The 7 Take Home Trends of the Season

Do you have fashion fatigue? Can’t look at one more runway show but you still want to be in the loop on the top trends of the Fall/Winter 2017 season? The Fashion Your Seatbelt blog has got you covered. Not only do we tell you our 7 take home trends, we give you a bit of context too. Just in case you want to justify to your friends your new red dress, explain to your boyfriend why wearing a sheer top is ok or simply stock up on some strong message t-shirts. 

Peakaboo I see you

The clothing shown during this season is purportedly designed for the coldest months of the year. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at most of the catwalks shows. Transparent fabrics were one of the biggest trends. Designers in all four capitals came up with a myriad of ways to incorporate see-through garments into their line up. From the debut Calvin Klein collection of Raf Simons that featured equal opportunity sheer tops for both men and women to Anthony Vaccarello’s transparent designs at Saint Laurent, getting a good look at the “goods” was so rampant that fashion editors were pretty blasé about it all by the time the Miu Miu see-through plastic rain coats showed up on the last day of Paris Fashion Week. But admittedly those raincoats looked pretty cool.

Saint Laurent, Emilio Pucci, Calvin Klein, MiuMiu / Imaxtree.com

The Woman in Red

Want to make and entrance? As any woman will tell you, wearing red – especial head to toe, is a serious sartorial move. If you saw the 1984 film The Women in Red than you probably still remember Kelly LeBrock in her all red outfit doing an homage to Marilyn Monroe’s famous skirt raising scene in the movie The Seven Year Itch. It was basically the undoing of Gene Wilder’s character. This color has so many associations ( love, passion, hate, blood) but they all have one thing in common – they are powerful. Powerful too were this season’s offerings. MaxMara took a lush velvet approach to the hue, N21 went with a sinfully sweet style, while Fendi pushed the idea hard with the addition of some red leather thigh high boots. And let’s not forget that luscious red Jason Wu coat worn with…well nothing…underneath.

Fendi, MaxMara, Jason Wu, N21 / Imaxtree.com

Shoulder Up

Big broad shoulders to carry the weight of the world on them continues to be a strong trend in womenswear. Not since the 1980s have shoulder pads and broad framed tops or jackets been so popular. We can arguably trace the spark of this current trend back to designer Demna Gvasalia and his work at Vetements and later Balenciaga. We have him to thank for the plethora of shoulder pads we are now seeing across the industry. This season Victoria Beckam gave us some roomy strong shoulder suits. As did Jil Sander and Jacquemus. But not all of the shoulder action was of the exaggerated variety. At Bottega Veneta designer Tomas Maier made the shoulders a major feature of his collection. But they were taunt and tailored. Perking up over the arm for a more maneater-like look that made it clear Maier’s women were not to be messed with.

Bottega Veneta, Jil Sanders, Jacquemus, and Victoria Becham / Imaxtree.com

XXL Attitude

Things in fashion are getting seriously blown out of proportions. Exaggerated sizing has become the coolest game in town. It’s not an easy look to pull off. If you are too thin it appears as if  your clothing is eating you alive. And if you have any curves at all you run the risk of just looking big in outsized clothing. But currently designers think this silhouette is cool and there is no getting around the fact that the more décontracté aesthetic of oversized athleticwear is having an impact on other styles of dress. Be they the wide legged pants at Nehera and Christian Dior or the voluminous outerwear at Sacai or Gucci. This style is going to engulf the fashion industry for a while to come.

Gucci, Christian Dior, Nehera, Sacai / Imaxtree.com

DIY Designs

One of the biggest buzz words in fashion right now is “customization” or if you prefer “personalization”. Customers want to feel special and any brand that can accomplish that feat is going to be a big winner at the checkout counter. Feeding off of this notion, a number of houses decided to give their off the rack ready-to-wear looks a DIY vibe. Pieces that showed off an artisanal flair where you felt as if you could actually see the handiwork of the craftsmen who put a garment together. That was certainly the case at Loewe with its unforgettable colorful patchwork leather dress or the patchwork coats on the Etro catwalk.  Calvin Klein and Valentino also got in on the crafty act. While Coach went all out with patchwork details on its denim jeans and old school badges stitched onto its outerwear.

Valentino, Coach, Loewe, Etro / Imaxtree.com

Message Me

Designers had a lot to say this season and they clearly didn’t want those messages to get lost. So what better way to get their ideas across then spelling them out on their clothing. The whole message t-shirt idea has been around for ages. But this time it was hard not to get through an entire day without a show that didn’t feature at least one item with a provocative message or two in it. The Prabal Gurung finale is the perfect example. Each of the designer’s models showed up sporting a t-shirt with a message of female empowerment scrawled across the front. Other highlights were the Alberta Ferretti cashmere days of the week sweaters, Public School’s “Make American New York” hats and tops and Stella Jean’s more subliminal sweater messaging.

Versace, Alberta Ferretti, Prabal Gurung, Stella Jean / Imaxtree.com

Pushing Plumes

There was a time when the fur trade industry did everything in its power to get designers on board to see their pelts as just one more type of fabric to be manipulated any which way they could imagine. Now it seems that the feather suppliers are getting in on the act. Never, in recent memory, have feathers be so abundant or so creatively used by fashion designers. Once again Raf Simons at Calvin Klein had some great ideas in this area. His “pressed against the body” feather dresses were both odd and oddly alluring. The Big-Bird like feather hats a Prada will certainly be fodder for the concrete catwalk celebs, while the feather trimmed knit scarves in the collection are sure to sell like hotcakes. Sonia Rykiel also had some avian ideas with multicolored plumes adoring a number of dresses as did Koche, J.W. Anderson and Balenciaga.

Sonia Rykiel, Calvin Klein, Alexandre Vauthier, Prada / Imaxtree.com

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Jessica Michault

Jessica Michault is the Senior Vice President of industry relations at GPS Radar by Launchmetrics. She is also the editor-at-large for ODDA magazine and contributes to publications like the New York Times, the Business of Fashion, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Mixte magazine.