Look Book:
Your guide to what's hot, new and now
By Joan Chaykin
Fashion Focus
An industry insider dishes on how embroidery and other embellishments went haute couture at the New York, London and Milan spring/summer 2010 runway collections.
In spring 2010, expect to see all types of embellishment as a fashion fixture. "In a season marked by lightness and femininity, one of the biggest directions we see designers going is using chiffon for appliqués," says Sharon Graubard, senior vice president of trend analysis at Stylesight, a provider of trend forecasting and product development tools for creative professionals in the fashion and style industries. "Designers are also using all sorts of petal and flower shapes, whether contrast- or self-flowers or ruched chiffon ribbons mixed with beading." In the spring collections, you’re also going to see chiffon ribbons sewn down in curlicues, plus designers taking a modernist approach to fabric by using squares of fabric, especially chiffon or organza, to produce dimensional watercolor effects.
Graubard says that with the current economy, designers have cut back on big post-runway parties but have put more thought and energy into the clothes themselves. "Experimental fabrics and beautiful prints are providing an emotional pull for the spring – after all, shopping for clothes is usually less about need and more about desire," she says. "Nature is also a huge inspiration, but moody nature, full of stormy skies, worn-away eroded surfaces, burning lava and blotchy dyes."
Embroidery work is elegant in spring collections, Graubard says, especially when it’s placed in large motifs, such as chic tonal flowers. And designers are using fringe in new ways: For example, they’re using metallic fringe-shaped paillettes, Spanish shawl fringe, flapper fringe and flower appliqués made of fringe. "Lace is also an important fabric for spring embellishments and is being used as an appliqué over everything from denim to satin to stripes," she says.
Another hot trend for spring is beading and paillettes, which Graubard says continue to look right for day or evening, and are often embroidered into flower shapes. Multicolored faceted gems are being used as trim for a "fun, yet luxe, look. Bejeweled patches are being used as trompe l’oeil brooches," she says, and "simple string is used as an appliqué to create 3-D scribbles, which look particularly fresh on sheer tank tops, for an elegant take on the graphic tee."
JOAN CHAYKIN is a managing editor for ASI. Contact: jchaykin@asicentral.com.