Black is the new black

Head-to-toe black is a key look for girls in LA right now. Our street shot expert Bonita Halm snapped these fashionistas at various events during LA Fashion Week. Check wgsn.com for the full report coming soon.

Inspiration old and new

We've been looking backwards and forwards for inspiration over the past couple of weeks in LA, from new and innovative textiles and designs on display at the LA Textile Show, LA Fashion Week and LA Market Week, to vintage inspiration at the California Market Center's "110 Years of Fashion" event.

The latter was a fresh way to present modern fashions, pairing brands and designers such as BCBG, Sue Wong and Cynthia Steffe with influential fashion bloggers like All Things Ordinary, Mondette and So Super Sam. Each pairing was allocated a particular decade from the last 110 years and tasked with presenting their designs in a style sympathetic to that era. As a guide, they were also given a detailed list of the key trends for each period prepared by WGSN.

L to r: moderator Alison Nieder, Gloria Brandes, Sue Wong, Doris Raymond, Sally Lohan

By way of on introduction to the exhibit, and given our special interest in vintage at WGSN, we also helped organize a panel discussion focusing on past fashions and the influence they have on 21st century design. The panel was moderated by Alison Nieder of the Apparel News and included vintage expert Doris Raymond, designer Sue Wong and BB Dakota Creative Director Director Gloria Brandes, as well as myself.

Topics included the definition of vintage and what it means to today's designers; how and why we look to vintage for future inspiration; vintage designs that are influencing trends right now and a host of other ideas.

For more on this event, check out WGSN's vintage directory next week.

Glamourous headpieces at Concept FW in LA

Last night I attended Concept Fashion Week at downtown LA's Spring Arts Tower to check out the A/W 10/11 collections from Chelsea Rebelle, B.Scott and Fremont. The event and space had a independent, artsy feel compared to other shiny, star-studded fashion week events, and the crowd did as well. Young artists and designers stepped out to show off their personal creations, including some fantastic, showstopping headpieces. I especially love the Native American-inspired headdress with gold sequin bow.

Western shirts at SXSW

Having seen ethnic inspired accessories and detailing for a couple of seasons at SXSW, WGSN spotted a lot of mens western shirts as an extension of the 70s Americana trend.

All street style images by WGSN

Many styles for men and women could be found in the various vintage shops along the South Congress area and at the Levi's Fader Fort. Key details included cowboy inspired embroidery, contrast piping and plaid elements. For more inspiration, have a look at the Design file: 70s Americana in the Youth directory on WGSN.

WGSN goes to SXSW

Austin, Texas welcomed the world of music, film and interactive media to its annual SXSW festival. Music spilled through the streets at all hours of the day and night in downtown Austin where over 2,000 bands played during the week long festival. Whether it was in an empty parking lot, church, restaurant, bar or book store, nearly every available space made way for bands to play.

The music festival has long prided itself on a roster of indie bands and regional acts, giving unknown bands their big break. But well-known acts such as Hole, Muse and Smokey Robinson performed this year, making sure they were heard too.

The partying and music showcases spread beyond the official schedule. Carnivals, make-shift tents, converted warehouses and backyards became creative places for artists and crowds to gather.

WGSN America’s Youth team was there absorbing the action, music and fashion and will be giving you a report on SXSW style, soon to come.

What Goes Around Comes Around brings out the cool kids

I stopped by Urban Outfitters' Space 15 Twenty last night for the What Goes Around Comes Around one-year anniversary party and A/W 2010/11 preview. The collection had a lumberjack-meets-Hollywood glamour look, with rustic plaids paired with all-over sequins and luxurious leather. But the party guests were the real show-stoppers of the evening. Fashionable it-girls including Peaches Geldof, Shanae Grimes and Monet Mazur added their own personal style to some WGACA looks, while Hollywood cool kids also sported some great vintage finds. Stay tuned for WGSN's LAFW street style round-up, due to go live in early April.

New club in São Paulo

Located in a 1950s building in downtown São Paulo, the Lions Club opened recently and WGSN was there to photograph some of the different youth tribes at the opening night event.

The atmosphere incorporates the classic design of the building and the décor  is very traditional and  masculine, with a sober color palette and materials such as leather and velvet.  From the big balcony club-goers can admire São Paulo’s old centre. And the innovative "3D" dance floor really brings the place alive.

Spring textiles spearheaded by denim trends

The denim resurgence has been gathering momentum for quite some time, and now we are seeing the effects translated onto textiles other than denim.

While I was covering the Spring/Summer 2011 LA Int'l Textile Show, I noticed a strong trend for manufactured slashing and gashing of fabrics, a look made widely popular by the grungy ripped jean. Seen predominantly on jersey fabrics, the over-dye technique and manipulated surface certainly takes a strong cue from denim.

Remember the bleached splotched jeans? That’s a big trend on woven fabrics.

One of my favorite booths, Maruwa, is a Japanese textile mill and sells the latest antique-inspired denim fabrics.

A new innovation that we can look forward to in the seasons ahead is lovely printed chambrays in quaint patterns.

To view my full report on the show, please check out http://www.wgsn.com/ later this week.

The LA Int'l Textile Show Spring/Summer 2011 edition

The WGSN booth at the LA Int'l Textile Show

The Spring/Summer 11 edition of the LA Int'l Textile Show at the California Market Center started today and, for the second season, WGSN is the official trend partner of the show.

As with the Fall event last October, we've worked with the Textile Show to create a fabric gallery in the foyer of the CMC, showcasing our latest trends.

WGSN's Timeline trend looks at fusing past, present and future to create bold new designs and, in our interactive gallery area, we've created an intriguing fashion history dateline that allows you to map out past events and future ideas from 1800-2020.

So, if you think you know when Vogue USA was launched, or Coco Chanel was born or when or if we will ever be able to grow our own clothes, we invite you to place your "guestimates" on our map.

For more interaction, head to the WGSN Sensory trend area. Here, it's all about touch-me, feel-me fabrics, or surfaces that are dazzling to your eyes. We think you'll be quite surprised by what you hear too. Immersing all the senses means thinking not just about how these fabrics look, but about the rustle of silk or the music of sequins, too.

Finally, in our Fair and Square trend space, satisfy the simple pleasures of life with a game of tic-tac-toe. This trend is all about paring back; good design that isn't overcomplicated.

Tomorrow, I will be revealing more about these three trends and how they relate to textiles and surfaces, along with some inspiring ways to incorporate these themes into new product design at the WGSN seminar in room # PH19. For more details of that click here.

We also have a booth (# 808) on the Textile Show floor, where we are showcasing more of the urban bohemian ethos of Fair and Square, along with some of the fabulous graphics created by our in-house team. So, please come by and visit us.

Target - Liberty pop-up store

Target is previewing their much buzzed about Liberty collection in a pop-up store near Bryant Park. The store is unexpectedly fun and quirky and differs a lot from Target’s otherwise sleek and minimal look.

Flowers and floral patterns are superimposed with floral projections on giant moving shirts, cups and umbrellas. Prices range from $2.49 for cereal bowls to $199 for the adult bike and in between there is womenswear, menswear and kidswear, along with accessories such as cotton totes, headbands, flipflops and rainboots.

The store opened on the 10th and runs through the weekend. The collection can be found online from Sunday March 14th.

Complete collections in NY windows

ltr: H&M, Macy's, Bergdorf Goodman, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue

Many department stores and large retailers in New York have taken a similar route when it comes to window displays for ss10, showcasing entire collections in one window. H&M have done it with denim in their display, while Macy’s concentrates on colors, with several color-themed windows made up out of the season’s garments.

Both Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue have printed repetitive backdrops that give a puzzle like feel and make the garments stand out. For inspirational visual merchandising for spring, have a look at the Trended VM inspiration: spring/summer 2010 report on www.wgsn.com.

Indian influences for spring in New York

ltr: Etro, Roberto Cavalli, Etro

In the midst of beige tones and powdery pastels, colorful digital graphics and military influences, I noticed subtle inspirations from the east at many retailers. Loose fitting draped silhouettes merge with colorful patterns resembling royal ornaments. Accessories are showpieces, with metals and beading, feathers and stones.

ltr: Giuseppe Zanotti, Matthew Williamson, Amalga

ltr: Zara, Bloomingdale's, J.Crew

For other Indian inspiration, take a look at Acne ss10 which creative director Jonny Johansson confirms in Bon, Spring Summer 2010, is inspired by the spirituality and the silhouettes from India. For further eastern inspiration, have a look at our Sensory future trends direction at www.WGSN.com

We love Malafacha's grungy hobos

Inspired by hobos, Malafacha's F/W 10 show at IDM was an audience and WGSN favorite. The layered looks and the dissatisfied disposition of the models, along with pulsing Nirvana tunes captured the essence of 90s subculture. I especially liked the styling details, including double layered destroyed tights, wool knit skull caps and legwarmers.

Top-knots on IDM's fashionistas

I absolutely love this popular hairdo, seen on many fashion show go-ers at IDM. The relaxed, messy top knot has a effortless, undone vibe that is playful yet sophisticated. When paired with fabric bow handkerchiefs and accessories, the look is a more casual version of a 1950s pinup.

We love Toni Francesc

After presenting at the Salon at Bryant Park in NYFW two weeks ago, Spanish designer Toni Franscesc wowed IDM audiences with his A/W 10 collection, Artificial Life. The futuristic collection had strong masculine and military influences, including shoulder epaulettes, paneled utility pants and zipper details. We especially loved the autumnal color palette of terracotta, slate grey, steel blue and rust.