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Fall/Winter 2014-2015 Runway Report: What’s Coming in Fashion And Jewelry | March 12, 2014 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—Perhaps fashion designers really are prescient, or perhaps it was the fact that Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York (the first of the month-long extravaganza of ready-to-wear shows around the world), fell in the midst of an ice storm, but cozy coats and wraps emerged as one of the most influential trends for fall/winter 2014-2015 ready-to-wear.
Executed in fuzzy, furry, fluffy, warm and woolly textured fabrics, the offerings were enough to make celebrities and editors want to leap out of their front-row seats and grab one off the runway before going out and braving the snow to get home. A related trend was for piling on layers of knits, especially long-over-long looks.
Weather aside, this is all about comfort. A recent article in T, The New York Times’ fashion magazine, identifies comfort as a long-term shift in fashion thinking. As if such a thing were needed, here’s further proof that the customer is in control: women are voting with their wallets to reject styles that require too much squeezing, tottering, effort, or pain to wear, and designers have no choice but to listen. To wit, see how popular flat shoes and boots have become, while the fur-lined Birkenstock sandal shown at Celine last year touched off a craze for comfortable sport sandals that were heretofore dissed as fashion for the tree-hugger set.
Phoebe Philo at Celine took the Birkenstock out of Woodstock and made it chic. (Image left, ChiCity Fashion; right, Lucky magazine.
The demand for comfort in fashion also extends to jewelry. Says Patricia Gumuchian, vice president and head deisgner of New York-based Gumuchian, a firm that specializes in jewelry designed by women for women, "Today’s working woman is not only simplifying her wardrobe, she is also simplifying her jewelry. She tends to have fewer, higher-quality staple pieces which she can wear daily. Elegant women today no longer look like Christmas trees, or pile on all their rings. They would rather have one stunning ring and a flattering pair of earrings; that’s all that is needed.
"But for that to work, the jeweler has to make simpler models but with a lot of pizzaz and most importantly of the right consistency: not too light, as the pieces won’t hold up to daily wear, and not too heavy or it won’t be pleasant to wear. The pieces have to stand out by themselves."
18k white gold and diamond Daisy ring from Gumuchian's "Ring Cycle" collection. The ring converts into a bracelet, right.
More key trends. Texture was a huge trend on the runways. It went far beyond outerwear and touched almost every aspect of dressing, often with an arts-and-crafts feel.
Texture also is what will keep jewelry suitable to pair with these clothes. An artsy sweater just doesn’t look right with polished gold and gems, so aim for brushed and etched finishes, and accents that we’ve already been seeing, such as fringe, tassels, drusy gems, gem slices where natural inclusions are showcased as part of the beauty, and so forth. Pavé works well too, as the overall surface is one of pure texture.
With all that cozy wrapping, earrings will need to be substantive to stand out. As evidenced by the number of large, on-the-ear styles trending at the Oscars, the button earring looks fresh again, but a powerful dangle also works, as shown by Ralph Lauren (image at top of page, by Giovanni Gianonni for WWD).
Almost every season features a reference to a past era. For fall-winter 2014-2015, those decades are the 1960s and the 1990s. 1960s-style shift dresses featured prominently on the runways in both Milan and Paris, while designers, after having already served up both grunge and minimalism as Nineties revival fodder, now turn to goth. The trend was evident in the extensive use of velvet (in all colors, not just black), kohl-rimmed eyes and black lips, and in the return of the choker. Long necklaces still are right, though as Jewelers of America’s Amanda Gizzi told The Centurion, a single long substantive pendant looks newer than layers of necklaces. (Watch a video interview with Gizzi here.)
Two looks from Calvin Klein show, cozy, arts-and-crafts inspired texture, above left and center. (Images, John Aquino for WWD.) Right, Marc Jacobs' easy knits personify comfort. (Image: George Chinsee for WWD.) Below, two ways to wear texture: a hammered gold and diamond cuff by I. Reiss, left, or gold, diamond, and fancy yellow diamond bracelet from Jye's Luxury Collection.
Below, a single statement pendant on a long bold chain is a newer way to wear a necklace now, says Amanda Gizzi of Jewelers of America. Left, a blackened sterling silver and 18k rose gold cross with diamonds and pink sapphires from the Aegean Collection by Eli Jewels. At right, the choker made a strong comeback on the fall/winter runways, as shown here paired with a long necklace at Marios Schwab. (Image: Giovanni Gianonni for WWD.)
Animals, especially birds, were a major motif on the runways. Coats and sweaters everywhere sported birds printed, embroidered, knit, or appliquéd to the front. For jewelers, animals of course are a perennial theme, from high-end bejeweled and pavé creatures to simple silver charms.
Above, birds decorate a Sixties-style shift at Erdem, while they were appliqued on a cape at Valentino. (Images: Giovanni Gianonni for WWD). Below, birds are a classic theme for high jewelry. Schlumberger's bird on a rock for Tiffany & Co. debuted in 1956 and is still made today.
Sporty influences continued for fall, most notably with the baseball jacket silhouette, dressed up—or not—with insignia or touches of fur. Finally, a few space-age influences stood out with patterns that captured the celestial backdrop of Gravity or futuristic silhouettes befitting Judy Jetson.
The baseball jacket goes luxe for fall at Marc Jacobs. Image: George Chinsee for WWD.
Key color trends included muted neutrals and black, gray, and white, but red—and, correspondingly, orange—were the new hot standout hues. Neon hasn’t completely gone away, but now it’s being used very sparingly, with a dash here and a stripe there. And while pastels are typically associated with spring/summer dressing, every so often they make a showing for winter, and this was one of those years. Minty greens, rose quartz, and icy blue, all with some sheen, captured the essence of a snowy, frozen confection.
Yes, mint green is a winter color at Gucci! Image: Davide Maestri for WWD. Right, trendy orange gets a diamond border in these earrings by Suzanne Kalan.