Autumn/winter 2018: The top 10 trends you need to know now
Winter is coming and it's time to embrace the new mood., Stephanie Smith looks at 10 key trends for AW18.
How we dress reflects how we live as well as what is happening in the world around us. We are living in often turbulent times of change, social, political, environmental and cultural, with an agenda dominated by gender diversity and fluidity, #me too and female empowerment, issues surrounding homeland, global participation, around personal and national identity, not forgetting the new anti-plastic revolution.
Fashion responds with a noisy but sophisticated exploration of both our heritage and our future. Traditional tweeds and checks in new tones and tailored shapes can be worn in unison for an elegant head-to-toe look, or as clashing separates, celebrating their difference. There’s a major trend for super-sizing, as more equals more, boosting our physical presence or maybe offering protection and cover against the buffering political climate.
The trend towards non-compartmentalised life, with work and leisure spilling into each other, continues apace, and so fashion increasingly comes up with a fluid wardrobe of pieces that work on and off-duty, around the clock.
Animal print reminds us that we are a part of the natural world, that we can be wild and roar when we need. Shiny and transparent fabrics indicate futuristic leanings, albeit confusingly at odds with ecological concerns. But then, it’s a season of contrasts and contradictions. Be ready for anything. Here are the trends:
