The first installment: Autumn/Winter 2016 runway print report

Hey my lovely blog readers :) so I have finally completed the runway print report for Autumn/Winter 2016. I realise it's a little late at this stage but better late than never is a motto I live by, hopefully I've compiled a trend report that's good enough for you to agree with that sentiment. It is at least 40 pages long so hopefully you aren't disappointed. I've made all of the images quite hi-resolution and printable onto A3 sheets but if you do decide to use them/pin them on pinterest please leave me a comment and let me know or email me at textilecandy@gmail.com as it's really interesting for me to see where these trend boards end up, maybe if you send me a really nice email I an even send you some of the files.

Anyway with no further ado, here is the Print installment of the Textile Candy Autumn/Winter 2016 catwalk trend report. I will follow with the style and colour trends over the next few days.....and then in a few weeks I will hopefully(fingers crossed) have the Pre-Summer 2017 womenswear and the Spring/Summer 2017 menswear reports ready to go as well. This is quite a busy time of year for trend blogging so any positive feedback would be greatly appreciated to keep me motivated enough to get sifting through all of the images.

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So....stripes....always a fashion staple, supposedly vertical stripes are meant to be slimming and horizontal stripes not so much. Being a short, fairly rounded, female both vertical and horizontal stripes don't really work on me. Regardless of this fact there are some really nice colour options below, especially in the Missoni collection.

From a print style perspective I couldn't really identify a definite theme among the catwalk florals for this season as there was such a huge variety. This being said one obvious trend emerged, dark ground florals dominated the design collections.

I particularly loved the collections where the designers paired the dark ground floral trend with a sheer fabric as shown at Valentino Red, Cinq a Sept and Etro.

One interesting thing I noticed in the A/W16 collections, which I will talk about in further detail later in this post, is how designers seem to be experimenting with texture and surfaces a lot more- both Kenzo and Etro painted floral prints onto black leather and I absolutely can't get enough of it!

At Premiere Vision, in February, one of the trend predictions for Spring/Summer 2017 was micro florals (http://textilecandy.blogspot.be/2016/02/premiere-vision-springsummer-2017.html). I have also had a dislike for mini-florals for most of my life, but these dark ground interpretations with wide spacing between the motifs have just about won me over.

As previously mentioned, not a huge fan of the ditsies. I am yet to be convinced by these colourful mini floral prints but I thought I would include them anyway as this isn't a trend report of the things I like; it's a complete report separated from my opinion.

 Unlike mini prints, black and white florals are something I can completely get on board with. I especially love the brushed black print effect on a white ground at Paule Ka and Alexander Wang, I think this could work pretty well on commercial knitwear too which is always a plus.

 As in the Spring/Summer 2016 collections the 'As above so below' (an opposite for every print) style continues into Autumn/Winter. For every dark ground floral, there was a light ground counterpart.

Although florals seem to be more popular commercially, I think abstract prints are by far the easier to wear. The abstracts shown on the A/W16 catwalks are no exception to this rule.

As I mentioned in the Autumn/Winter 2016 Menswear runway print report (http://textilecandy.blogspot.be/2016/02/autumnwinter-2016-menswear-trend-report.html), animal has been absent from the catwalk collections for a while. Autumn/Winter 2016 has seen a return of animal print in both menswear and womenswear.

Leopard and cheetah prints are pretty standard for animal prints- I'm much more excited by the deer skin prints at Clover Canyon and the printed fur effect in the Calvin Klein collection.

I'll be completely honest here, I thought pattern mixing would be a more popular trend when I first saw it emerge at Premiere Vision. On reflection I can understand why it might not be as it isn't the most commercial trend. Of the pattern mixing examples on the runway I did find, I don't particularly think any of them were done well. This being said, it IS a runway trend so I have to include it, but I wouldn't necessarily advise anyone working into it too much as it doesn't seem to have that much of a following.

 As with the animal prints, photo prints are also working there way back into the collections.

Placement graphics were also quite popular on the runway, particularly images of two facing motifs and one centrally placed image.

Conversationals are also massively on the rise. Perhaps with all the terrorism, political stress and warnings of economic recession, designers have decided to inject a little fun into our lives. Regardless of the reasoning, I love the dark spin on these conversationals.

Normally I would include the next two boards as part of the conversationals and placement graphics boards but there seemed to be just too many birds and cats to ignore.

Now for the slogans. One huge thing I noticed about the Autumn/Winter 2016 womenswear collections was how print styles that have recently been runway redundant have now been re-employed(did I extend that metaphor a little too much....maybe?) A/W16 saw a return of animal prints, photographic imagery, conversational prints and slogan graphics.

Recently I noticed an increase in runway fashion being used as a political platform to voice opinions, often controversial ones. Autumn/Winter 2016 collections took this a step further with  designers commenting on sexuality(Hood by air), celebrity culture and the treatment of animals(Elisabetta Franchi) among other things. I have to say that I absolutely love it and think that this is what fashion is meant for- to express opinions and act as a canvas for personality. I'm extremely interested to see how the high street retailers interpret the new political slogans for fast fashion.

Offering a flip side to the seriousness of the above slogan styles, the 'Positive pop' slogans are upbeat and optimistic in bright, exciting colours.

That's all the print categories I have prepared for this section of the report, but I also noticed a few popular print techniques emerging on the runway, which is more of a comment on the fabric/textile techniques rather than the print. Foil/Glitter print, solid sequin patterning and sheer fabrics with printed applique are all fabric styles that create the look of a printed garment without necessarily having to be printed. 

My colour and style trend reports will be live on the TextileCandy blog by Friday this week, one again apologies that it has taken so long! x

To Brexit or not to Brexit- that is the question!

I have been in two minds whether to even write about the EU referendum on my blog as politics isn't really my forte, but that's partly the reason I think that it's important I do write something. We are all entitled to our own opinions regardless of our level of knowledge and how fully formed our opinions are. Like so many others I am still arguing the pros and cons and deciding which way to vote, I now only have two days to decide and I feel like I am no closer to a decision. 

I find myself in quite an interesting position as, living outside of the UK, I have not really been influenced by the British media- any propaganda has been ineffective on me as I simply haven't seen it. I haven't watched any TV commercials, read any newspaper headlines and the only information I have is that obtained through fairly balanced sources- perhaps that is the reason I am finding it so difficult to form an opinion!?

I've watched Brexit the movie, YouTube videos for the "remain" campaign and countless episodes of question time to no avail. The only conclusion I have reached is that each side is manipulating the facts and figures to confuse the masses and it's certainly working with me! Politicians and economists seem to have no idea what a Brexit might hold for the UK and many refuse to even speculate...which is more than a little unhelpful. It seems that there is a slight atmos-fear (atmosphere of fear get it hahaha!) in the UK circling around the uncertainty of a future outside of the European Union, but is fear of the unknown a good enough reason to stay in the EU? Are we voting on a 'better the devil you know' basis as opposed to what is best for the future? 

In school, History was one of my favourite subjects and as a result of this I always look to the past to help me to fully understand decisions that might affect the future. Cliche as it may sound, it really does feel like this EU referendum is history in the making, this both excites and unnerves me. The decision British citizens make on the 23rd June will decide the UK's future involvement with the European Union, not something to be taken lightly. I feel like in order to make an informed decision I have to understand the initial reasons the UK became involved in the EU, so I thought I'd share my findings with you so here's a brief history lesson...

 
The European Economic Community(the originally name for the EU) was formed under the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and consisted of 6 founding members: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands  and West Germany(East Germany joined in the reunification of Germany in 1990). It was set up to prevent future war after WW2 and to promote economic integration between countries. At this point the UK refused to join. The UK then changed it's mind and decided to apply for membership in 1961......it was not accepted until 1973....and this is where the British awkwardness kicks in...
In 1975, only 2 years after joining, the UK held it's first referendum where 67% of the population voted in favour of the EU. In 1988 Margaret Thatcher, who many people dislike but I have an odd fondness for, made 'The Bruges speech' some of which I have paraphrased below(to see the whole speech follow this link: http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107332)

  " If you believe some of the things said and written about my views on Europe, it must seem rather like inviting Genghis Khan to speak on the virtues of peaceful coexistence.....Britain does not dream of some cosy, isolated existence on the fringes of the European Community. Our destiny is in Europe, as part of the Community......But working more closely together does not require power to be centralised in Brussels or decisions to be taken by an appointed bureaucracy.....Let Europe be a family of nations, understanding each other better, appreciating each other more, doing more together but relishing our national identity no less than our common European endeavour."

After Thatchers resignation as Prime Minister in 1990, the UK relinquished an increasing amount of control to the centralised EU parliament. That's enough of a History lesson though, basically the reasons we originally joined the EU are no longer as applicable as they once were. Yes, we still have a single trade market and yes, we still have peace and integration in Europe through the EU but it now comes at a price, the price being a centralised, unelected government. Which is exactly what Margaret Thatcher and those who went before her sought to avoid in the EEC.

Post history lesson, there are several questions rolling round my mind regarding the referendum:

• How will it affect the UK economy and the stability of the GBP?
•  What will be the implications of this decision on small businesses and future start up businesses?
• How will a Brexit affect my ability to work outside of the UK? 
• How would Brexit affect UK trade with other countries?

Obviously there are so many more issues in relation to the EU referendum(NHS implications, housing costs, travel abroad) but I have decided to vote based on the topics that directly affect my future career and stability. Despite still having no clue what that decision might be, not voting  is simply not an option... I don't want my future family asking me which way I voted in the great EU referendum of 2016 and me having to answer with "oh I couldn't decide, so I went to the pub instead"...which, as a true British stereotype, is the only logical alternative to casting a vote. This being said, I also don't want to make a hasty decision and waste my vote. 

Left to right: Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump(all such facially experessive humans)

From what I have seen through independent media, a lot of the 'wackier' politicians and cultural figures/celebrities are the ones who support Brexit. Controversial political figures like Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump(not that his opinion really counts as he is not a UK voter) and celebrities like Michael Caine, the UK's most loved woman Katie Hopkins(please take not of the sarcasm there) and David Icke(  English write and conspiracy theorist promoter-many of which I am in agreement with). After looking at some of the popular British media sources it seems as though the 'remain' campaign has been using these figures and those choosing to support Brexit to discredit the opposition. When I vote it will be for policies and will not be influenced by the supporters. 

Left to right: Michael Caine, Katie Hopkins and David Icke- Some of the 'interesting' characters voting for Brexit.

The Brexit alternative boasts supporters such as David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn and Barack Obama. If anything I am more inclined to vote against whatever these figures vote for as I am not a huge fan of any of the above. I think Obama made his opinion of the UK extremely clear in his recent speech- excerpt below. 

Here he repeatedly refers to the UK as a friend while reinforcing the fact that the US government cares very little about that friendship when it comes to trade agreements. The US exploitation of the UK's links in Europe masquerading as friendship can be summarised in one sentence:

"Maybe some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade agreement,

but it's not gonna happen anytime soon because our focus is in negotiating with

a big block-the European Union- to get a trade agreement done and the UK's gonna be

at the back of the queue."

Nice Obama....reallllll nice! This clip exploits the true nature America's "friendship" with the UK, where the UK acts as the US's mouthpiece to the EU- the only private members club the US has not been allowed into. I tend to react to everything Obama says as if it were the Newspeak of Orwellian literature, his words are diluted and usually the reverse of his actual meaning. 

Left to right: Alexandra Shulman, Dame Vivienne Westwood, Helena Bonham Carter, Hussein Chalayan and Imran Amed. All signed supporting the remain campaign.

Alongside these political figures, the 'Remain' campaign has an impressive list of over 280 Actors/Actresses and cultural figures in the UK who have signed a letter voting to stay in the EU. Many of them are people I admire and look up to, which leaves me in a position of cognitive dissonance where I am almost certain of my opinion  but the new information I'm receiving is leaving me quite confused. Some of the signees include: Alexandra Shulman, OBE Editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Dame Vivienne Westwood Fashion designer and activist, Actress Helena Bonham Carter Actor, Designer Hussein Chalayan and Imran Amed  the Founder and CEO The Business of Fashion (follow this link to see the entire list:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36340722). 

As I stated in my list of concerns above the effect of a Brexit on the stability of the British pound is something I am troubled by. I currently get paid in Euros but have my savings in GBP so am quite interested to see what effect the referendum will have on the economy. According to an article I read recently on the Business of fashion website (read the article in its entirety here  http://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/bof-comment/brexit-bad-for-fashion-luxury-european-union-united-kingdom)  

"In February, when Cameron officially announced the EU referendum, the pound plunged to a seven-year low against the dollar. If Britons vote “Leave,” its value could fall by a further 20 percent, according to HSBC."

So I guess I'll keep my savings in Euros for now then!? Interestingly enough I was watching a 2011 Ted talk today about business startups in times of recession and how "recessions are great times to start businesses", this Ted Talk and kind of puts an interestingly optimistic spin on the small business startup prospects should the UK vote to leave and end up in a post referendum recession. 

 One of my main concerns is how a Brexit could affect small businesses. Owning my own creative business has always been an aspiration of mine and is something I would consider doing within the next 5 years. I have been searching relentlessly for an answer to this online but unfortunately there appears to be very little literature on how small businesses might be affected. However, from what I have learnt, while struggling to become better informed about the EU, it is a haven for bureaucrats and large corporations who can afford high tax rates but a death sentence for small independent startups where creativity is extremely controlled and regulations fiercely enforced.

In summary

I still don't know which way to vote. But I don't think voting out of fear is the right way to make a decision. Brexit may cause a recession, but with current global economy it seems like recession is inevitable regardless of our European Union status. I also don't think deciding to stay in because of the single trade market I have heard so much about is a good enough reason, I don't think the EU would refuse to trade with the UK out of spite and maybe we would open up more trade options by leaving.

I agree with the view that the EU is a haven for large corporations and bureaucrats and not so great for smaller businesses. I am also unhappy about the fact that we have no voting power over who represents the various constituencies of the UK in the EU, until moving to Brussels I knew very little about MEP's and the only reason I know more now is because I have met some of their assistants on nights out.

I guess I am leaning more towards leaving the EU but there are still several issues still holding me back. Over the last 2 years I have enjoyed being able to live in the UK, then Germany and now Belgium and the ease with which I have been able to do so. This would not have been the case had the UK not been part of the EU. Recently I have also enjoyed travelling around Europe quite spontaneously (I will write a post about this soon) and at impressively low prices because of the cheap travel in Europe which I would also not have access to without my EU passport. I am also reluctant to vote Brexit as it would have negative implications on my future career and limit the countries I could live in- I wouldn't lose my current job, but I would be less likely to be considered for a position in another EU country.

In the current polls(shown above and taken from http://www.theweek.co.uk/eu-referendum/65461/eu-referendum-polls-vs-odds-what-are-the-latest-brexit-predictions), it is fairly obvious that people don't seem to know what to do but the leave campaign seems to be becoming increasingly popular but I can't help thinking that recent European crises leading up to 2016 have influenced the general public's opinion and possibly influenced their vote. With the economic crisis in Greece, the influx of refugees into Germany and the Balkans and heightened terrorism in Paris and Brussels, it is understandable that the British public might be swayed into thinking Brexit and the closing of the UK's borders is a good idea. Immigrations seems to be the key drive for most of the public voting for Brexit.

So...that's my view of the EU referendum- very firmly on the fence with one day left to make up my mind.

I'd be very interested to hear your opinions on the upcoming EU referendum regardless of whether you can/can't vote in it, it's extremely interesting to hear what people outside of the UK think about British politics. I'd also like to apologise for the amount of youtube video links in this post- they're all relevant though I promise ;)

A look inside my portfolio...

Absence apologies once again! I have been busy trying to compile all of the Women's Autumn/Winter 2016 catwalks into print trends so that I can do a trend report blog post....they are currently organised into piles on my bedroom floor but hopefully will be finished by the end of the week. There are some pretty exciting trends coming up that I want to post about so watch out for those :)

Also I'd like to take just a few moments to thank whoever it is that has been viewing my blog. For some strange reason my page views have shot up by 350%(ish) which is pretty amazing, hopefully it isn't my mum and nanna hitting refresh repeatedly so whoever you are...thank you- it is a very welcome motivation boost!

 As well as the AW16 trend research, I have been have been taking some time out to work on my portfolio and now that it's been updated I thought I would share some excerpts with you. I always think it's pretty interesting to see how different designers in various specialisms lay out their portfolios and found it really useful to see this when deciding how to do mine.

When doing my portfolio I also noticed a huge absence of childrenswear. I have never had a full time childrenswear role and so don't have any graphics that target this market. In response to this portfolio gap I set myself a small project to work on some trends and prints suitable for childrenswear for Spring/Summer 2017, I've included my presentation boards and a little summary of each trend below.

The first trend I wanted to work towards was a Marine theme. In both my Spring/Summer 2016 catwalk boards(http://textilecandy.blogspot.be/2015/11/print-trends-springsummer-2016.html) and my Spring/Summer 2017 Premiere Vision trend prediction boards (http://textilecandy.blogspot.be/2016/02/premiere-vision-springsummer-2017.html), aquatic imagery was a strong theme, this is something I didn't want to ignore. Nautical is always a popular spring trend and so I wanted to merge the two together in a new, fresh way. I decided the prints for this theme should have an illustrative aesthetic, given the rise in the popularity of adult colouring books I think illustrative, half coloured imagery will become more prevalent in print design for S/S17.

I decided that a blue, white and yellow colour palette would be fitting for this trend and, based on my recent catwalk research, I think this colour scheme will become increasingly popular next Spring/Summer. S/S16 saw a wave of blue and orange/scarlet colour combinations and blue and yellow, to me, seems to be the logical update from this.

 Here are the all over repeat prints I created for this trend:

 And these are the prints mocked up onto some childrens illustrations:

For high summer 2017 I decided to do two different trends to give the customer two style options- one tropical and bright, and one more casual and muted. 

Dark Latino pop is my interpretation of a tropical trend which I think would work well for childrenswear S/S17, I am actually really excited by this trend and really loved creating the moodboard. There were quite a few different ideas that led me to this theme, firstly I wanted it to be a move on from the 80's Memphis aesthetic that gained popularity recently. I also wanted the bright pop art inspired colours/imagery to be against a dark base as, when the economy and political global atmosphere appear negative, consumers gravitate towards darker colours (http://www.forbes.com/sites/leesheppard/2014/09/08/recession-fashion/2/#5b8145621287). Despite the movement towards darker shades, I felt it was important to use bright rainbow colours in the imagery because of  the attention currently being drawn to homosexuality and transgenderism. Although this doesn't overtly affect print design for childrenswear we are being encouraged to see the rainbow flag emblematic of transgenderism and homosexuality as a symbol of positivity and acceptance...this,in turn, is sure to have an effect on the colour palettes of our clothing choices.

 I also wanted the imagery used in the prints to revolve around cacti/succulents, fruit and Mexican/Latin American inspired graffiti. Recently we have seen an increase of cacti and terrariums in concept stores and interior decoration and it is also beginning to leak onto the catwalks with designers supporting a wild west theme in their collections. The media has also been drawing a lot of attention to Central and South America with the Olympic games taking place in Brazil, Trump constantly complaining about Mexico, the South American zika virus and Venezuela's economic meltdown to mention just a few. All of these things have an effect on fashion and print design. 

As I thought so much about what would go into this trend I found coming up with a title extremely difficult....ideally it would be called 'Latin American-neon-trans-rave-in-Mexico-at night'....but I felt that was a little too long... so I settled for Dark Latino pop.

 Here are the two AOP(all-over print) options for this trend...

 and some placement print ideas...

The final high Summer 2016 trend I worked on was an African/Aboriginal tribal trend. A tribal aesthetic is a Summer staple and, although I love African inspired geometric designs and Native American navajo shapes, seeing the same thing every year can be a little tiresome. So I have decided to combine African tribal with Aboriginal culture to offer a new tribal update. 

With so many people visiting Australia, I swear my facebook feed is constantly being spammed with images of Oz, it is inevitable that imagery from traditional Aboriginal culture will begin to seep into printed fashion. Also, dotwork and pointilism has been becoming increasingly popular in tattooing and, although this doesn't directly affect childrenswear, catwalk designers will draw inspiration from this and it will be translated into the childrenswear market. Another trend that I wanted to feed into this theme is the African Fauna Premiere Vision S/S17 trend prediction for hand painted watercolour safari conversationals. I felt that the earthy colour palette of this trend would give a casual,wearable alternative to the bright colours of the dark Latino pop trend.

Here are the prints I designed for this trend...

So hopefully you enjoyed having a little peak into my portfolio. It would be great to see yours too, if you have an online one please leave a comment with a link in :) x

P.S The print trend report will be here soon I promise!