Archive for January, 2010

This week’s style musings come from the ever chic streets of Milan. This pair, although found separately make the perfect fashionista coupling in their lashings of ominous black layering and unique styling.

Our look of the week lady piles on simplistic, yet staple garments such as leggings, a button up smock dress, longline cardigan and a black leather bomber, illustrating how basic items can create a timeless outfit. The varying lengths create gothic intrigue, which is brought up to date with a statement gold chain necklace, retro oversized specs and a bouffant beehive, adding a splash of colour through her vixen red lippy.

Our style savvy male plays on extreme contrasts in both proportion and finish. Matte skinny jeans and a ribbed polo jumper lay the foundation for a radical patent outerwear garment, creating a minimal goth style that brings the current vogue for punk and grunge into a contemporary and even futuristic context. The retro enthused hi-top trainers and wayfarer sunglasses inject an urban feel that further contributes to this unique look of the week.

From the 21st – 24th January 2010, the menswear fashion world descended on Paris for the unveiling of the latest collections. The front rows were crammed with editors, bloggers and celebrity enthusiasts as the likes of Louis Vuitton, Dior Homme and YSL unveiled their latest themes for autumn/winter 2010/11.

In general, designers turned to a ‘safe’ colour palette to see in the winter months, sticking to an atmospheric tonal palette of black, asphalt, taupe and white. Yet a few designers, including Issey Miyake and Romain Kramer, could be turned to to add a few pops of acidic colour.

Those who stuck to a base palette of black included Ann Demeulemeester (main image), the queen of radical goth, and Dior Homme. Both showed tailored separates with an interesting play on proportion; short-length trousers were a common thread, either voluminous and tapered at the hem or slim cigarette pants, but both finished just above the ankle.

As in Milan, tailoring became centric to many collections; Mpdclick’s particular favourite theme revolves around ‘sensible luxury’. Seen at the likes of Dunhill, Hermès and  Junya Watanabe, each designer put their own stamp on the trend, from 1990’s office wear separates to Mod-ish suits with a slight a-line. Dunhill’s Creative Director Kim Jones is steadily achieving his goal to become the British Hermès; the a/w collection unveiled entirely wearable casual suitings and an easy selection of leather jackets and windcheaters – the quality and attention to detail unquestionable.

Dunhill

Junya Watanabe

Another theme evident in Milan was the shearling flight jacket, also abundant on the Paris runways. Agnès B, Damir Doma and YSL, displayed styles ranging from sleeveless body warmer to minimal with little detail or, in contrast, oversized furry lapels. Hues range from warm to dirty taupe and bitter chocolate – easy colours to carry, and a definite must for outerwear in 2010.

Agnès B

Damir Doma

YSL

Silhouette-wise, two stand out shapes are the tapered harem trouser and tunic style tops. Ann Demeulemeester, Damir Doma and YSL each bought out varying looks of trouser, with Demeulemeester using jodhpur-esque lines and a paper bag waist. DomA and YSL went super-wide, teaming with casual layers and heavy-duty footwear – a nice contrast. Raf Simons and Tim Hamilton pioneer the new tunic shape, with high-necked sleeveless tops that took on an almost amour-like stance.

Ann Demeulemeester

Tim Hamilton

The textile of the season looks to be leather, with a host of designers showing their craftsmanship. Juun J sent out an exquisite leather utility jacket complete with huge pockets and heavy zips, contrasted with panels of coated boiled wool; a smart yet functional item of outwear. Over at Dior Homme, Kris van Assche had created a paneled black leather smock shape – a look that trendy urbanites will undoubtedly love.

Juun J

Dior Homme

For full coverage of Paris Menswear Fashion Week, click here.

Next stop, New York.

Printed with distorted CCTV footage, New York based collective label ‘No Editions’ latest digital print collection encapsulates the prevalence of digital images through subject and medium. The use of digital print is strong for 2010/11 and being a much more economical process, this collection shows digital processes as a focus for the future. 

‘No Editions’ latest collection is making an interesting statement on the so called, “big-brother state”. Surveillance activities can be well intentioned and do bring security benefits. However unseen, uncontrolled or excessive surveillance can foster an attitude of suspicion while undermining trust. To add to the many cameras watching the streets, ‘No Editions’ set one up to film a model in downtown New York for the day. The model wore a ‘No Editions’ piece, which they then magnified to the point of abstraction to create these textile prints. The CCTV footage was presented alongside their collection in Paris.

‘No Editions’ do not conform to the industry’s conventional season lines and have a policy of ‘No duplicates, no repetitions’ to create collections of unique print designs. The collections are available on their online e-store featuring simple shapes such as ponchos, tunics, wraps and kimonos complimenting the abstract images that are transparent, layered with clear cut lines that are angled and simply softened by the use of fabrics.

Image source: dazeddigital.com

This week, Mpdclick’s sportswear designer, Chantell Fenton and the members of Mudpie’s interactive group on LinkedIn discuss innovations within the sportswear market.

Chantell opens a discussion on business networking site LinkedIn, for the industry’s thoughts on the latest in sportswear innovations?

Chantell Fenton: I am interested in learning more in terms of sportswear innovations – does anyone know of any good places to start – I am currently reading The Textiles Intelligence magazine and surfing www.highsnobiety.com and http://www.freshnessmag.com - any more ideas?

Mike Jerome, Director of Design – Product Solutions: One suggestion is wearble electronics and the best starting point is Elextile – Interactive Fashion Design Consultancy: and their blog : http://www.talk2myshirt.com/

Fiona Jenvey, CEO of Mudpie/MPDclick:  I did a search on sports/ active apparel groups- these may be ones to join- you could ask the members these Qs and see what response you get- anyone else interested in these areas could also take a look at this group, active apparel design.

Paul Bond, Director at Revolution Workwear: Check out http://www.d3olab.com/ and www.3xdry.com
happy hunting!

Bryan Roberts, Sports Designer with a passion for innovation: I have a blog called sportstechreview you can view it at http://www.sportstechreview.com/. It is based more on the science side of things but may be of interest. I have also been involved in a number of sports apparel design projects for major brands.

Angelika Daniels, Project Management bei Navispace AG: I can definitely recommend the Wearable Technologies Conference taking place on February 8 in Munich!

Check out http://www.wearable-technologies.com/conference-2010
After the conference all visitors will have the chance to visit ISPO, the world’s largest trade show for sporting goods.

This conference will give you a great overview of current and future innovation regarding all kinds of wearable technolgies. Please ask if you need more information!

Stephan van Uijtregt, Sports Innovation Consultant at Nuevola: In general I think the coming years will show more and more smart textiles that will enable people to perform better under extreme circumstances (be it competitive sports, mountaineering, heavy working conditions). Applications can be as simple as heating to more complicated ones like for example sensors that warn you for poisonous gases or lack of oxygen.

Besides performance enhancing I see one other development and that one is related to the trend that especially young people like to share just about every part of their life with their friends/contacts. So I think we’ll see a fair share of more and less successful attempts to market sports/leisure wear that monitors/registers its wearers ways (like Nike is already doing with its Nike+).
The effects for the aesthetics… I think nothing much will change there. Unless the application is ground breaking, I don’t think the grand masses will be willing to sacrifice a lot of aesthetics in the fashion they wear.

For athletes this is different of course, they will wear whatever will bring them the best result (I recently saw a very relevant documentary about the guy that invented and first introduced the speed suit in speed skating (doc. is in Dutch unfortunately), at first all his colleagues laughed at him for looking silly, but as soon as they saw that it really made a difference all of them started wearing them. And other sports quickly followed.

If you want to get involved with this discussion then why not join Mudpie’s Fashion, Trends, Lifestyle, Culture group by clicking here.

Mpdclick was in attendance for all three fashion-packed days of the Bread and Butter trade show last week, held at the architectural feat that is Berlin’s Tempelhof airport. Days of buying, selling and networking were accompanied by evenings of fun-filled parties and a little more informal networking!

With over 600 brands in attendance, and positive visitor numbers, the show retained its status as the place to be to stock up on the world’s premier denim and streetwear brands and spot the hottest up and coming trends.

The show kicked off at the venue’s Sin Saloon bar-area, with a performance by Boss Hoss, the Berlin-based rock band. A fun-filled evening ensued with drinks, dancing and socialising.

This season, the show itself comprised of the areas Sport and Street, Street Fashion, Fashion Now, Style Society, Denim Base, Urban Superior Women, Urban Superior Men and LOCK (Labels of Common Kin) – each with varying styles of brands and clothing. The LOCK area was of particular interest, being that founder and Managing Director of the show, Karl-Heinz Müller, curated the area himself. Each brand on show displayed a common thread of the use of traditional methods of manufacture, a passion for detail and a high quality product offering. Brands included Evisu, Denham the Jeansmaker and Redwing Shoes.

Around the show, impressive stands included Diesel with their huge cardboard box office space and fluorescent tube structure, G Star with a huge runway for their evening shows, Adidas Originals with their vast interwoven pipe-like exterior and Puma with their huge ship container stand complete with bar area perched on top.

Collection-wise, our notables include Evisu, with their contemporary take on heritage and reworked design. For autumn/winter 10/11 they unveiled a range of garments, each with a label inside telling its own individual story, for example, a shirt found in museum archives dating back to the plantation fields of Southern North America in 1930; carefully copied and re-worked in Japanese fabrics. The attention to detail, even the delicately curved lines of the pockets set the brand apart in their ‘LOCK’ area.

Mpdclick also enjoyed Motel’s spring/summer 2010 and autumn/winter collections. The London-based brand unveiled a kitsch collection of 1950’s seaside shapes, with nautical details – nothing new we hear you say, but their authentic approach to shape and attention to detail made them a must-visit stand. For more on this style, check out Mpdclick’s Open Road trend inspiration.

The show did lack the same ambience as the summer editions – which tends to entice crowds of the cool and trendy to their vast outdoor catering and bar areas, but nonetheless Europe’s trendsetters were there, braving the minus 8 temperatures, sporting an array of 2010’s best looks.

Amongst our pick of the bunch was a ‘Canadian Woodman’ look that emerged for the guys, with Redwing workboots, salvage denim or cargo pants and a checked flannel or denim shirt – suitably a beard and woolly bobble hat finish the look.

For the girls, a mix and match style was most evident – often combining eras, with pinup style hair and make-up, yet worn with punky separates. Our favourite was the combination of warm fur with harem pant shapes and this season’s must have; a pair of geek-chic specs.

For more street style photos click here – coming soon

At the official press conference on Thursday, details were released on the summer edition of Bread & Butter, to be dubbed ‘Premier League’. Two of the most interesting points were to introduce two new areas to the show; in their own words:

B&B Kids
BREAD & BUTTER will actively focus on the topic kidswear. Many of the BREAD & BUTTER exhibitors are active and successful in the kidswear segment. They will be provided with an adequate business platform in the form of a big circus tent in the summer.

Contemporary Sportswear
BREAD & BUTTER sees great potential in this segment. Karl-Heinz Mueller: “Many Sportswear brands still exhibit at Pitti in Florence. We have already held many talks with brands in this segment that are looking for more internationality. We can offer them this. However, we take good care that the brands fit in our overall portfolio. BREAD & BUTTER should be extended in the existing brand world, the dynamics should by no means be limited.”

You can read the full press release here.

Don’t forget to visit the Mudpie stand at Bread & Butter, Berlin 7-9 July, to see our new range of trendbooks. MPD Kids: a collection of garment and accessory styles, prints and graphics aimed at toddlers to 12 year olds, for the autumn/winter 11/12 season, along with the second edition of MPD Active: an amazing collection of performance apparel trends aimed at the male and female commercial active sportswear market, for the spring/summer 12 season.

Don’t miss Mpdclick’s full coverage of the show here – female clothing, female footwear & accessories, male clothing, male denim, male footwear & accessories.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is joining the Prime Ministers wife, Sarah Brown to stage a charity catwalk in aid of the Haitian earthquake victims. Fashion for Relief is forming part of the London Fashion Week in February. Accompanied by fellow supermodels and celebrities, Naomi Campbell will be modelling designs by Vivienne Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen. Naomi Campbell is hoping that this charity will be a vital aid to those in need.

The White Ribbon Alliance patron, Naomi, 38, is no stranger to charity work, adding “Fashion is universal, personal and touches everyone. Our aim is to use this year’s London Fashion Week catwalk to reach people and help raise crucial funds to help save the lives of women and children.” – http://showbiz.sky.com/naomi-campbell-sarah-brown-help-haiti

Image source: vogue.co.uk

Due to an sharp increase in the number of people living in cities and an extreme shift towards urbanization, a trend known as ‘Urban Pride’ has emerged within the consumer market. Statistics show that less than five per cent of the population lived in an urban area just a century ago, yet in 2008 it was reported to have exceeded by 50 per cent. Mudpie Lifestyle analysts have identified a link between this cultural phenomenon and the recent abundance of city specific products available on the consumer market.

The vodka brand, Absolut for example, have launched the ‘Absolut Cities Series’ which is a range of customized vodkas which encapsulate and represent the unique flavour of selected cities from around the globe. The first of these was launched in New Orleans, with a mango and black pepper blend, but has since been extended to include more locations such as Los Angeles and Boston.

This technique has also been used to advertise McDonald’s burgers in other countries. In 2010 four quarter pound burgers are being introduced to McDonald’s restaurants throughout Japan, each being advertised with a “big American taste” along with a corresponding name. The Texas Burger, Burger New York, California Burger and Hawaiian Burger are all being introduced in order to expand the appeal of the brand after the success of the original ‘quarter-pounder’ burger.

Mudpie lifestyle analysts believe that the concept of Urbanization will continue to grow based on the fact that the average urban population of the developing world having grown by three million people per week through the last two decades. The concept of ‘Urban pride’ may also have a profound impact on advertising for the travel industry with brands being commissioned to create an identity for up and coming cities worldwide.

Image source: popsop.com 

Christopher Kane’s 2010 resort collection is not only interesting and unique; it also has a “visual aftershock”. Each of his garments is beautifully printed with images of mushroom clouds, smoke filled skies and nuclear test explosions. The collection, featuring images taken from the free U.S ministry of defense public access library, are not claiming to make any political statement, but Kane has described them as “sinister but beautiful”.

His images are printed onto the fabric digitally, which enable high quality images with vibrant colours to be transferred easily. This technique is more efficient and ecological than the traditional method of screen printing, and despite being a relatively new process it is quickly becoming a popular method for printing fabric.

However Kane is not the only designer to be taking advantage of this new technique. The Spring 2010 Givenchy ready-to-wear catwalk had abstract and geometric prints on everything from blouses and jackets to leggings and wedge heels. The all-over digital patterns were designed for maximum impact and they certainly showed off the diversity of this printing technique.

Print and pattern is playing a major role in the Spring 2010 collections, with almost all designers exploiting the idea of ‘mix and match’ patterns.  With this in mind, Mpdclick predicts that the trend will only get bigger, with more designers opting for the use of digitally printed fabric.

Image source: patternpeople.blogspot.com

Just announced! British designer Louise Goldin will receive Fashion Forward sponsorship for her A/W 10 and S/S 11 collections at London Fashion Week.

The shortlisted designers for this award included Basso & Brooke, Emilio de la Morena, Jean-Pierre Braganza, Osman and Todd Lynn. The Fashion Forward scheme sponsored by Coutts & Co and supported by the London Development Agency, was established 4 years ago to provide funding to talented emerging British designers to show and develop their businesses in London. London Fashion Week is the most creative and dynamic event on the international fashion calendar promoting established and emerging British design talent to a global audience.

Fashion Forward applicants are judged by a panel of experts including Simon Ward, Chief Executive of the BFC (Joint); Anna Orsini, BFC Consultant; Alan Marshall, Coutts & Co; Emma Elwick, Vogue; Lorraine Candy, Elle; Nicola Copping, Financial Times and Sarah Mower, Style.com/Vogue US and BFC’s Ambassador for Emerging Talent. Previous Fashion Forward winners include Christopher Kane, Erdem, Giles Deacon, Jonathan Saunders, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Illincic and Sinha-Stanic.

Louise Goldin’s cutting edge, pastel SS10 collection was an elegant and upbeat showcase of her pioneering techniques and a highly accurate reflection of her reputation as being at the vanguard of knitwear design. Goldin’s powerful silhouettes and body contouring defy traditional knitwear structures. She meticulously researches new technologies between her studio in London and her factory in Italy which have led to her signature design of innovative programmed techniques where she creates her own knitted fabric and textures, combined with structured, sculpted garments.

Louise Goldin, said “I am so proud to be a winner of this prestigious award – Fashion Forward. It is amazing to have the support from The British Fashion Council, Coutts and industry experts. I am even more driven to create my most successful collection yet! Receiving the financial sponsorship enables me to create pieces which are commercially viable yet maintain creative integrity”.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said “All around the world, people love London’s cool and funky designers, who, like Louise Goldin bring skill as well as innovative flair. This terrific scheme gives them an international platform and the business know-how to help them convert their ideas into profit and even bigger success.”

Harold Tillman, Chairman of the British Fashion Council commented, “London’s reputation for creativity is largely fuelled by its innovative fashion designers of which Louise is a great example. We are incredibly proud of the talent and potential here in London which is being watched closely by the world’s media and buyers. I would like to thank Coutts for sponsoring Fashion Forward this season and the London Development Agency for their continued support.”

Michael Morley, Chief Executive of Coutts & Co, commented “Coutts is thrilled to be sponsoring Fashion Forward, showcasing London’s status as the hotbed of emerging talent. This sponsorship re-enforces our commitment to the world of contemporary creative industries, where the last few years have seen us enjoy highly successful relationships with fashion designers such as Stella McCartney, Alice Temperley and Oswald Boateng; and sponsorship of Matthew Williamson’s ‘10 Years in Fashion’ retrospective at the Design Museum and most recently Coutts London Jewellery Week. The UK is a world leader at creating new fashion designers and Coutts is determined to support this emerging talent with mentoring schemes, providing business acumen and training, and financial advice to support the next generation.”

Lurene Joseph, Group Director of Communications and Marketing at the London Development Agency said, “We are pleased that the London Development Agency’s investment in Fashion Forward is helping to support some of London’s emerging design talent. We have already seen impressive results from previous Fashion Forward winners like Erdem and Christopher Kane, and it is fantastic that this programme is continuing to help up and coming designers to establish successful businesses, provide jobs and become household names.”

Dont miss Mpdclick’s comprehensive coverage of London Fashion Week from 19th – 23rd February 2010 featuring Louise Goldin.

Source: www.londonfashionweek.co.uk