CONTENTS
 

Impressum    ff-Search   Links

Vol.08  Issue 01/03, 03.01.2008

CPD Womens' Wear Trends Spring/Summer 2008

Sportier and yet light and smart, matt/shine effects and functional details, ...

Alexandros Talianis

The fashion for next summer will be sportier and yet have a light and smart feel about it. Across all product groups CPD Düsseldorf showcased uncompromising modernity driven by minimised design elements and a playful slant on new proportions.
Fabrics with a novel techno-touch, many matt/shine effects and functional details make businesswear and casualwear strikingly more casual. The playful coexistence of sporty and haute-couture styles as well as functional details makes the rigid borders between urban and sportswear dissolve. A trend that is even reinforced by the comeback of layered looks. Different lengths and widths worn on top of each other as well as the mix 'n' match of separates questions the meticulous 'demarcation line' between fashion themes and directions. Nothing is compulsory. Fashion individuality is everything.

CPD Düsseldorf proposes three themes for the coming 2008 Spring/Summer season based on the trends elaborated by the DMI:

Bandolera

Smart Easyness
Uncompromising modernity based on clear-cut, minimised shapes and modern materials. Smart, casual, aristocratic.
A clear-cut design, modern, refined materials and light, pale colours characterise a minimised look that unfolds through layering and the mix of separates in a very personal way. Short dresses are worn as tunics over slender trousers and leggings, for example. Semi-transparent, little baby-doll type dresses or relaxed, long shirts serve as companions for slim-fit Bermudas, shorts or mini-skirts in fine wool or purist, densely woven cotton. Very delicate, double-layer T-shirts or T-shirt and strappy top coordinates complement classic, straight-fit slacks as well as loose-fit cargo pants. Featherweight nylon parkas and shimmering anoraks or bomber jackets look uncompromisingly modern even though collars and sleeves have a full, haute-couture look to them. As soon as they are teamed with exquisite Bermuda suits or slender shift dresses they become protagonists of this relaxed approach to fashion styles and trends: not in contrast but harmonious and aspirational.

Nonstop

In addition to high-quality gabardines, twills, fine crepes, cretonnes and accordion pleats it is light self-coloured shades and white nuances like paper, cream and ivory that emphasise the lightness of this look. In combination with subtle beige and all shades of grey from cool mid tones to glamorous silver and platinum, they form the colour base of this theme. While black and white stress the often graphic-art looks of these styles, yellow, blue and jade green set accents with Bauhaus styling: either as stand-alone colours, geometric colour surfaces or abstract flowers and foliage. Shiny tech-look fabrics, satins, chintz finishes and glossy PU coatings as well as many silk blends enrich fashion with thrilling high-gloss stories.

City Hopper
Functional fashion for everyday business in big cities. An unconventional mix of street couture, ethnic features, rock, pop and new sport styles.
Living in the big city. Here the influences from multiple sources of inspiration fuse into a functional and pragmatic fashion. The coexistence and interplay of sporty styles, street couture, elements from rock and pop music, army and sahari looks leave plenty of scope for personal preferences and peer or target-group influenced dress codes.

Suat Bahceci

Yokes, hoods, loops, flap and bellows pockets, drawstrings and zippers feature as insignia of functionality for this look. Parka styles, biker and bomber jackets form the backbone of sporty outdoor outfits that predominantly make a statement with intense, almost artificial colours, shine and opalescent looks. Loose-fit pants, Bermudas, shorts and short skirts are equally modernised through cargo-details.
A casual touch is added by very fine, nearly transparent T-shirts and tops worn one over the top of the other featuring a new coordinates partner in the form of rediscovered hooded shirts. Feminine dresses with partial gathering, romantic flounced skirts, millefleurs and even African prints provide this sporty look with a feminine 'add-on' for thrilling combinations.
It is this coexistence of natural and synthetic colours and fabrics that is so intriguing. Flowing jerseys and gauze-like fabric are in evidence alongside many natural-looking fibre blends in ramie, linen and wild silk and irregular surfaces such as microseersucker.

Mills

Natural and earthy colours are combined in camouflage style but often translated in man-made fibre blends to take away that heavy feel. Classics such as olive and khaki are combined with slate or tealeaf green getting a kick out of blue shades, silver and platinum grey. Almost synthetic and therefore surprisingly new are such accent colours as sulphur yellow, emerald, chlorophyll and turquoise and bright orange.

Sunny Smile
Powerful, bright colours are translated into high-tech fabrics giving summer an almost artificial slant. Here inspirations from the worlds of art and sports clash.
The message here is summer. Clear radiant colours such as yellow, orange, red, pink, green, azure blue and purple promise vitality and modernity but require neutral 'dampeners' like white, grey, olive, brown and sand tones.
Nevertheless, strong colours have moved beyond their purely accessorising role. They are rather reinvented with modern materials such as lightweight, paper-type nylons, stretch fabrics and figure-hugging jerseys that are ingeniously draped to revisit tops and dresses.

kookai

Even very fine twills, gabardines, soft-lustre chintzed fabrics and satins suddenly look up-to-date and modern thanks to these radiant colours. Like smooth fabrics they consistently stress the clear, often unpretentious styles of garments in this theme. Elements taken from active sports such as zippers and reflective ribbons set accents thanks to their novel positions, for example. Coloured denim garments are considered key basics. Furthermore, we should not lose sight of simple tennis and strappy dresses which, like short skirts, T-shirts and V-neck pullovers are revamped by colour blocking, bright contrast-colour facings and ring stripes. The language of this theme is artificial even including print designs. In addition to the graphic details already mentioned -; facings and ring stripes - the imagery of Andy Warhol and Tom Wessel has inspired the collage-type, graphic-art motifs while Pucci designs and large-repeat abstract florals characterise the surfaces.

Latest News and
Fashion Trend Information see Title-Page

To the general Fashion Fairs Calendar 2008
Links to Fair Organizers