N ow is the time when many are away recharging, resting from the hard work that will culminate in the 2017 Spring Summer releases. But what will come? Some hints have already arrived via early releases from Damir Doma, Julien David, Public School and Vetements regarding the continued experimentation influence of the 80s and 90s acting as a foundation for breaking new ground. Proportion play and silhouette/cut exploration hide within the desire for change amidst the need to cocoon and withdraw.

Already, the apocalyptic aspect is playing out in real life and in our entertainment mirrored in the measured tatters we saw in recent collections. But now we are past that. We aim for something more, something higher than ourselves. It comes from looking within and beyond. To do so, we take advantage of our technical advancements and balance this with a nod to what we know, what is familiar. This tether to the past is our safety line that grounds us as we take brave steps forward. This introspective and thoughtful part of us is coming as we face our fears, be they political, economic or otherwise.

We will soften as we create, open to our imaginations and play with form and pattern. We will embrace texture while rewarding us with tactile gentleness, and allow technology to bring innovation to continue comfort. Warmth will be light (textile innovation will rule here), colour will lean to fantasy as we allow darkness to have its place (think of the colours the last time we got lost in ourselves during those decades). Boldness is still among us but will not be alone, for memories we can lean on will guide us to attempt to recreate better times in similar circumstances and sentiments.

We want more. We want better. What this means requires tapping into our hearts and soul-search for what that is. Fantasy is subjective, and will be part of this expression just as it was during the last collective efforts of experimentation as we walked the precipice of our uncertainties. And, as before, technology will help us with the monologue, again fine tuning what creatives have in their minds to translate this aspirational escape.