New Fashion Trends

1. THEMES & PROJECTIONS A/W ’15-16 & S/S ’16 Finding Inspiration Inspiration influences and fashions the mundane into the exotic, or makes what‘s beautiful, even more beautiful. It is the driving force behind the budding of new creations at the beginning of all fashion seasons. Inspiration can be drawn from the most unexpected places in the heart… from unexplored regions of the mind… from the most mundane of things… from technological advancements… from travel to new places….from the vagaries of Nature… from nostalgic memories of the glorious fashionable past…from a futuristic projection….from all that’s beautiful and exotic… and from all that’s dark and mysterious. The list is unending, and the end result is often the creation of something that is breathtakingly unique. No wonder then that the fashion world waits in anticipation as the new season unfolds. T H E M E S PROJECTIONS A/W ’15-16 & How will Autumn Winter ‘15/16 define fashion? What could Spring Summer ‘16 have in store for fashion enthusiasts? These are the questions that our Seasonal Update/ THEMES & PROJECTIONS section will strive to answer with careful reasoning and a close observation of world trends. Fortunately, the intensity of these inspirations can be gauged at some level through research because fashion inspiration at large, has a lot to derive from dominant cultures as it showcases all that has universal relevance and appeal. Our consultants from around the world study factors like cultural on-goings, technological advances, popular activities, artistic movements, and numerous other happenings that could directly or indirectly become an important inspiration for the breeders of fashion. Our readers can make use of these projections in the product development for the upcoming seasons. S/S ’16 The Seasonal Update/THEMES & PROJECTIONS in this edition of the book is focused on the fabric, print and silhouette inspirations for Autumn Winter 15/16, and also offers a glimpse into what could become a fashion fix for Spring Summer ‘16. The key themes for Autumn Winter 15/16 that have been incorporated in this edition are Food, Technology, Culture, Art and Home. These themes have been further subdivided into micro-themes like Photography and __ for Food, Kaleidoscopic Vision; Gift of Glitch and Bioluminescence for Technology; Russia, Africa and Spain for Culture; Juxtaposed and Mixed Media.

2. 114 115 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine M I X E E D D I M A 6 The urge to give birth to something unique, which is a step ahead of the known, expresses the philosophy of mixed media in the best possible light. Subsequent to its inception by the Cubists in 1912, the art has recently gained popularity again because of the immense nature of being visually expressive, which is hard to miss. Diverse textures of oil paint, textiles, vinyl, wood and sculptures are being layered to symbolize a kaleidoscope of ideas. Transgressing from multi-textured and complex works of found objects on canvas, new modes of visualization of media and other technology- video and photography, sculpture and photography, painting with video- are now being merged to explore new expressions and emotions that are reflected through such unexpected and unpredictable pairing. While turning flat surfaces to a third dimension has enveloped most artists’ developing mixed media art, there are a few who have chosen the skill of making a three dimensional subject appear as a two dimensional one, by turning the human body into a live canvas to paint on and then capturing it through a photograph to collapse depth. In the next five years, a theme, which possesses no limitations, will naturally go through rapid transformations and experimentation in any creative field, since this approach insinuates the desperate need to recreate one’s thoughts into reality, by defying natural settings, to personalize a subject in a way that it cannot be copied, stolen or erased. 1 5 4 3 2 7 8

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4. 118 119 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine JUXTAPOSED To achieve a work that maintains a balancing act between a multitude of elements that create constant tension- is what the viewer can expect to see. To either be drawn to the similarities or the crass differences that represent issues related to the violence and pressures within the society, while simultaneously reflecting personal history. Uniting surrealism and realism is a means to put together the unconscious with the conscious, a world of fantasy and reality, which makes the relationship between objects extraordinary and devoid of normal frequency. One can detect such art through literal observations of crisp detailing against soft handed ones, aggressive strokes alongside light shading or controlled patterns put next to free-hand illustrations- some such concepts include straight monotonous lines on colourful blooming flowers, a mosaic texture on a face print and partial smudging of a perfect picture. An artist might juxtapose using imagery, too, by highlighting the matter which is machine-made or humanly created, where one can interpret the soulless uniformity of urbanization merging with the infinite beauty and fragility of nature or see the former translating into safety and order compared to the irrepressible strength of the latter. The current socio-political tensions hint at the trend of placing opposites together, seeping into the world of art, culture and fashion at a greater pace in the coming few years. This form of art bestows upon the spectator, the opportunity to perceive the fluid and static, the minimalist and expressionistic or the pristine and the defaced. 13 9 15 10 11 12 14

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6. 122 123 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine FOOD FOR THE CREATIVE MIND Co-existing with the most global trend of the self fixated ‘selfie’, Food Photography and Styling has, delightfully, made its place in society. Starting out with a culture of its own, food, today, is not only for the human taste buds, but it is also for the camera in its most unique forms. Food stylists from all over the world are presenting food as art, surpassing the boundaries of finely crafted cookbooks and reaching out as inspiring mood boards to artists and designers. No more are these photographs for restaurants or luxury hotel chains, but are transforming into prints and colour that are soothing to the eyes, in real handcrafted ways. Evolving through the years, from mere still life specialization, then commercial photography, to now, where food as an art form has matured into a creative play of romantic lighting, shallower angles, changing perspectives, extreme close-ups and more props. Food is dissected, explored and experimented with, to discover newer dimensions in design– from the very raw and original to the much arranged and skillfully thought over. Also attached with the deeper significance of organic farming, vegan living and the slow food movement- food styling has become a photography revolution, spanning across social media platforms, from Pinterest to Instagram. Food is simply not a necessity to survive but a lifestyle that has to be pondered over and carefully consumed. Making its way into yet another youth culture are the everyday smart phone owners who are becoming the new-age food stylist and photographers– travelling and making the world of food more diverse and aware. Filtering into the world of fashion, from sugar coated colour palettes to cute food-inspired novelty prints– the days are not far behind when the floral garden will be sharing its space with the beauty of a home grown kitchen garden. Cucumbers and oranges will be as fresh as the blossoming buds of flowers and the garden salad will be the new jungle green of winter. There will be berries on dresses and watermelons on the runways, magnificently perceived and imaginatively captured. 16 20 21 22 18 19 17

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8. 126 127 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine IMAGINATION AT C L I C K Technology has changed our lives in numerous ways, in the past. But, the moment it coincided with photography, a revolution took place. Smart phones have changed the way people purchase cameras, simply because the luxury of a picture (for a lifetime) is now, in their hands. With a simple click and a well thought-out filter, everyone has become a photographer on the go. At one instant click your world is vintage; the other second, it is retro and in the third, a glorified hipster. Smart photographers are the cult of the future. They look, observe and document life through their phones and spread visual knowledge through the technology of social media apps. They think local and click local, forming a world which is in its most original form. This world of smart photography is not photoshopped or fake, but an innocent moment captured which only travels in time through the wide selection of filters and effects. 25 Photography This community of photographers believes in the real– people, places and living. They don’t need a model to pose because they are their own posers or define their subjects from what it already is. They click a field in its true nature, the gaze of a passing-by animal, the scratched paint on the walls, the golden shining of corn fields, the crazy-gone-wild creepers or the day to day objects which are easy to miss. For them, the whole world resides in a single in-the-moment shot, which has no defined time or environment. Now, a designer does not need to go places in search of inspiration because his phone is his most instant mood board. From wide scaling landscapes to complicated cityscapes, everything is in reach as the smart phone becomes the widest photographic resource. A picture can then be converted into different textures that transform the image from a photograph to art, leaving the rest to digital printing. Fashion is standing on the verge of extreme dynamism that has never been witnessed before, with the power of sharing and inspiring through social media. 26 23 24 28 27

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10. 130 131 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine B I O LUMINESCENCE Man is constantly on the look-out for something new, something to add zeal to the banality of everyday life and the process of charting a course towards the new and the unexplored, sometimes, involves looking into the past; turning a new leaf by going back to an old one- looking at nature, for example, and deriving inspiration from primeval and unexplored forms. In this search for the extraordinary, Bio-luminescent organisms present an exemplary medium to the burning-out human by encouraging them to light the fire from within. The essence of Bio-luminescence, summed up in one word, is “flashing”— flashing on being challenged, flashing on attempting to attract fellow-organisms, flashing and appearing breathtaking to a mate, flashing to define each move. These ancient life-forms, found in the unexplored parts of oceans and forests, implore humans to exhibit innate talent by flashing. On the other hand, some organisms, like angler fish, host luminescent flora in their bodies and create an environment for co-op, egging-on the staggering human to augment his intrinsic value by inculcating a talent within himself and for the world to see. In fashion, bio-luminosity has been seen in couture, reflecting in glow-in-the-dark clothing and fibre-optic apparel, especially in the work of e-textile label, Cute Circuit. Bio-luminosity can be represented vicariously in psychedelic iterations through juxtapositions of fabrics in varied textures, shiny silk embroidery on thick fabric bases, vibrant colours in combination with dull backgrounds and also, in sequins- work, coated fabric and the use of reflective materials like rexine and PVC, as seen in the collections of Toga, Diane von Furstenberg, Betsy Johnson, Julien MacDonald, Libertine, No. 21, Marchesa Voyage for Fall 2014. It is, therefore, expected that the runways of Fall 2015 will bring forth a delightful luminous story of its own. 33 29 36 35 34 32 30 31

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12. 134 135 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine THE GIFT OF G L I T C H PERFECTION IN IMPERFECTION A sudden break in a perfect pattern, a series of dark shades subdued by a bright splatter or an almost perfect circle, but for the slight bend along the circumference; these are nothing but unnerving visuals of a malfunction to the human brain that is accustomed to receiving faultless structure from the machine, it is so painstakingly programmed. But it is the uniqueness of this malfunction that has made ‘glitch’ an art-form. Glitch is an unintended, spontaneous and incontrollable reaction to a stimulus in any IT enabled gadget or machinery. Much like the human brain and its involuntary neural activity, glitch is something that a developer didn’t foresee or intend in his creation. It is about as intractable and amorphous as fate; some human-made machines might have perceived ‘malfunctioning minds’ of their own that “glitch” whenever and however they wish. Glitches have been seen in the form of graphic noise, pixilation, dead pixels, superimposing patterns and unstructured splits. Naturally, single-track perception attributed to humankind has, for long, led the rejection of the unique design, birthed by these ‘glitches’, on the ground of being flawed. Contemporary art, on the other hand, has welcomed the beauty of imperfection against the constant search for utopian perfection, with arms wide open. In art, these glitches represent the human instinct to harbour and nurture the various personalities within the self, instead of being forced to lead a structured nine-to-five lifestyle. It is an encouragement of exploration in imperfection, the consequences of which cannot be predetermined but will be celebrated for their uniqueness, nonetheless; no Glitch Art work is a reject. The means of achieving this art is as interesting as the art form itself. A software programmer would ‘corrupt’ an image file by introducing a programming error or “bug” to it; what follows is, literally, in the hands of fate. The work of Phillip Stearns is widely recognized in the field of glitch art. He has managed to bring out glitches to the field of apparel as well. Following in his footsteps, for A/W 14-15, the workshops of Chanel, Chaliyan, Josh Goot, Custo Barcelona and Creatures of the Wind have produced weaves, knits and prints that shone with the intrinsically flawed beauty of the art-form. Another wave is yet to be seen in A/W 15-16. 37 40 38 39 41 42 43 44

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14. 138 139 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine KALEIDOSCOPIC V I S I O N In the dark of the human mind, rests a fantasy to taste the forbidden fruit- to unhinge from mundane reality and delve into the secrets of the surreal and the unexplained. A renaissance is upon the concrete-dweller, imploring him to take charge of his life instead of centering it on social, geo-political and economic obligations. It is re-offering him the chance to self-reflect and design his life on his terms,- turning the kaleidoscope in the direction of the pattern he desires. Kaleidoscope- a cylindrical peep-in form that expansively reflects the beauty of objects placed randomly or strategically in it. Viewer guides, contraption follows, and beauty returns to the eye of the beholder from the long-drawn- out age of prescribed doctrines, making the kaleidoscope a power tool, passing the reign of control into the hands of its viewer- encouraging him to explore. Beads, bits of metal, glass or an assortment of all come together to form varied patterns as the viewer tilts or rotates the simple yet smart contraption. Kaleidoscopic elements in apparel are reflective of these sensibility- glimpses of mirroring weaves, prints and embroideries in patterns, ranging from floral to tribal have been seen on the runways of A/W 14-15. An extension of the trend for A/W 15-16 would be an incorporation of the abstract. Abstract designs woven, knitted, printed or embroidered onto apparel would represent the ambiguity and play associated with life, mirroring the thoughts of the wearer. 48 45 47 50 46 49 51

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16. 142 143 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine CONTEMPORARY AFRICA Breaking away from the demographic clichés of being tribal, ethnic and exotic; African sensibilities undergo a modern transformation and form a comprehensive trend of Afro-futurism. This concept along with Africa’s contemporary art scene is characterized by a myriad of remarkable artists who are developing and designing African aesthetics in modern perspectives. Traditional artworks portraying Africa’s rich customs and diverse beauty are being transformed to suit present-day sensibilities. Observing overseas trends, local designers create inventive and artistic merchandise by cumulating traditional motifs, music and folk-tales with world culture and globalized techniques. Contemporary geometric prints with clean lines, shapes and characteristics, borrowed from the Bauhaus School of Art, merge with the naïve tribal traditions to put forth a unique variety of prints. Customary maasai figurines, tribal masks and tattoo patterns from Ethiopia, Ghana and Somalia, get incorporated with western silhouettes and this collaboration of the conventional and contemporary highlights the concealed and forgotten crafts of the African artisans. Intricate beadwork, fringing, thread embroideries and Adire tie-dye techniques compel the previous, monotonous chevrons to step aside and give way to the African tribal trail. 56 52 57 53 54 55 58 59 60

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18. 146 147 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine RUSSIAN Consisting of a rich visual and cultural past along with colourful folk costumes that are decorated with ornate religious symbols, Russia enjoys being the motherland of beauty, detail and design aesthetic. As the Matryoshka dolls open up to reveal another one inside, the concealed mystery unfolds and brings out the true artistry of the elaborate patterns on the surface. Regarded as the most prominent shade in the Russian palette, red symbolises something beautiful, which along with blue, green, white, yellow and gold create an aura of festivity and ethnicity. Built on the concept of functionality and fashion, together, traditional Russian costumes revolve around the world of surface decoration through its plethora of ornamentation techniques. Rhombuses, crosses, herringbones, layers and stylized patterns of people and animals serve as pattern inspirations to be embroidered on home-made canvas and wool clothes for present-day peasantry ensembles. Emblematic architectural elements like arcs, helix-structures and domes, intertwine with Russian cultural designs, which facilitate the inception of intricately laid designs on brocades and silks. As the strings of the Balalaika hit the right tune, the luxurious colours of Russian culture embody themselves in the form of classic attire. 65 61 66 62 63 64 67

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20. 150 151 Fashion Forward Trends autumn winter 2015-16 & spring summer 2016 | themes & projections | FFT magazine SPANISH As the Andalusian genre of music fills the air of Spain with a rhythmic tune, a fine blend of spirituality and cheerfulness reflect the primitive traditions of Hispania’s medieval past. Emerging from the land of capes, corsets and farthingales; jewel embellishments, metal embroidery and black beadwork weave a story of techniques for the season. Evolving to curb the French influence, the Hispanic designs and costumes now flaunt their inherent charm and ethnicity, highlighting the dynamic lifestyle of the Spanish populace. The incredibly bright tones from the Spanish palette adorn the playful fabrics in a contemporary light. Drawing inspiration from the baroque and neoclassical architecture, intricately laid patterns are incepted on vibrant and celebratory fabric, portraying extraordinary artistic heritage. Continuing the tradition of the Spanish province, the prominence of techniques is reinforced as motifs with Islamic influence adorn silks in cross and French knots. Polka dots, flowers, festive attire and elaborate accessories paint a scenic portrait of cultural richness, where delicate needlework and handicraft facilitate the route of transforming the design into reality, bringing back the aesthetic of dark baroque, excessive gold, silver and metal amalgamations with miniscule appliqué variations. 71 73 68 74 69 70 72 75

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