Styles for spring, summer include white, floral patterns
If a woman can only buy one thing for the spring season, what should it be? A white shirt, of course, according to industry experts.
The Fashion Group International (FGI) gave a presentation on “Best of the best” trends Wednesday night. A fashion show video voiced by Mary Lou Luther, a top international fashion journalist, discussed the best “ready to wear” clothing, accessories, hair and makeup from London, Paris, Milan and New York that FGI believes will make it to retail for the spring and summer seasons of 2014.
FGI is the pre-eminent authority on the business of fashion. It has more than 5,000 members around the world and was launched in South Carolina in 2010. FGI predicts that the runway trends that will most likely make it to retail racks include simple white shirts, little white dresses, pleats and sleeveless jackets. Floral and word prints are also expected to become popular, along with leather jackets and white accessories.
Rosanna Krekel and Robert Butt of FGI provided a debriefing on the video.
Some of Krekel’s favorite trends from the show included the prints and transparency, especially sheerness and cutouts in key spots.
“I definitely think the wearable art (will be popular). I think there’s no question,” Krekel said. “The pieces right now are more like collection pieces. You’re not necessarily going to wear a dress with a bra over it, but I think some of the prints and wearable art are going to stick.”
Some of the more daring trends stood out to Butt, especially a model who had Swarovski crystals all over her face.
“There were a lot of really fun things going on this year, and the thing that amazed me,” Butt said. “The whole Swarovski crystals on the face. It took ten hours to get ready for that.”
For retail students in the audience, Krekel and Butt discussed the fashion show from an industry standpoint. According to Krekel, retailers often buy from precollections and one of the main purposes of the actual fashion show is entertainment.
“You’re seeing things in a fabric on the runway that they’re not selling to retailers. A lot of this is pure theatricality and it’s very, very special,” Krekel said.
The recent fashion shows revealed some impressive designs from relatively unknown designers in addition to the usual favorites.
“These new designers are making some incredible things happen,” Krekel said. “I think some of the best designers are really not discovered fully.”
Some of the other major fashion trends for 2014 include the assimilation of ethnic and folkloric elements, wearable portraits and texts and the combination of crop tops and high-waisted pants. Some popular fabrics for the upcoming seasons include cotton, denim, satin and vinyl.
As for accessories, fashionistas can expect purses with fringe, backpacks, fanny packs and money belts, duffel bags and even two bags on one body or in one hand. Jewelry is expected to come in the form of tribal necklaces, chokers and pearls.
The makeup and hair look of the season is “easy does it.” Many fashion companies were careful to make their models look carefree, while others still went for a natural look while adding a splash of color.
Bold makeup and hair was anything but absent from the runway, however. Some of the statement looks included graphic eyes, bold eyebrows, 24-carat gold eye pigments or hair streaked with gold, low ponytails and decorative hairpieces.