Displaying items by tag: Robyn Lynch

The past few years have given us so many trends, which, for the most part, have died as quickly as you can say supreme dabbing fidget spinner. Although there are some that seem to be everlasting, such as normcore and climate campaigns, there are so many others that are doomed to die in 2020 and beyond.

Left - Looking mint! Robyn Lynch SS20 from #LFWM

Looking forward to this new roaring decade, we look to uncover which are the top trends set to last well into the 2020s

1. Pastel Shades 

Say goodbye to millennial pink. The colour was first seen in 2011, in the famous Celine collection and since exploded. It can now be seen everywhere from handbags and shoes to interiors and technology.

However, the trend forecaster WGSN has predicted a new colour will take over in 2020, the pastel green shade ‘neo mint’. The reason that this colour is predicted to be so popular is due to its veracity; ‘it seemed to open the doors for any colour to be popular among both genders, and neo mint has the softness that millennial pink had’ WGSN describes ‘it can be translated into any type of design.’ 

2. Online Gaming 

A study on gaming behaviour by the digital association Bitkom shows how big of a trend the activity was in 2019. ‘Of the 1,224 people surveyed aged 16 and over, almost half are involved in video games - regardless of gender. Thus 45% of men and 41% of women play video games’. 

The huge popularity of video games makes it a trend that is set to last well into the next few decades. While the traditional controller games are likely to be replaced to those accessible on mobile devices like online slots games.

3. Gender Fluid Fashion  

In the past few years, the fashion environment has been seen to be embracing gender fluidity. Not only have there been some stunning gender-fluid red carpet looks, but fashion brands themselves are offering a growing range of nongendered items. 

This is a trend set to grow hugely in the coming decade; the climate around it perfect for designers to play with, colours, silhouette and materials. 

4. A Greater Awareness to the Ethics of Fashion 

The past few decades have seen the boom and subsequent rebellion against the fast fashion industry. With 2020 set to be the decade of climate awareness, it really is no surprise that fast fashion brands are set to take a hit. 

Trends have been forecast to reflect this growing awareness by moving into the prioritisation of longevity over instant access. Meaning that both vintage, ethical, and top quality outlets are predicted to thrive over the coming decade. 

5. Wellness 

The past decade saw the explosion of the concept of wellness, the industry itself became a big market player and the increased conversation about mental health is set to keep growing in the 2020s. 

Wellness is set to grow in many different areas, from the adoption of mindful practices by businesses to the increase of apps and physical activities.

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They call me 'Mellow Yellow', arite? Total colour dressing is a big trend at the moment, you only have to look at young Irish designer, Robyn Lynch - see more here - to see the attraction.

It's a bit like colourful Kanye and is as playful as is it simple, looking the same from the front and back. It's part cult, part uniform but total sunshine, especially in this glorious yellow. Now, it just has to stop raining...

Credits - #Gifted - Yellow Sweatshirt - American Apparel, Sandals - Grenson, Socks - Falke #NotGifted - Trousers - Polo Ralph Lauren

As London’s men’s fashion week gets ever smaller it becomes even harder for designers to make an impact. The four day event is really only two days with a mix of established brands and young designers trying to pad out the schedule. Like a Summer pond retreating, due to lack of rain (funding), with LFWM's decreasing pull the audiences are smaller and less important. Under this handicap, designers have a few short minutes to grab people's attention and resonate further outside of the room. When you look at the expense, you do wonder why anybody is crazy enough to do it, but that’s what makes you love the ‘art’ of fashion even more. LFWM is as much about getting together and looking at each other as it is about trends and looking forward. It’s not really even about selling clothes anymore, it’s like a social event or festival.

Left - RCA Graduates Gráinne Walley, Right - Clara Chu

On London Fashion Week Men’s opening night, the Royal College of Art graduates held a show called ‘All at Once’. The 50 MA graduates each had one look each which gradually rotated around the room. Held at a new retail development on Cork Street in Mayfair, this new way of showing ever increasing volumes of students makes it increasingly hard to see a story in people’s ideas or only gives them one chance to grab your attention. They were saying it was a reflection of the cost it takes for students to produce these collections and, possibly, a reflection of the times of not making huge amounts of stuff with one student offering ‘Extinction Rebellion’ as a reason for not producing anything physical at all. 

It’s a tough task to show this amount of students in a realistic amount of time, but it might be better to possibly break them up and give them 5 looks to show in differing categories. Unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the more stuff you produce, the more opportunity you have to mentally sell something to somebody. Desire triggers people sharing and buying things. Noted highlights were Irish graduate Gráinne Walley’s Game of Thrones type armour and Clara Chu’s food inspired accessories. 

For the remainder of the fashion week, the front rows were still sprinkled with Burberry check and Balenciaga Triple S trainers, all seen this time last year, and a sign of the lack of hit replacements even though fashion giants continue to churn out incredible amounts of product and ideas.

Here are some brief highlights of LFWM SS20:

Münn

This South Korean label, established in 2013, and with creative direction by Hyun-Min Han, made its London catwalk debut. An alumni of Wooyoungmi, Han showed a sophisticated collection mixing pinstripe tailoring and sportswear with flourishes of ruching and ruffles with a finale of models all wearing branded Münn suit bags.

Robyn Lynch

Following her first collection as part of Fashion East, last season, the Dublin-born returned with more of her stylish normcore. This time it was summer towelling mixed with traditional Irish knits and sports fabrics in her mono-coloured looks which are fast becoming her signature.

Nicholas Daley

Nicholas Daley gave LFWM a tribal jazz happening in a 18th century church in the City of London. The ‘Sons Of Kemet’ band dressed in a warm, bold checks made from British fabrics created a crescendo of music and that quickly fell into a party atmosphere with looks referencing his Jamaican heritage.

Alexander McQueen

McQueen came back to London town with its usual exquisite tailoring and its fashion as art raison d’être. As well as the all ultra smart evening wear, there was watercolour symmetry prints and bold fuchsia pink florals in the charming surroundings of the C1348 Charterhouse in Farringdon. I just wish McQueen’s accessorises were as elegant as the clothes. Those chunky trainers and boots just don’t sit right and aren’t the best of their type.

Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan celebrated 25 years with a walk on the street near his store in Mayfair. Lucky with the weather, and with the backdrop of a textured stone wall clean striped shirting - something that continues to look fresh - in simple shapes and a minimal palette was a reminder of this experienced technician of a designer. 

Lou Dalton

For the past few seasons Lou Dalton’s collections have been dominated by her collaborations with British fine knit manufacturer, John Smedley. This season, she returned to a fuller offer with outerwear, shirting, tailoring and, of course, knitwear, but this time in fine rugby shapes, in a collection of easy and stylish clothes which don’t scream ‘designer’. A return to beautiful things?

All fashion roads lead to Paris. While the Paris landscape is fractured with many smaller trade shows and showrooms competing for people’s time, it’s also the place where orders are written and retailers and people finally commit to the season. Word on the street was brands were deciding to forgo Florence’s Pitti Uomo for showrooms in Paris to justify the time and expense of doing the men’s fashion week circuit.

Left - Outside one of the Paris trade shows, Tranoi

Here are the trends and brands to know from Paris for AW19:

TRENDS

Reworked History

British fabrics are having a huge renaissance, none more so than for the AW19 season. E. Tautz has reworked the traditional black and white tweed into a vortex design that is both contemporary and respects the qualities and attraction of this type of fabric. Charles Jeffrey Loverboy turned up the dial on tartan with bold blue and red. This is a designer making the transition from the conceptual to beautifully cut and made pieces.

Right - E.Tautz tweed

Left - Charles Jeffrey Loverboy tartan

New Day-Evening

People are beginning to yearn for dressing up again. Tired of sportswear and the grunge aesthetic, this is a new idea of wearing something more dressed at anytime of the day. British designer, Bianca Saunders, captured this perfectly with extra ruched shirts a dark palette.

Left - Bianca Saunders AW19

Cuddly Chubby

Following on from Mary Katrantzou’s chesterfield sofa coats and Anya Hindmarch’s chubby hearts, it’s the men’s turn for something to take the cushion in a world full of sharp edges. This is from Virgil Abloh’s second collection for Louis Vuitton which was inspired by Michael Jackson. Overinflated much?!

Left - Louis Vuitton AW19

Tech Futures

Heat bonded pockets and steel poppers are some of the details on menswear to make it perform and look high-tech. Mammunt Delta X is a new label, it debuts this SS19, from Swiss heritage mountaineering company Mammut. Using their 150 years of outdoor expertise, it is offering something younger and more urban to satisfy the insatiable thirst for element protecting products.

Left - Mammunt Delta X AW19

BRANDS

J-B-J

Jupe by Jackie has become come something of a cult label known for its hand embroidery. Established in 2010 by Dutch fashion designer Jackie Villevoye, Jupe by Jackie uses master embroiderers from the Indian province of Uttar Pradesh to work her designs onto items of clothing. J-B-J is a new, younger brand, from Jackie’s son, offering the signature embroidery on T-shirts and more casual pieces.

Left - J-B-J yeti, all hand embroidered

Norden

Made from plastic waste, Norden is a new outer label made entirely of single use plastic. Their “U-Trust” verification program provides customers with comprehensive certification designed for a high level of transparency. The Fiber Print technology validates the authenticity of the products, with complete analysis of all fabrications to support the certifications. All of the garments are free of fur, feathers, leather and all other animal by-products. There’s even an internal water bottle!

www.nordenproject.com

From Left - Norden - All made from plastic waste and include a water bottle

Robyn Lynch

Part of London’s Fashion East show during LFWM, Dublin designer and recent MA Westminster graduate, Robyn Lynch, referenced old football supporter footage from the Irish television channel RTE in her first collection. This tone-on-tone, normcore collection took the best of Ireland and injected sports and technical details. This sleeveless Aran sweater with side adjusters is a perfect example of this.

From Left - Fashion East debut collection from Irish designer, Robyn Lynch

Knickerbocker

Finding stylish American basics is much harder than you think. Those grey army sweats which make any man look like Steve McQueen are very subtle to get right. Knickerbocker says it is a “factory born brand” and is transparent about its manufacturers which are mostly in Portugal, but do include the USA.

The standout item is the sailor-like hooded grey sweatshirt to wear On The Town a la Frank Sinatra!

www.knickerbocker.nyc

See the SS20 Paris Report - here