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‘Culture versus Cult’

Time Spirit: Time out
At the beginning of this new millennium looking back in time did not make sense, we lived in the ‘now’ and in the future…the world in the last century developed and changed so quickly and we had high expectations of the future and the new economy. We were dreaming, but a big soap bubble was all that was left. The millennium bug was the first threat and big joke that shook us up with fear. Nothing happened. In the meantime, more remarkable events than ever in such a short period of time happened and became important anchor points. They have had a major influence on how people stand in this world today. 11 September and the terrorist fear, the huge bookkeeping scandals, the Tsunami, but also the end of great ideologies in many places in the world; time stood still for a moment and made us aware of its real meaning and of what a major change can happen in one instant with so great an impact. What is at stake. What we must not forget and what we can improve.

The world has a different future today. After years of neglecting it, we re-discover our own history again. We re-appreciate old values, traditions, rituals and cherish them as treasures now. We dive into the past looking for our roots, something to hold on; we need a time-out to reposition ourselves.

Looking forward in fashion is looking back in time. In a confused world history is our new toy for inspiration. Companies run after all new collections from inspiring designers, copy one new trend after another many times a year, and the trend is already ruined by its cheap outfit, even before the consumer has the time to really appreciate it. It is time for a fashion pause instead of real innovation, to go deeper instead of going one step further, for a more contemplative vision rather than quick trends, cults and hypes.

The memory fever, the nostalgia trend of today, we have to take it serious. Just like in politics, a neo-conservative wave of ‘good old values, norms, discipline, class and style’ is clearly visible in fashion too. Chanel’s motto inspires us now: Style is never out of fashion!

We can roughly divide the trends in a few mainstreams:

Echoes of the past 
Trend themes with allure, romanticism, elegance and style inspired by history, aristo chic, church and seduction, retro trends to great grandma’s treasures.
Nymph
Girly looks, in between the mainstreams, no links to history, folk or ethnics.
Echoes of folk and ethnics
With romantic European Bohemian and country styles, African and some Asian influences.
Naturalness
With natural textures, treasures of our earth and natural, timeless styling attitude
Dare
Young, courageous and daring twisted classics and strict or playful uniform styling.

Keywords are:

• Romanticism
• Balloon shapes, majestic volume
• Empire lines
• Layering in silhouettes
• Bandeau shapes back, flatter breasts
• Larger panties, less hipsters
• Upper-class
• Dress up, formal, style and class
• Sophistication, refined
• Discreet, hidden luxury
• Compact, heavy, stable fabrics
• Endurance, high quality and classics
• Compose’s in stead of mix and match
• Bohemian
• Handicraft
• Naturalness, fashion time-out, time-less
• Fabric manipulation

We present you the following trend themes for 2007:

ECHOES OF THE PAST

Allure Romantique
Inspiration: Bygone times: Napoleon and Josephine, Marie Antoinette, Belle Epoque. Haute Couture Viktor & Rolf, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano.
Colors: mainly Enticement, soft, light, romantic, veiled with a layer of dusty grey.
Fabrics: Heavy looking, sculpting, manually shaped for volume, creamy velvets, damask, heavy satins; large antique motives.
Silhouettes: Empire line; wasp waist and volume: balloon skirts, balloon sleeves, petticoat, crinoline, high waist and midriff corsetry. Napoleon uniform styles.

Allure Aristo Chic
Inspiration: Old aristocrats and royalty today, high-society and upper-class elegance; Art Deco and Art Nouveau; Haute Couture: Valentino.
Colors: Different ranges, discreet, not loud.
Fabrics: Luxurious and expensive, not opulent; compact, heavy, even stiff looking; velvets; heavy silks, furs; brocades, tapestry, gobelins; jacquards, damasks; costly laces; pashmina wool.
Silhouettes: Dressed-up in gala chic, often long; afternoon tea: stylish and stiff; majestic, large shapes: bathrobe shapes and large couture collars, pelerines; soft balloon shapes in skirts and dresses.

Wanna be’s and Bling Bling
Inspiration: Snobbish Nouveau Riche and the Hip Hop scene; showing off with what they’ve got; pretend to be a VIP, live like a star, love for glamour and money. Expensive kitsch, good and bad taste contrasts. Paris and Nikki Hilton; Prada with sense of humor
Colors: all kinds plus silver and gold
Fabrics: Excessive luxury looks, rich embroideries in gold, silver, often ‘fake’ jewelry, stones, furs; animal prints, dollar signs, Hermes and Versace prints.
Styling: Partly very body-conscious and too tight; Oscar dresses with theatrical drapes; playful comic-print T-shirts combined with ‘aristo, royalty’ design.

Allure Sensual
Inspiration: Dressed up ladylike and sophisticated, with secretive, discreet hidden sensuality, like in bygone times: church, religion and seduction; follow-up of Gothic romantic trends; 80ies Helmut Newton photo sessions.
Colors: Black is back! (Was it ever gone?)
Fabrics: Soft, refined, sensual, caressing, less transparent materials; filigree laces.
Silhouettes: Typical lingerie style,  often dressed up to the neck, covered skin; less string tanga’s, more (mini) dresses and skirts; sleeves to bra’s; covered shoulders; camisoles; retro corsetry, with naughty detail; bare backs and eye-catching details on the back; natural shapes, wireless soft bra’s.

Retro Allure
Inspiration: Conservatism; re-appreciation of old classics; need for stability, endurance; the other side: twisted  classics, put upside down by youngsters. Couture classics; Burberry and Schiesser styles; British weaving classics; corsetry classics. 
Colors: The classic colors and unusual twisted color use.
Fabrics: Stable, heavy, compact looks, maybe lightweight and soft; classic masculine weavings, often blown up to large graphic ideas; tweeds
Silhouettes: Classic two-pieces and round egg and tulip shapes; layers; large waist belts; buttons. Bodyfashion: retro corsetry-inspired for a young market!

Retro Sports
Inspiration: Less sportswear and street-wear; need to dress up more formal, conservative and classic; elite-sports like golf and tennis very popular; university campus-styles and 60ies training looks too.
Colors: The classic sports colors, contrasting white and black
Fabrics: The futuristic high-tech innovation must be incorporated in the fabrics, invisible, but sensed; classic color blocking, bold sport stripes and checks, trendily twisted, sometimes out of proportion.
Silhouettes: Classic; knitted polo’s with formal stiff (white) woven man’s shirt collars! Active sporty styles with color blocking and anatomic accenting, combined with integrated formal man’s tie! Tennis pleats, colored inside. Training and fitness: contrasting piping, straps and stripes; back details for active bodyfashion little tops.

Past’s Precious Treasures
Inspiration: A contrast to Aristo and Bohemian upper-class trends: nostalgic
old country-life and great great grandma’s romantic, fresh crispy white linen,
lingerie and nighties.
Colors: Enlightenment whites and milky cream, and yellowish whites
Fabrics: Antique lace stripes; crochets; bobbin lace; pointed lace; à-jour; Broderie Anglaise; old-fashioned underwear knits, ribs, openwork, intarsias; translations for seamless and lasercut; unusual combinations with 18th century furnishing prints, flowers.
Silhouettes: Layers of lingerie transparency and/or lace over ‘daily outerwear’;
wide, oversized shapes; neat nightie-like dresses, skirts, camisoles; integration of lace narrows in design; high waist and empire lines; larger panties, soft, wireless bra’s.

NYMPH

Inspiration: In between echoes of the past and of folk and ethnics there are just ‘timeless’ girly looks; romantic with flower prints, ballerina and magic like in a fairy tale or young, sporty and funny.
Colors: Soft, tender romantic and grayish melange tones.
Fabrics: Lightweight, very airy, dancing and floating around the body; a contrast to the heavy looks in other trends; tulle and tutu, voile, airy transparencies; fragile, filigree laces; beautiful embroideries; prints of watercolor flowers; loose, flying and dancing flower/butterfly applications; underwear melange knits, tricots and micro jerseys.
Silhouettes: Voluminous in lightweight layering for dresses; bodyfashion body-conscious, yet with surface volume: ruches, frills, volants; little petticoat skirts with layers of lace; large panties, balloon panties; camisoles; cross-over styling of underwear knits with lingerie lace details; sweet, naughty corsetry details on unusual places.

ECHOES OF FOLK AND ETHNICS

Bohemian Mood
Inspiration: Eastern European old chic upper-class country styles, Dandyism, like in mansions and castles, with romantic and folk echoes; with royal placed handcrafts; echoes of Russian Tsarinas, Baboushka and Bohemia, with a flavor of Art Deco, Leon Bakst; Moschino.
Colors: Rich, saturated, warm
Fabrics: Rich, comfortable soft velvets, gobelin and tapestry jacquards; astrakhan-fur-like looks; printed bouquets of roses; large border decorations and prints, lots of large, flower-shaped handcraft.
Silhouettes: Round, egg shape, wide dresses and skirts; chemisier buttoned printed dresses, shorter than the visible underdresses in white Broderie Anglaise and à-jour, or contrasting lace underdresses.

Echoes of Folk
Inspiration: European country, folk, Hippy and Gypsy styles; 70ies Julie Christie; Austria, French Provence, Russian and Balkan inspirations, former European Amish, Quaker and Shaker styles; more down to earth than the ‘high’ Bohemian and upper-class trends.
Colors: Varying from earthy browns and grayish dark and light non-colors for strict country styles to more colorful combinations for folk and Gypsy moods.
Fabrics: Mixes of prints, never at random, but in large panels, decorative oriental echoes, often as compose’s with border motives; 70ies shawl prints; colorful laces and embroidery with a folk spirit; strong graphic rhythmic geometric patterns; country-style little flower prints; old-fashioned wallpaper stripes and flowers; handcrafts.
Silhouettes: Loose and wide, even oversized, often in layers; camisoles; apron style dresses over underdresses; underdresses over daywear, dresses to pants; shawl-shaped designs.

Echoes of Ethnics
Inspiration: Revival of non-western old handcraft treasures after abrupt general stop in 2002 of all multi-culti ethnic influences in fashion due to 9-11 catastrophe. Less Asian, more African, Moroccan influences. Blumarine.
Colors: Natural, neutral, warm sand and earth tones; livened up with vivids, gold and silver metallics.
Fabrics: Natural looks, linen, cotton, wool; combinations with romantic laces and prints; lots of ethnic handcrafts, embroidery, jewelry, beads; decorative geometry; African tattoo.
Silhouettes: Kaftan, tunica, Muslim djellabah, Indian lunghi; dresses with ethnic glamour jewelry and embroidered belts and high empire-style lines ; simple collarless jackets.

NATURALNESS

Natural Textures
Inspiration: Consumer will be tired of opulent glamour, glitter, shine, colors and prints. Reaction: the raw, rough structures and treasures of our earth, but always designed with sophisticated style, elegance and class.
Colors: natural, neutral and nature-related: warm sands and woods, cool blue waters and anthracite darks from beneath the earth, with natural sparkles.
Fabrics: Dry, rough granular looks: natural, irregular textures, structures, inspired by tree bark, sand ripplings; raw linen, jute, raffia, straw; livened up with craft, openwork, lace structures, macramé’s, rough knits and crochets.
Wet, fluid, frozen looks: Fluid, fresh, cool, smooth, slippery, textiles, sleek like a shower  on the body; fine transparent plissés; icy, frosted stilled effects, moving, watery, wavy ideas.
Animal, cellular, mineral: non-cliché new animal and camouflage prints, knits and laces; cellular and microcosmos and biomotives; the raw structures, sparkles of stones and minerals.
Silhouettes: Natural, wrap around the body; water nymph sleek, fluid silhouettes with movement in layers and animal skins, often body-conscious.

Natural Styling
Inspiration: Time-out, stillness and silence, a break, a (fashion) pause….
Economic and political malaise (depression). Time for a break, after looking back, learn from it, re-think, how will it go on? Too often new hypes, cults, trends have been launched. Consumer doesn’t want to run for it anymore.
Timeless, quality, endurance are important keywords.
Colors: non-colors, black, serene spiritual whites, neutrals, grays; here and there a stroke or flash of silver, gold, a sparkle.
Fabrics: All opulence and loudness is skipped, however the new refined fabrics have to be comfortable, thin or heavy; ‘twisted’, twined, draped, manipulated by hand with moulage, sculpting, enveloping and folding techniques. Bodyfashion: body- and health-care incorporated high-tech innovation; thermo collage techniques; stick-on bra cups, new molding techniques with fancy lace and prints in one.
Silhouettes: simple with echoes of other trends; sportswear in Cuban and African safari and colonial styles; dresses come in romantic empire lines, or with bulb and tulip, softly rounded skirt shapes; blousing forms; twisted, twined, draped accents; wrap-around-the-body and sculpting moulaged shapes; body accenting aerodynamic shaping.

         
DARE

Inspiration: Young feeling, courageous styles; not ‘free’ as in provocative, shocking, sensual and wild; youngsters today may be more conservative than their ‘free thinking’ parents; playful styled discipline and authority looks, preppy school looks, twisted classics; uniforms, nautical and heraldic symbols for youngsters with ultra-right political tendencies …Napoleontic inspiration. Fun and art; new youngsters' illustrations replace graffiti.
Colors: non-colors, classics and sometimes almost fluorescent accents and vivid colors.
Fabrics: old uniform classics, retro British and Scottish weaving patterns; denim, rib-cord, velvet; tresses, tassels, border decoration; prints with hidden fun figures; antique fashion sketches; arty prints.
Bodyfashion trompe l’eoil layer mixing of lace and prints
Silhouettes: Styling elements and combinations put upside down. Uniform styling and details: epaulets, decorations; metal hasp fastenings.
Bodyfashion plays with retro corsetry and layering, unusual prints and fun details.