Spring-summer 2011 trends to feature at GDS
15/07/2010
The Y-Trends report says several trends remain significant long-term and feature prominently in the season under scrutiny. Retro styles for men and women and a focus on traditional craftsmanship convey a sense of assurance and longevity, it claims. A combination of both, however, triggers interesting new ideas such as the use of traditional skills and finishing techniques for sneakers that were previously only mass-produced or new-style uses for old-fashioned designs. For instance, deck shoes with an ethnic-style opanka construction very much tie in with this theme.
This desire for traditional classics can also be seen in the steady rise in the number of formal-looking shoes styles. Here we see new takes on classic men’s shoes for the young and trendy customer-base through to countless high-heel variations for women. Court shoes and ankle boots remain key and are combined with the many retro skirts, dresses and leggings still in evidence on the fashion scene. Lasts are feminine but not staid and for the large part dispense with elongated toes. The focus here lies on the design of special heel shapes.
The use of ecological materials is still of great significance in Summer 2011—especially since eco trends are easier to transpose in summer. Sandals facilitate minimal designs with unlined, vegetable-tanned leather uppers. Styles made with fade-out, textured or waxed canvas or satin also feature in this theme. Materials like these also appear in the summer versions of the many robust casual boots emerging last season. There is no end in sight for the experimentation with new dyeing techniques like spraying, tie and dip dyeing.
Furthermore, young shoe fashions also experiment with all-new shapes. These are heavily influenced by architecture and science and display proportions that are either geometrical—negating, even distorting the shape of the foot—or highly curvaceous in design, so flawless that the shoe seems like a living organism. As well as impacting some slim, elegant heels this feature mainly influences platforms of all kinds plus wedge heels and other stable heel shapes.
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