Artful collage: emerging womenswear trend

By Geraldine Wharry, WGSN, 30 January 2014

Designers are breaking away from the digital and symmetrical imagery seen in previous seasons and are
returning to traditional painting and drawing for graphic, print and colour influences. Bold, oversized
silhouettes draw inspiration from the 1980s.
WGSN ANALYSIS

Two Women Holding Flowers by Fernand Lger,

1954

PAINTERLY
Resort GIFs by Quentin Jones for
AnOther magazine, December 2013.
www.anothermag.com

Rich Harbour by Paul Klee, 1938 (detail)

MURAL ART

WGSN 2014

Key message: 'Art is

fashion' and 'Fashion
is art'
Relevance: Cline,
Prada and Chanel
spring/summer 2014
shows resonate with
current international
art exhibitions and
spearhead an artful
print style now seen
in editorials and
street photography
Mashed-up styling:
silhouettes merge
eras and draw
influences ranging
from 1930s Abstract
art to the 1980s
London club scene
and oversized mural
art
Blankcanvas
clothing: garments
become the canvas
for oversized prints
and bold colours.
Curvilinear and
multidimensional
shapes take the
back seat and let the
prints do most of the
talking

Jean Charles De Castelbajac spring/summer 2014

Colour: vivid primary

hues jar against
pastels, neutrals and
browns and
celebrate
Kandinsky's colour
theory.
References: Sonia
Delaunay, Paul Klee,
Fernand Lger, the
L'Art en fusion
exhibit in Paris, Club
to Catwalk at the
V&A Museum in
London

Prada spring/summer 2014 campaign

PRIMARY COLOUR
Cline spring/summer 2014

Betty Jackson, Club to Catwalk exhibition

Prada spring/summer 2014

Sam Rollinson by Mert and Marcus for Sonia Rykiel

autumn/winter 2013/14

COLOUR THEORY

WGSN 2014

Prada spring/summer 2014

Sam Rollinson by Mert and Marcus for Sonia Rykiel

autumn/winter 2013/14

COLOUR THEORY

Le 21me street shot, London December 2013

Source: LOfficiel Italia, December 2013

FLOATING SHAPES

DYNAMIC BRUSHSTROKES

Simultaneous dress by Sonia Delaunay,1923

OVERSIZED 80S SHAPES

Eric Shaw, 2012

Issey Miyake

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
The Cloth, Summer Summit

WGSN 2014

The Cloth, Summer Summit

Christian Dior pre-summer 2014

WGSN 2014