a mark on it.

Yves Saint Laurant 1985, Gucci S/S 2011

Bergdorf Goodman 1963, Jean Paul Gaultier F/W 2012

Katherine Hepburn 1938, Miu Miu F/W 2012 

Vogue 1971, Just Cavalli F/W 2012

Prada F/W 1996, Libertine F/W 2012

Vogue 1974, Blugirl F/W 2012

What I'm willing to point out is that fashion lives in cycles, and that this is the nature of fashion. A huge part of the language of fashion has been defined during the 20th century; every silhouette, colour combination or material has a meaning that has already been established and belongs to a period of time, a specific mood or socio-cultural environment. A huge part of today's fashion lives from the reinvention of its past. That does not mean that newness in fashion is not possible, of course it is, the thing is to combine all the known elements of fashion into something new. Doing interesting things today is challenging, and I really enjoy seeing how designers manage to create something that can move us every season again.

Patterned / Printed Pants: 2010 Trend Prediction

For years, shoulder pads were fashion suicide. But they are back, first on the catwalks of London Fashion Week, back in the shops, and back in our wardrobes. How did this happen?

But what was unimaginable just a few years ago has now happened - shoulder pads are back in the shops and back in our wardrobes, for the third time round. (It was in vogue during the 1930's, then it was a power dressing essential in the 1980's)

So how did we find ourselves handing over our hard-earned money for what was considered a fashion faux pas for so long? (Last month, I bought a fierce $190? pair of embellished shoulder pads with gold fringing, similar to the ones in the picture below)

Natalie Portman, Keko Hainswheeler Shoulders Pads

Discussed in my earlier posts, I mentioned the cycle of trends and theories. Andrew Groves, director for fashion at the University of Westminster says, "We now live in a fast-paced consumer society. Pictures of what's on the catwalks of London Fashion Week today will be on the internet today. Everything is absorbed quicker and we want it quicker. Looks hit the High Street much faster."

And the reason a trend goes from hot to not? What kills it off is boredom? A trend starts off on a few and eventually goes mainstream, by which time the leaders - be they designers, models or trendsetters - have moved on. Eventually everyone else does too. When the market is totally saturated with a look, showing up in the high-street and shop windows, a trend loses its appeal. Then it goes through stages of being ridiculed and worn ironically until it is largely forgotten. Only when it drops off the fashion radar - for both good and bad reasons - can it be rediscovered, in this instance, the shoulder pads!

As an aspiring stylist, I need to capture the trend when it is just emerging in phase one - when you see that great hat/dress/shoe on the runway, red carpet or music video, and phase two - where the trend is highly sought after and the look is often available in high-priced designer collections, before the trend hits phase three - when a look makes it to the mass market, does it become affordable for most consumers.

So here is a trend I discovered in Phase One for you fashion-forwarders: 
Patterned / printed pants

Givenchy S/S 2010 

Balenciaga S/S 2010

Karen Walker S/S 2010

Dries Van Noten S/S 2010

Topshop Unique S/S 2010

Stripes, florals, graphic prints and abstract shapes. Bright and bold, or subtle and sophisticated. Almost anything goes when it comes to trouser prints in 2010.

The style expected to be seen on the streets? At least more immediately, is the skinny, and the toned-down take on the harem pant, relaxed at the hips and tapered in to the ankles.

                 

Street Style - Sasha Pivovarova 

The patterned pants I'm on the lookout for? The skinny black and white checked pair like the one in this Aldo ad campaign. Or a zebra print!