Take advantage of these trends

People used to go to work half naked, says Leigh Edelkoort. And who would know that better than us here in sunny South Africa? Edelkoort is a trend forecaster who makes it her business to look at what’s happening in the world and how it affects our lifestyle choices.

Speaking at the recent Design Indaba in Cape Town, she gave interesting insights into how our lifestyles reflect our collective subconscious and how trends are an interpretation of global events.

Not black and white anymore
For instance, grey is very much in fashion at the moment for both clothing and décor design. Leigh explains that this is because “we are moving into a society where we want to network and share”. Things are not black and white anymore: they are grey.

New marketing opportunities
We are set for a comeback of the middle market, she says. The public does not understand the prices of big brands anymore and there is room for ideas — companies will have to find ways to get desirable products to the market at a price people can relate to.

However, Edelkoort has a warning in this regard: If we lose the ability to make fabrics locally, we will have the same Chinese fabrics every year, become powerless in the market and kill our own expertise. The silk industry is already dying in India, in favour of cheaper polyester imports. There is a challenge to bring back production to our own countries.

We are covering up
To balance out all these decades of minimalistic dress sense, we are moving into an era where we are going to be covering ourselves up. Designers will find inspiration from snow, ice, moss and dust, fur, capsules and armour. Everything that acts as coverage will be used in design, in terms of colour and texture.

Politics, religion and nature
Lifestyle and fashion trends will also mimic political, religious and environmental questions. Covering yourself up is a form of religious expression too and we will start to look at fashion as a blueprint of the situation in the world. Nature will become important to us again, since “we are realising that what we have done is so bad”.

Military and religious style will escalate in the fashion industry. It’s about coming to terms with a constant threat. By absorbing our environment through what we wear we become ‘it’ and there is nothing to fear anymore. We are designing ourselves out of a situation, it’s a case of: if you can’t beat them, join them.

A softer, more cuddly environment
We will also want our clothes and our homes to cuddle us, she says. Cotton and silk will be popular textile choices. We want to be sensual again, by covering ourselves up, in a sort of burlesque, cabaret style. Red carpet type evening wear will make way for accessories: masks, scarves and sunglasses.

In terms of décor we will see things like wallpaper, stickers, table cloths and carpets becoming more and more popular. Bedding will also be big, “it is time to create fantasy”.

These are all signs that we want to retreat into ourselves once again and treasure the mysteries of being, Edelkoort concludes. The trends indicate that we are finally addressing the issue of saving our planet.