26/01/2016 — auf Deutsch lesen
Emotionally charged
The call for new perspectives in fashion is getting louder. Traditional influences are being lost. Uncertainties are challenging industry and fashion design alike. Trends for Summer 2017 tell of urban utility wear, romanticism, cultural sampling and sheer enjoyment.
Decorative trimmings are becoming vastly more important - not only at Kahage-Butonia Group
Bodo Jagdberg renders a washed or pastel look on buttons and decorative trimmings
The German textile and clothing industry managed to finish 2015 with sales up by 1.5%. At least, the Textile+Fashion Confederation is sticking by this forecast and asserts, in its Economic Report of November 2015, that "the industry is still on a growth trend." Developments in the textile and clothing sector, however, continue to show a varied picture. In September, whilst the textile sector recorded year-to-date sales growth of 2.7%, the clothing sector has suffered a contraction of 1.0%, following a very weak month. The key issue here is business with Russia. By contrast, textile exports were up by 2.2% for the year up to September.
Martin Dolleschel, Managing Director and shareholder of Bielefeld-based trimmings specialists Union Knopf, stated: "Our sales to Italy are strengthening. (...) The UK and Scandinavia are becoming increasingly important." Looking back over the incoming orders for Autumn/Winter 2016/2017, the German button and accessory specialist Knopf & Knopf, based in Schemmerhofen (southwest Germany) reports: "We are broadly satisfied with the order situation."
Moving on to the Spring/Summer 2017 season, the Dutch forecast magazine Textil View wrote of the prevailing mood: "We are looking for something more permanent than the purely seasonal." The headline for fabric trends is "Wear your beliefs". Trend commentator Anne Marie Commandeur recently gave a presentation to the think tank at the private AMD Fashion & Design Academy in Düsseldorf, to which she gave the title "Design with a mission". Discussions on fashion design are running at top speed. "Ageless" is the headline of the next Munich Fabric Start event (2–4 February 2016).
Creative Director Jo Baumgartner says the clothing industry must ask itself some pressing questions, not least with regard to demographic change. What happens when 13-year-olds are wearing the same as 60-year-olds? What would the collections have to look like? Little by little, society is moving on from traditional distinctions based on age and sex. In addition to the dimension of eternal youth, Baumgartner places three key words at the centre of the new fashion season: value, timelessness and plenty of emotion.
Meditation meets technology and function. Plain and simple unisex robes and garments have a spiritual feel, whereas home and sportswear is urban and ageless. Lightness and a subtle high-tech aspiration are ubiquitous. Munich Fabric Start captures this with its 'Robotic Instinct' theme. Delicate, diaphanous fabrics have a techno appeal and convey a sense of nakedness and sexiness, as do slit designs. Alongside these, timelessness and value predominate. Prints are monochrome and either large format or extremely detailed. Shapes and structures are minimalistic, denim is dark and clean.
White buttons with the look and feel of porcelain (Knopf & Knopf) are attached threadlessly to a pale, chalky colour palette. Finely embossed metal buttons imitate the outer fabrics. Moirés and changeants shimmer gently. Matte/gloss contrasts, reflective surfaces and transparent finishes continue to be important. High-gloss polishes are to be found in the collections alongside natural and matte wood- and stone-look visual effects (Union Knopf). Patinised, colourised and brushed metals and metal effects leave a strong impression on the season. Striking are filigree metallic fasteners, fine metal chains for fixing onto garments (Bodo Jagdberg – Germany) and lasered decorative badges. YKK Stocko Fasteners are showing zinc die-cast logo badges with cut-out effects. Even inscriptions with breakaways can be attached without difficulty.
Graphic weaves, perforations, lattice and honeycomb images lend a gentle rectilinearity that has an influence even on the typography of the labels. Not only point, diamond and waffle structures are in evidence but also, as from Dutch firm EE Labelpack, a totally reduced graphic design that sometimes amounts to nothing more than an orange right-angle to accentuate light and mostly plain designs. Trimmings from the field of sport – such as the eyelets for drawcords from YKK Stocko Fasteners – are a major theme. Much white is to be found, alongside beige, pale grey and pale blue. Grey-blue, grey-brown and rose quartz provide accents. Gold and silver.
Here big-city farmers, flower enthusiasts and nature-lovers meet as spiritual brothers and sisters, united in their dreams of a world at peace. A breath of romanticism, 1970s flair, the charm of handicraft and the factory waft over the fabrics and trimmings. Clay-coloured jacquards meet decorative stitching and embroidery using thick woollen or cotton yarns, for example, in the works of Gunold, German specialists in fancy yarns. Fine pleats and delicate laces spread a romantic flair that has its origins in the Victorian Age. A taste of adventure comes from abstract prints of landscapes or craters, seen from a bird's eye perspective. Alongside these, delicate floral designs enliven the colourful weaves and prints.
They are complemented with buttons and fasteners from natural-look and recycled materials in wood, cork and bone. The Kahage-Butonia Group, too, is now showing buttons made from recycled cotton. The surfaces of the trimmings are textured, natural and eroded, often in washed, bleached and pale pastels (Bodo Jagdberg). 'Tip of the season' is light imitation nappa, not least because it is easy to laser. Stenger by Bodo Jagdberg has playful suede trouser tags in its programme but also takes the luxury approach with knitted straps interwoven with gold, and filigree crocheted tags on gold chains. Colours follow the 'Solar Venture' theme of Munich Fabric Start: natural tones, greyish beige, pale copper, skin tones, yellow- to blue-tinged red tones. In addition, metallic tones such as Golden Olive, Ice Gold and Vintage Copper can also be found.
Here there is fun and entertainment in a continuous loop of reggae parties, urban festivals and internet trips. Everything is light, freedom-loving, summery and from time to time technically exaggerated. Naive, almost comic-like print motifs come together with glitter yarns, fringed straps, batik denim and tie-dye denim. The print motifs are highly magnified, layered, intricate or digitally exaggerated. Diagonal block stripes are evident. Trend themes such as 'digital pop' (Bodo Jagdberg) or 'electric motion' (Knopf & Knopf) lead the way. Pop-art print and new wave influences are discharged in iridescent chrome lacquers and metallised trimmings.
Labels are inspired by painting and art; printed canvas labels are further accentuated with a wooden button (Paul Miller by EE Labelpack). Individuality is the keyword. Yarns are even to be found in self-design – at Gunold, for instance. Raffia-like fabrics are as at home here as pure linen or fringed fils coupés. For hot bikini tops, bejewelled spaghetti straps are available, from the German producer Topp Textil, for example, where summery satin or chiffon frilly straps are also featured in intense colours such as warm red, yellow, blue and green tones. Bleached denims are complemented with buttons, rivets and decorations in light vintage hammered metals (YKK Stocko Fasteners), and for menswear in black, matte enamelling, gunmetal and antique copper.
[Regine Hövelmann]
