Trend File with Secret Closet: Vacation Trend Spotting (Part I)

One of the joys of going on vacation is stepping into a new reality style zone and observing what people are actually wearing on the streets as well as the trends that are selling in stores on the other side of the world. After a refreshing holiday, over the next couple of weeks we will bring you a wrap up of the current wave of trends from the high streets of London, and the runway shows they trickled down from, starting with denims and trousers.

Die Hard Denim:

Denim pantsuit at Altuzarra, Denim at Balmain Resort 2014

Remember when you swore you’d never wear sky blue denim again? Well it’s time to rummage through that forgotten pile of clothes at the back of your closet because they are back in style.

It seems that with the raging coloured jeans trend that is still strong as ever, fashionistas were missing the good ol’ original denim fades of the ‘90s. After all, how long has it been since you put on a classic pair of blue jeans?

The style may also have been adapted from Alexander McQueen, Altuzarra, and Balmain Resort 2014 collection that worked profusely with patchwork blue denims in a myriad of different fades.

Whatever the reason, the return to washed out denim is back and here to stay. We saw them at ZARA and Top Shop among other high street stores along with the Denim Studio at Selfridges.

Print Puzzler:

Printed skinny denim jeans

It was next to impossible to find jeans that hadn’t been ripped up or scuffed at the knees and thighs.

The return to grunge is setting in once again but this time it sits next to chic, supple, silk printed pyjama trousers.

There is a fashion schizophrenia of sorts in the stores, where several decades of fashion genres are cosying up together, to form a new era of liberal minded style ethos.

Digital-printed trousers at ZARA

Remarkable digitally-printed trousers, inspired from the works of Mary Katrantzou, made up the ‘New Collection’ section at ZARA. Meanwhile, racks of contrast stripes, animal prints, floral bouquets, self-printed denim, and bohemian ethnic printed silk cropped loose pants filled the stores.

The shift makes a bold fashion statement but more so, is a genius business sales pumping move, as it elevates the status of bottoms from basic garments, that go with everything, to a separate apparel entity whereby it is no longer enough to just own neutral coloured solids.

You need to pay as much attention to the colour and print of your pants, as you do your tops!

Sanam Chaudhri spotted in classic blue jeans and a ZARA top, Spotted wearing boho printed pyjama pants, Saba Ansari wearing mango floral printed pants from ZARA

We spotted many stylistas already sporting some of these trends at recent local fashion events.

Take a look and we’ll be back with more fun summer trends in next week’s piece.

Coloured Norm:



Coloured jeans have become the norm next to edgier prints but the palette has evolved with the seasons.

Most popular shades for SS13 are coral and lime yellow among burgundy, turquoise, and cobalt blue.

Hues in white are trending high as is a bit of embroidery down the vertical sides.

Coral coloured jeans

For the first time, we noticed more style cuts in pants than in tops with leather, silk harem, billowing baggy silhouettes , and high-waisted cropped trousers being the most obvious of the lot, again stemming from the runway collections of Chloe, Rochas, Cavalli and Alexander Wang among others. Of course, these were slightly riskier choices — if worn with the wrong shoes or attitude could end up in disaster.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2013.

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