Pure Catwalk Pure Trends Spring/Summer 2005

{mosimage}Presenting over 800 womenswear collections, Pure London opened its doors at London’s Olympia from the 15th to the 17th August. Split into six distinct sections Pure has become all about choice with a broad range of markets being catered for. Buyers arrived in their thousands, fast-tracking to Spring/Summer 2005, although many exhibitors also provided samples from their Autumn/Winter 2004/05 ranges as well.

This season Pure introduced 100 new lines to choose from, keeping the show fresh and interesting. One such newcomer was Amar and Dan’s ‘Chic-n-Unique’ e-tail store. Chic-n-Unique stock over 80 of the UK’s up-and-coming designers and have now launched their new wholesale division. This season – Profile 2 winner – Michelle David and distinctive label – Koru exhibited their collections on the Chic-n-Unique stand. The pair will also get further exposure when Chic-n-Unique lands at Prêt-a-Porter Paris this September. {mosimage}

For Spring/Summer Michelle David has taken inspiration from the 1920’s artist Tamara De Lempicka. Entitled ‘Tamara Rocks’ you can find quirky sportswear pieces with unique design details alongside full-on sequined dresses and tops – in shades of turquoise, green, fuchsia, black and white. “Our designers have been spot-on with the season’s trends,” commented Amar. Koru, meanwhile, has gone a more subtle route with neutral tones livened up with flashes of striking colour. Silhouettes are sculptural and feminine with some beautifully cut leather jackets and the use of contrasting fabrics.

(You can also see & buy pieces from Michelle David’s and Koru’s current collections at the Fashion Capital Boutique.)

It seems 2005 is all about creative designs that offer something different. Wandering around the exhibition the mood was very eclectic with a hotchpotch of eras and influences.

Emerging Trends for Spring/Summer 2005

Urban Tropic

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Urban Tropic takes sportswear inspired shapes and dips them in colourful hues and tropical prints. A fun, fresh look aimed at a young target market the mini-skirt rules with fitted-with-frill versions proving popular. T-shirt shapes drop off-the-shoulder and prints borrow from the Caribbean, exotic florals, rainbow stripes and a 1970’s retro vibe. Other key pieces include capped-sleeved hoodies, unstructured cropped jackets, dropped-waist cotton dresses and cropped denim pants. Over at Ben Sherman the theme was ‘Summer in the City,’ where casual sportswear shapes were given a more washed-out, sun-bleached look and prettied up with florals, layers and hand finished embroideries.

 

Urban Tropic labels: Customised UK, Mith, BBS, Gilda, Lulu & Red, Golddigga, James Lakeland.

                           

Nature’s Neutrals

For those not partial to bold colour and in-your-face prints there were plenty of neutral shades adding balance to the mix. Arriving in soft seersuckers, cheesecloths and washed-out linens – the neutral mood carried a strong North African feel. Shades ranged from white to light cream, sunset orange, rust and earthy browns. Shapes included; dashiki’s, tunics, loose pants, layered vest tops, harem pants, shawls and wrap dresses.

Neutral labels: Stills, Leni Braun, Pyrus Japonica, Cocon Commerz, Naf Naf, Anoushka G.

        

Rainbow Hues

Vibrant colour over-took subtle neutrals in the popularity stakes. Key colours as seen at Pure include: Green – especially moss green as seen at the Hoss Homeless stand, lime green and forest green. Sunset orange, turquoise, a range of pinks, lemons, tomato red combined with pure white.

Rainbow labels: Sandwich, Marta Teran, CCDK, Get Cutie, Sanmod, Almost Famous and Mint.

        

Hippy Chic

The 2005 hippy chic look doesn’t really bear any resemblance to the original 1970’s hippy – it just merely gives a gentle nod to the era. This time around it’s more hotchpotch and romantic with layers, lacy Victoriana pieces and feminized ethnic shapes. There are – floor length skirts, metallic sheens, tiered skirts and tops, chiffon and lace over-layers, caftans, empire-line shapes, sarouel pants and plenty of accessories. Colours range from neutral to fresh to metallic and there’s plenty of attention to surface detail, giving a slight arts and crafts feel. Beading, embroidery, sequins, pleats, hanky hems, gathers, ruffles and pin-tucks all feature. Pirnia Collections displayed several Hippy Chic/Arts & Crafts inspired pieces on their stand and it was buzzing with buyers.

Hippy Chic labels: Dishya, Little Budda, Pilar Ruiz, Maria Lafuente and Komodo.

       

Other Key Trends: {mosimage}

Eclectic Victoriana meets 1930’s elegance

Stripes combined with florals

Latino inspired evening dresses

Printed tea dresses

Fluid silhouettes

Ladylike separates

Feminine knits featuring lace-trims and bows

Short jackets in soft shapes (tweed is still hanging in there)

 

{mosimage}And if that wasn’t enough already, Pure Accessories took up the entire upper floor presenting the biggest collection of accessories in the UK. Footwear, jewellery, belts, bags, shawls, ponchos – it was pure visual overload. Jewellery is set to be big for next spring/summer with a broad range of dingle-dangle gems that look perfect with the new eclectic mood.

 

Jo Iles