The winter sun has began setting on the trends of A/W 16. Say ‘Au Revoir’ to monochrome, folksy tribal, punk and military styling, accompanied by the long awaited comeback of the eskimo coat and welcome the fresh, chic style that is emerging this spring and summer. Whether couture, designer, or high street be your preference there are plenty of new pieces flocking their way in to suit every shape and style this season.  

For Alexander McQueen, the influence of A/W 15-16 remains with much emphasis on subtle blacks, whites,nudes and even denim. McQueen has adopted a very simplistic yet chic trend throughout his S/S collection that has a very mature feel to it. In spite of this, the bright colours and floral patterns that typically emerge every S/S season can be found in McQueens range of accessories. There is much focus on rose, khaki, depleted colours entertained with both floral and skull patterns (perhaps influenced by the punk collections that emerged earlier this year). Overall, McQueens S/S collection as modelled by Natalie Westling, the face of this collection, defies the odds by mixing floral; which is typically seen as feminine with skull; a figure that holds dark and rebellious symbolism. 

With regards to Topshop, Karlie Kloss promotes their new campaign beautifully which is filled with pastels, patterns and a range of different textures, whilst still maintaining some of the a/w influence. Structured midi length blazers as well as trench coats are again making an appearance, however are mixed with floaty pastel, patterned and polka dot gowns. Topshop have released a genuinely exciting variety this season which is available at a low cost on the high street and interprets practicality into fashion with acknowledgement of our annual slightly disappointing early spring weather. 

Similarly to McQueen, French Connection (FCUK) have gone for quite a subtle approach with their new S/S collection also. There is not much pattern involved, but rather black, whites, nude & pastel pinks and denim! Both McQueens and FCUK trends are mirroring each other with an emphasis on structure rather than pattern. Very similar to the pieces Missguided released when they first launched, and thus it wouldn’t be surprising (but it would be exciting) to see the highly affordable high street store go back to their roots this season. Like Topshop, practical fashion seems to be-coming more set in the notion of UK designers when creating these collections, as FCUK also re-release the trench coat in a few colours this season. 

It is with great anticipation that we await the release of not only these S/S collections, but many others. Thankfully, with the maintenance of on-trend coats, blazers and jackets in style, I may not have to be so patient with the weather this year as both high end, and high street have practicality embedded into their design process now. This season, designers are keeping it simple with an emphasis on structure, and material of the design rather than pattern, however it appears we will still find the highly anticipated floral, polka dot and typical spring / summer patterns along the high street.

I hope you all enjoyed my first article here on House of Solo. Let me know what designers or collections are tickling your fancy this season and check out my personal blog if you’d like to hear more from me! Daily Dee.