For Spring/Summer 2020, fashion trends will reflect societal trends and new consumer behaviors. Femininity will take on new definitions, colors will channel both power and peace, and silhouettes will pull away from the body to better enable life to happen.
At Texworld USA in New York City last week, MintModa founder and creative director Sharon Graubard highlighted six key trend stories that will inform fabrics, prints and accessories for women’s wear in the SS 2020 season.
Good Work 
The Good Work trend story is all about sturdy fabrics, the way women dressed in the ’40s, trench coats and basics, plus the ’70s influence the industry has seen will be “ongoing,” Graubard said.
“We see the influence of ’70s industrial colors, a new lighter kind of attitude toward work, which is reflected in people’s clothing,” she said. “Utility makes luxury with lustrous surfaces, industrial color and graphic patterns.”
Here, art meets industry, the mogul nomad is a thing and more and more people working outside of offices will have an impact on the trends in fashion.
Colors: Orangey red and traditional bright orange. “Orange is the new pink,” according to Graubard. There’s an almost blue black, a neutral “hospital” green and khaki will play a major role. “Silver is a key neutral. If you’re doing a metallic, it’s silver.”
Fabrics and details: Satin, coated fabrics, khaki, top stitches, any detail that gives a handmade look, tailor’s tags.
Prints and graphics: Flat prints, graphic prints, dots, stripes, yarn dyes.
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Styles and silhouettes: Head-to-toe matching sets, draped pencil skirts, coated outerwear, asymmetrical hems, overalls with blazers.
Denim: Dark denim, denim you could wear to work, Tencel blends.
Accessories: Top handle handbags, belt bags, ear clips.
Footwear: The city sandal, a “sturdy” shoe for “running around town” will be big for footwear, Graubard said.
The Greening
The Greening trend story, as Graubard explained, “is totally inspired by the obsession with house plants.”
And the trend is driven largely by the industry’s current largest spending cohort. “There’s a big thing with millennials being obsessed with houseplants. And what I’ve found is it’s like a gateway drug that’s a first step before having a kid.”
As such, the look here is leaf shapes. “It’s not about the floral for this trend. It’s about the greenery, it’s the leaf. The leaf is the new floral,” Graubard said. “It’s ecology and people who are committed to sustainability.”
Colors: The palette, not surprising is all about green—yellowed greens, bamboo green, olive—and then there’s a teal blue and dark brown. “Green is the new black,” Graubard said.
Fabrics and details: Mattelasse, jacquards that “almost feel like a leaf,” according to Graubard, glazed fabric, tech fabrics, slippery satins, recycled/upcycled fabrics.
Prints and graphics: Leafy prints, blurred blossoms.
Styles and silhouettes: Sheath dress in green print, asymmetry as can be found in nature, bermuda shorts, drawstrings. “The drawstring is key, key, key and you’ll see it in more than one trend,” Graubard said. “It’s using these jacquards in casual silhouettes. There are lots of drawstrings because also the fit is [forgiving]. We are not zipping ourselves up into all kinds of shapes in this trend.”
Denim: “For denim, it’s either washed and kind of a mottled surface, or it’s tie dye,” according to Graubard.
Accessories: Big bags with drawstrings, bucket hats in jacquard, crochet and macramé for scarves and bags, even jewelry.
Footwear: The footwear is green, things that look like they could be used for gardening, “chic Croc” style shoes.
Crossroads Café 
The Crossroads Café trend is all about travel, which is in keeping with the current millennial consumers’ desire for experiences over things.
“It’s about Morocco, it’s about Mexico, it’s about India,” Graubard said. “We travel, we buy things in our travels and we mix them all together.”
Exotic tiles and arched headboards serve as inspiration, and everything has a “hand touched” feel.
Colors: Colors have a “vegetal” feel, Graubard said—ginger, red orange, shocking pink, berry, yellow ochre. Wine with pumpkin orange will be a key combo.
Fabrics and details: Patchwork, Bedouin stripes, knits, printed jerseys, Intarsia jerseys, crochet, macramé.
Prints and graphics: Mixed prints, yarn dyed stripes, African wax prints, chinoiserie, glazed paisleys, shells and bits of metal and trim. “It’s like things you found on the beach,” Graubard said.
Styles and silhouettes: Crochet knit tops with little beads, pleats, the new body con. As Graubard explained, “It’s not body con like Kim Kardashian, but it still skims the body.”
Denim: Tie-dye, harem pants, denim printed with medallions, patchwork denim.
Accessories: “It’s the shell,” Graubard said. Shell earrings, shell necklaces, shell ankle bracelets. And, she said, “The straw bag is a thing. There’s no ‘it’ bag anymore. It’s a place where women can play.”
Footwear: Footwear will feature wooden beads and wrapping—wrapping the ankle will be key, whether it’s with cord or braid or “anything that wraps,” according to Graubard.
New Frontier
For the New Frontier trend, Graubard said, “It’s this whole ‘Little House on the Prairie’ thing that’s happening.”
A covered décolletage will be common, though it may be present in a sheer fabric. “It’s almost playing with modesty,” she said, or “pretending to be modest but not really modest.”
Continuing, Graubard said, “Maybe it’s the pioneer spirit, a new way for a brave new world, a new way of being a woman and being more covered up.”
Namely, it’s romantic, it’s the new shabby chic. But it’s modern, sort of like “Little House in Brooklyn,” she said.
Colors: “Colors are slightly faded and that’s what gives the trend the newness,” according to Graubard. “They have a faded dishtowel feeling. You want those khakis and kind of faded colors and faded blues and a very light lilac.”
Fabrics and details: Eyelet lace, glazed fabrics, suede and fake suede, crochet and pointelle, Western details, doily lace used as a trim, self ruffles.
Prints and graphics: Wallpaper prints, wallpaper florals, calico prints, Americana quilting.
Styles and silhouettes: Prairie dress work with a cropped Western jacket, Victorian tops with short shorts or a mini skirt.
Denim: Fringed edges, western plackets, overall looks.
Accessories: Crochet and macramé, bucket hats, fringed bags, fabric scrap bags.
Footwear: Footwear has Western influences, or it’s the “granny boot,” Graubard said.
Lotus Land 
The Lotus Land trend story is also about the escape, what’s dreamy, the Memphis movement of the late ’70s and early ’80s.
“Brand new recycled formica, speckled textures and speckled prints are important here,” Graubard said. “Intense color is part of this story. It could be fluorescent color, could be netting and tulle.”
Glitter and “otherworldy shine” will also show up for this story.
Colors: Silver, every color in the rainbow.
Fabrics and details: Gingham, Jackie O wearing Marimekko, rainbow glazes, nylon, crystals, zippers—even the zippers have a crystal trim, Graubard said.
Prints and graphics: Pyramids, Hawaiian prints, artificial flowers on a silver ground. “The gem is the new motif for prints,” she said.
Styles and silhouettes: Long over long will be key, like a “long dress over sheer pants with a coat over it,” according to Graubard.
Denim: White denim with yellow splatter, silky denim.
Accessories: Clip earrings being worn in new ways, pastel ribbons.
Footwear: Sock boots, girdle mesh. “For boots we love the summer boot that’s aerated,” Graubard said.
Body Craft
The Body Craft trend story the one that speaks most to the changes where inclusivity is concerned.
“This trend is so important because it’s about self acceptance,” Graubard said. “There’s a revolution going on. This body positive movement is going deep.”
The story will tap into extended size ranges and inclusive color palettes.
Colors: “Pink is still a thing,” Graubard said. “The nude palette doesn’t have to match the body, it’s colors that are flattering against the skin.” Terra cotta, caramel, mauve-y nude tones, deep lipstick pink, red-cast brown and light blue will also be key.
Fabrics and details: Stretchy base layers, fabrics that come out of the lingerie drawer, stretchy lace, stocking meshes, fishnet for a T-shirt, tape ties, drawstrings.
Prints and graphics: Figure drawings, pencil drawing, painterly prints. “Even a plaid is a print. It’s not a yarn-dye plaid,” Graubard explained.
Styles and silhouettes: “It’s a little bit of an exposed theme,” Graubard said. “The bra is the new accessory, worn under or over.” The story will see cutouts at the breast, rough gathers—an almost unfinished quality—sheer skirts, knitted layers, a camisole with a pair of trousers.
Denim: Rose wash, “lots of soft peaches and pinks for denim,” Graubard said. Seams over the hip, contoured curvilinear seams that emphasize the body.
Accessories: Satin headbands, bags that move, ankle bracelets, pearls, clear jewelry. “Lucite is a thing,” Graubard said.
Footwear: For footwear, Graubard said, “We’re calling it the tech ballet slipper and there’s a zillion of them on the runway. A lot of them have little gathers on the foot, a high vamp…it’s new interpretations of ballet slippers.”