Inside LA Textile: Womens Trends and Colors for Spring/Summer 06!

Just when you thought that the style landscape for this season was complicated enough, here I am telling you what you’ll be seeing in stores Next year. How’s that for getting ahead of the fashion curve?

Here’s the scoop from a presentation from Promostyl, a leading fashion trend reporting company. Coming to stores near you, in Spring/Summer 06:

Bohemia
We’ll be seeing hippie-folk items: think of a 21^st Century revision of the 1970s. You’ll see embellished items, tiered prairie skirts, and an explosion of prints on voluminous proportioned tops, skirts, and even pants. Think flowy airy tops, long voluminous skirts, and wide-legged (and even pleated!) pants. Men’s suiting will take a bohemian turn as it blends with folk-inspired silhouettes, in the season’s spirit of contradiction.

Look for cool violet colors matched with blended brights, reminiscent of the colors of a parrot. Be on the lookout for orange and yellow, in particular. Saturated pastel colors will continue to be stylish, as will the color white. So hold on to your white items from this year—they’ll work nicely with the clothes you’ll see in stores next year!

Eastern European Avant Garde
The trend is strict, graphic, and tailored. Picture industrial Berlin, with its dynamic graphic influences and focus on efficiency. It’s a tough underground look that’s simple and streamlined. Uniform-looking clothing will be seen, along with severe looking suits and shirtdresses. A standout item in my eyes: a tank top updated with a men’s tie. Look for graphic shapes and architectural lines, both in colorblocking and seaming.

Colors will be gray-based shades, but fuchsia and green, reminiscent of the 1980s, are standout colors.

Refined Nostalgia
This is a delicate, elegant trend that blends today’s tastes with those of the past, particularly the 1940s and 1950s. The feeling is ladylike chic with a slight country feel. Detailing on clothing will include sleeves puffed at the shoulder, lingerie touches, and the use of boudoir fabrics. Fabrics will be pintucked, smocked, and shirred. One interesting silhouette involved tops with open backs—these shirts fastened at the top near the neck. These tops can be worn alone or layered over another shirt.

Colors include scarlet, ochre, and watered down pastels.

Fantasy Refuge
The Fantasy Refuge style is a trend that revolves around emotion and the want for escape from reality. Youthful, naïve looks feature, though the glamour factor is turned up. Look for empire waists, stylized waistlines with belts, shrunken jackets in unexpected materials (e.g. terrycloth), and an emphasis on softness, volume, and transparency. A convergence between activewear and sportswear will also be seen: think of the Adidas/Stella McCartney collaboration.

The color palette for Fantasy Refuge combines strident, acid brights with innocent pastels. Think: cotton candy pink, rosy pink, red, lime, spring green, and sky blue. Neutrals combine with pastels, and the pink/grey combination I mentioned last week in Style Q&A will still be seen.

Now go impress your friends with your insider style knowledge!