The Livetrend team has attended the latest leading Textile and Design Fairs, including Première Vision, TexWorld, Paris Fabric Show and Print Days to gather and confirm the most recent information on the newest textile, print and color trends. In this report, you will find all the information needed to stay updated on the key directions for your SS22 materials. There are six main trend directions regarding trims, prints and fabric novelties. These themes are all unified by the striking desire to address the majority of our senses and generate a highly visual and tactile effect. New ideas, including the emphasis of emotion, sensuality, heritage and eco-responsibility are marking a striking shift in consumer values and attitudes. A strong interest in expressing individuality and personal needs is paired with newly established commitments to reasonable and functional products within a positively sustainable frame. Reason and Emotion are now the new baselines and pave way for a new level creativity that aspires to create meaningfully intriguing statement looks. 

Since the Trend Directions of the season are following the principles of fantasy and purpose simultaneously, the taste for augmented natures is emerging. Fantasy realities translate into otherworldly and psychedelic prints and silhouettes, which fuse the celebrating elements of nature with the overarching escapism into a new imaginative digital sphere. For other narratives, a strong focus is put on intensified inner yearnings, which balance sophisticated seduction and a natural sexiness. The stories of desire shift between almost eclectic and provocative outlays and hyper soft interpretations, so they can adapt to a wide array of consumers. Another trend are smooth solar styles, that encapsulate vitamin-boosting and peaceful qualities. Alongside, an interest in visually appealing, almost origami-like structures and hyper-smooth surfaces is not only bringing comfort with an ability to transform, but embracing a heightened mindfulness regarding wellness, self-care and home. Within the frame of this more reflective mindset, rustic and more heritage styles are induced with the enchantment of youthful joy. As for the last trend, the focus on well-being as an individual, but also as a society looking towards improving the entire planet, translates into a new normal regarding ecologically sourced, yet increasingly innovative and statement-ready material. New conscious and hyper performing textiles are now updated with more chic and and fanciful twists to grab attention and step into the dressy and dream-like scopes of the season

With a highly sensory appeal, the trend Seductive Touch is depicting the elevated focus on tactile sensations on screens and skins. The growing desire for touch comes not only from a contactless lockdown, but similarly from a rediscovered confidence and body positivity, all within the frame of more inclusive beauty standards. This new form of attraction is strongly inspired by nature’s unique and pleasing delights. Within this concept, the alluring and suggestive qualities found in nature are enhanced. They translate into fluid handles and smoothly textured surfaces, that you want to touch immediately. For fabrics this means: flowing knits and ribs, supple satins and lustrous coatings with a luminous and daring shine-effect. Opposed to these super silky, almost wet finishings, attention is put on emphasizing more grainy natural textures, such as leather, which evoke the idea of literal skin. In addition, crinkled and brushed materials, whose surfaces invite for touch, are used to capture this tactile and intimate story as well. The colors of this trend concept fuse thrillingly alluring bolds and feminine pales into a sophisticated and subtly contrasted harmony. Summed up, playing with opposites surrounding touch and texture and with the newfound sexiness of nature and females, this story is merging textiles into a narrative of stimulating fantasies.

The Augmented Nature trend concept is based on the changing image of technology. Trust towards the opportunities of new technologies and acceptance of their beneficial properties have built-up over the course of the pandemic. Digital worlds and AI are infused with an evermore human notion. This can be seen in more personal avatars and digital design, as well as social media, which has turned into a sort of second personality or diary for most people by now. We can also witness innovative designers creating garments solely for digital use and more and more consumers focusing on avatar skins as a second wardrobe for new alter-egos. This positively evolving relationship translates into an exciting mix of nature and virtuality. Psychedelic garden prints and fascinating surreal structures are poetically capturing the new aesthetic of a digital nature symbiosis. In terms of materials, performance qualities, second-skin mesh and jersey, as well as innovative lustrous coatings are key. The color palette is introducing new magical darks (ultraviolets and blues) and clashes them with cyber-brights for a digitally effective look. The striking visuals are harmonized with blurry finishings and cheerful print elements to capture the new excitement regarding a more technological world.

The Spring/Summer 22 season is channeling all the positive and radiating emotions that people are releasing as the end of the pandemic is approaching. The Soft and Solar concept draws from this warm and luminous energy and spells out in vitamin-boosting color combinations and supple handles, which evoke joyous associations of sunsets and a dreamy outer-space reality. Regarding color ranges, gradients that accentuate movement, infuse soft natural tones with joyfully bold colors. The color hues are depicting a reddish palette, introducing fiery oranges alongside peach and fuchsia. The overall look balances between sun-washed effects and an almost chemically or digitally-enhanced finish. Random reflections capture hallucinogenic effects of nature and add to the richness of the color harmonies. The fresh spirit in prints and dies includes updated ombrés and tie & dyes and other vague and faded structures. Soft yarns and lightly vibrating qualities are important to bring the magnifying and fluid effects from prints to textiles as well. Through the transparent and fluid quality of this story’s materials, new colors and nuances are created, which intensify the poetic and unique character of products. The aspect of transparency can also be interpreted as one of the new normative standards in the production process, which is similarly based on a nature-focus, as is the solar theme. Finally, these two interpretations of transparency both allude to the evermore uniting fact that we all live under the sun together.

Within the context of the Structural Hub, we explore the new norm-core desire for uncompromising yet magnifying comfort. A calming and tangible need to feel protected is pairing with the wish for freedom and liberation. The result: a fresh and modular taste for hyper-tactile surfaces. More innovative materials are enhanced with origami-style finishings to create 3-dimensional structures, that resonate a cocooning reassurance. This dynamic comfort look is creating possibilities for creative fantasy volumes due to their ability to expand and decrease. Agility is key here. Next to these more dramatic, almost pillowy surfaces, more subtly textured ribs and seersucker are becoming the new staples for a majority of commercial product categories. But even for those, the dynamic properties of textured fabrics remain. Their transformability allows these materials to follow the movements of the body smoothly and guarantees the highest levels of comfort and ease. Simultaneously, their soft, almost puffy quality is inviting touch and fueling the sensual desires for tactility on and off screens. Lastly, the freedom- infused desire for comfort, translates into a breathable softness in terms of colors as well. The look seems dipped into diffuse pastels and other soft harmonies, which underline the light and purifying feeling of liberation awaiting post-pandemic.

Heralding a continuously purposeful attitude towards sustainability and a desire for maximum functionality, Conscious Performers remains an important story for SS22. As an update, the story is infused with a fresh and more chic performance finish, that taps into the desire to dress up and to celebrate beauty of and within the outdoors. Biodegradability, closed life-cycles, less harmful chemicals are the new norm now. High performing properties, such as breathability, weather-proof properties or easy-care and a more sleek finish are demanding uncompromising innovation to stay on track with those eco-responsible premises. To achieve a more fashionable look, technical fabrics are using coatings with a lustrous feel, that might include waterproof qualities. Other performance textiles might be reinterpreting classic tailoring patterns like houndstooth on a performance level or borrow the fluidity of silk. Ultra-performing knits and ribs, as well as jersey qualities are key for this trend direction as well. Sophisticated color highlights or natural structure inspired prints are enhancing the updated design thinking and add an elegant twist to the responsible, performing textiles. The conscious interplay of elegance and function as well as a clear focus on nature’s beauty is creating an innovative mix, that should not be missed for SS22.