Paris fashion week trend report!

So I am finally getting round to posting about the fashion weeks and the amazing trends that have emerged. I may have taken my time blogging about them but I have made some pretty little trend boards for you all to break down the trends a bit!

First up for Paris is the Linear trend of which I am a huge fan. Abstract agate lines dominated the New York catwalks and this delicate linear trend seems to be the Parisienne interpretation. Thin scratchy/scribbly lines layered on top of each other contributed to the hand drawn, illustrative looked that seemed to dominate every catwalk this season. Supported by Kenzo, Akris, Guy Laroche and Agnes B, this trend was extremely popular  but I feel like the designers who worked this trend best were Andrew GN with his delicate line work and Luis Buchinho's layered scribble prints. 

Paris also turned out some amazing novelty pieces this season!Galliano's beetle is a particular favourite of mine and I have already started working on my own interpretation of this print.I also really loved Miu Miu's abstract painterly faces which were hidden amongst other images and I am looking forward to using this idea to inspire some of my own work.

Seaside/swimming related imagery seemed to be incredibly popular for Paris's novelty prints this season. As a general rule I think we can now say that any trend that is backed by Kenzo is going to be a huge high street fad. After their recent takeover of the brand, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim(the design duo behind Opening Ceremony)have taken the fashion world by storm. Firstly with their Kenzo tiger design in SS13 and more recently with their all seeing eye in AW13, Kenzo's novelty pieces seem destined to become high streets fad's. Set against scribbly linear designs and wavy alabaster lines, Kenzo introduced koi carp prints which fit in perfectly with the seaside theme. Repeat prints of swimmers also featured strongly in the collections of Agnes B, Olympia Le Tan and Tsumori Chisato.

As a whole, this season's catwalk designers seem to have drawn inspiration from art and so every fashion week has had a very painterly/illustrative feel. As I come from a fine art  background, with a geekish fascination for art history, I could not love this trend more. I think it's great that fashion has turned to art for inspiration and, as a direct result of this, this season feels very colourful and expressive. I am so enamored by this trend that I intend to do an entirely separate post dedicated to it, but for now here is a trend board on the best painterly picks from Paris.

Florals are a staple catwalk trend for Spring/Summer but this year the painterly trend mentioned above has brought about a new floral development. Bright florals with purposeful brushstrokes featured alongside delicate illustrative linear florals causing designers to finally let go of the predictable ditsy floral prints.Expressive and often child like, this new floral is all about being playful. I'm very intrigued to see how this is interpreted for the high street and how much it gets diluted down!

Although it doesn't fit in with any of the above trends at Paris fashion week, one of my favourite collections was Valentino. Combining heavy colourful embroidery and folk art motifs, Valentino's SS14 collection was oozing with opulence. I love how Valentino has introduced this traditionally Autumnal aesthetic into Spring by layering the thick embroidery over sheer fabrics and using pops of blues/pinks to freshen up the collection. Another aspect of the collection that I am keen to see work it's way to the high street is the subtle introduction of the zodiac into the prints and through the necklaces. After researching future trends on Stylesight and WGSN, I am aware that obscure symbols such as the zodiac is set to become a major trend over the next year so it's really interesting to see how it is being introduced already. It also substantiates my belief that the majority of print/graphic related fashion trends are first introduced through accessories.

Here's a quick accessories overview showing some of the figures/shapes I found interesting. As you can see from this board there are a lot of bug and butterfly themed accessories over a variety of different catwalks/fashion weeks. Stars and celestial imagery is also becoming increasingly popular which I suppose is where Valentino's zodiac amulets tie in.

So that's Paris!I've been finding all these trend boards quite time consuming and so instead of doing a group of boards for each fashion week, as I have done with New York and Paris, I have decided to make some trend boards picking out my favourite collections from each fashion week and identifying trends across all countries.