Trend analyst, Nicola Cooper observed the influence of athletic clothing and gender fluid styling on the spring/summer collections of local designers. Photo: Simon Deiner / SDR Photo
CAPE TOWN – Trends analyst Nicola Cooper said it was interesting to observe emerging trends after just two days of designers showing their ranges at the South African Menswear Spring Summer 16/17 edition.
"One of the identifying trends for 2017 is called the ‘Big Easy’," said Cooper, who has more than a decade of experience in the fashion industry and focuses on trends in lifestyle, fashion and pop culture.
This trend, she said, was characterised by clothes that were "too big". The shoulder seams are not fitted at the shoulder line as tradition and common sense dictates, but instead fall beneath the shoulders.
This particular trend, she noted, has a lot of layering and a mute colour palette consisting of creams, whites and beautiful blush pinks for men, and for women, soft metallic colours.
Another key trend was "Athleisure", which Cooper said "looks athletic and is combined with Grecian-inspired draping and fluid movements".
The Big Easy trend, she told ANA, seemed to be inspired by the oversized zoot suit of the 1920s and 1930s.
The Big Easy and Athleisure trends stemmed from a place of "comfort."
Cooper elaborated: "Many people are working from home rather than in the office, and we travel more today than ever before so people want to feel comfortable."
The unisex, gender-fluid appeal of clothes was noticeable, she added.
Cooper said the world experienced the biggest gender bend in fashion during the 1970s.
This gender-fluid movement, she said, was coming through again due to the new generation, known as Generation Z.
This generation, Cooper explained, consisted of young people, aged 12 to 18, and included influencers like Jayden Smith, who occasionally wears skirts.
Generation Z, said Cooper, "doesn’t believe in race and they don’t understand gender bias – there is no differentiation".
"They have a futuristic belief that gender is part of an archaic system."
Cooper said it was a fascinating shift as current trends emerging in fashion were at once "contemporary and futuristic."
"We are seeing a lot of shifts and changes in shapes."
Clothes made to fit both men and women were more structured, almost box-like, she added.
Cooper told ANA she found the trends interesting, especially the Big Easy trend, as clothes were about "covering yourself and functionality rather than being decorative and aesthetic".
"It’s not just about how you look, but about how you feel."
The question is, what do these trends say about African fashion?
Reflecting on this, Cooper focused on fabrics and highlighted how between 25 percent to 65 percent of all manufactured goods were made out of "smart fabric".
Cooper said this trend affected the African textile market because these smart fabrics, made from for instance, neoprene, moisture wicking and microbial, meant that it was necessary to import these fabrics to "remain on trend".
"It is no longer about which fabrics are the cheapest," she noted.
This smart fabric trend has "created opportunities for manufacturing on the African continent as more and more people are starting to change the way we think about manufacturing, which is important".
This change in thinking about manufacturing, Cooper said, had begun to take place in major cities in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana among others.
"We are becoming more conscious of where the items we buy come from and supporting our local economy."
- Africa News Agency
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