Next winter will be an expressive time with fashion breaking boundaries between past and present and this world and the next.
Attendees at Texworld USA on Tuesday were given insight into the signals and trends to watch for autumn/winter 2020-2021, presented by Louis Gérin, Texworld art director, as part of the Lenzing Seminar Series.
According to Gérin, the upcoming season will be shaped by eight commanding and explosive signals, all of which will meld into four trends representing a civilization that is both pushing back against itself while embracing its future ahead.
“There are many visionaries in this world; it’s up to each person to read them in his own way,” said Gérin.
The signals that will drive the trends include fury, combustion, indigestion, polychrome, Atlantis, stature, edification and confines. Here are four key trends set to shape textiles and apparel for autumn/winter 2020-2021.
Apocalyptic Fascination
Described as a meeting point between heat and cold, or between matte and shiny, the Apocalyptic Fascination represents our existence just a few minutes before the explosion or a few moments after, said Gérin. “We don’t know just yet.”
“It’s the projection of how the people of today will be tomorrow,” he said.
Colors: The colors tell the diversity of this trend, said Gérin. Blues like Azure Fragment, Icy Horizon and Aqueous Reflection contrast with Greater Incandescence and Martian Clay reds.
Fabrics: Fabrics in this fiery theme will be reflected with contrasted textures, reflective surfaces, sinuous stripes and random embossing.
“It must be said that the apocalypse is beautiful. It has the colors of flames and the warmth of fire,” said Gérin. “But it also sparkles with the reflections of the water and is covered by the cold of the ice.”
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Immemorial Spell
This theme is shaped by “everything coming back up,” according to Gérin, with our history springing like a geyser. A splitting of our past creates an interaction with our world, melding them together so we don’t repeat our mistakes but still remember them.
Colors: The colors representing this vintage story include brown tones like Desert Breath, Mineral Brightness and Terra-Cotta; greens like Plant Splendor and Green Imprint; and Tribal Petal and Sweet Legacy pinks.
Fabrics: Fabrics in this theme will be reflected with unstable perforation, shaded herringbone, floral saturation and convex squares.
“Today most people are living in the cities, but cities are keeping us from nature,” said Gérin, “so we have to meld them together—but to not reproduce the mistakes of the past.”
Synthetic Dazzle
“No more subtle shades,” Gérin declared for this theme. “We let the color explode. They make everything more beautiful.”
Colors: This theme, in which “our waste becomes a psychedelic piece of work,” will be dominated by greens like Artificial Foliage, Old-Fashioned Foam, Gelled Lichen, Poisonous Chlorophyll and Green Plasticine. But there will also be yellows like Expanded Sunflower and Artificial Shell, as well as an Ultraviolet Filter blue and Scarlet Pistil red.
Fabrics: Synthetic Dazzle will be represented by holographic overprint, natural patchwork, spontaneous origami and metallic folding.
“It doesn’t seem to make much sense, but we’re not looking for it,” said Gérin. “We just let our eyes be spellbound by beauty.”
Astral Ecstasy
With our feet anchored to the ground and our eyes to the sky, this theme represents our desire for a better, more beautiful tomorrow.
Colors: Colors range from black and grays like Shaded Carbon, Lunar Asphalt and Urban Dust to bright pinks like Crepuscular Light and Celestial Pitaya.
Fabrics: This theme will be represented by crunchy textures, honeycomb structures, recurring spikes, bristly string and wave-like leshing.
“We have all this technology [and] knowledge,” said Gérin. “We have learned from the past [and] we want to project into the future.”