I’ve worked through the runway shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris for Spring 2015, and pinned directional and trending outfits onto my board for the season. Having seen all the shows, there are ten big trends that stand out. Some of these are a continuation of existing trends and others are completely new. 

I will write about each of these trends in more detail at some point, but for now here is the overview:

1. Fluid and Oversized Fits

You’ve been hearing me say this for three seasons. Wearing your clothes a little, or a lot, looser all over is THE way to create a current look. Quite remarkably, fashion is finally reflecting our need for comfort in this age of casualization. It’s hard to believe that body con reigned supreme as recently as five years ago, but now it’s the least fashionable of fits. Tailored fits are always in style. 

I often read in the comments section that petites, and ladies with large bustlines cannot wear fluid or oversized fits. This simply isn’t true. Pick a more fluid piece as opposed to an oversized one. Pay attention to the shape of the neckline, the taper of the sleeves, and drape of the garment, and add structure to the outfit.

2. Defining the Waist

Surprising as it may seem, defining the waist was almost as popular as surrendering the waistline. A completely refreshing look to my eye. But it’s NOT a body con silhouette. It’s all about belting fluid and oversized tops and toppers to define the waist, or tucking them into bottoms that are structured on the waist. So you’re defining the waist without the extra tight silhouette. You’re allowing the top or bottom (or both), to move so that you can move along with it. 

3. White-Out

Wearing shades of white from head to toe is still extremely fashionable, and one of my very favourite trends. Think optical white, off-white, cream, bone and stone, and remix these shades of white in one outfit. There is a way to wear white-out for everyone. If you have dark hair, wear white-out with dark footwear to effectively bookend the outfit.

4. Cropped Pants

Cropped lengths are still the biggest trend in trousers and jeans. They are cropped at different lengths — on the ankle or shorter — across both fitted and baggy silhouettes in all sorts of fabrications, colours and patterns. High-vamped footwear, whether it’s booties, loafers, oxfords or ankle straps, complement this look. 

5. Skirts and Dresses

There were lots of skirts and dresses on the runways for Spring, so it’s not looking like a pants season. The shirtdress was particularly strong because it’s belted at the waist, which fits well into the defined waist trend of #2. Unlike the classic stiff shirtdress though, the ones on the runway were soft. They blousoned at the waist for movement.

The skirt of the moment is the knee-length pencil skirt with asymmetrical front V-shaped vent. 

6. Midis

We keep seeing ample knee-lengh and tea-length skirts and dresses on the catwalks, yet the length stays fringe at retail level. Hopefully this is changing because most of my clients are looking for longer skirts and dresses that they can wear to the office. 

There were many flared midis and tubular midis, worn with both waist surrendering and waist defining tops. Tubular midi skirts are particularly easy to wear because they do not create the stumpy feeling that some of us feel wearing midi lengths. 

7. Bottoms With Movement

Slouchy pants and jeans, with tapered and wide hems, are still very fashionable. Baggy bottoms with a more structured crotch point and tapered hems are just as fashionable, as are culottes, upscale track pants, soft wide-leg pants, and baggy long shorts. Tailored bootcuts and flared legs with structured fits on the thighs were aplenty, and looked fresh and very polished.

Bottoms were all about movement, with barely a skinny in sight. 

8. All shades of Blue 

The runway shows looked very blue. From the softest pale blue to the darkest ink. Muted, bright and in between. Blue was combined with just about any colour, so it is likely to become very versatile. 

9. All shades of Orange

Although most colours were represented on the runways, shades of orange were particularly strong. From tomato red and Dutch orange, to tangerine, mango, peach and shades of coral. All looking particularly complementary with shades of blue. 

10. Flat Footwear

Flat footwear (including heels up to one inch) made an even stronger statement than heels for the third year in a row. Laced sneakers, slip-on sneakers, flat sandals, mules, Beatle booties, cut-out flat booties, loafers, slipper flats, oxfords, pointy toe flats, ankle strap flats, Birkenstocks, flat forms and gladiators. It is the era of the comfortable shoe.

Also Notable

Toffee hues looked fresh worn for Spring and Summer in lightweight fabrications. High-low hemlines, dropped shoulder seams, rounder shoulders, boxy jackets, moto styles, sheer fabrics, boxy short sleeves, torn denim, sporty luxe, pastels and cropped tops are still going strong. Short shorts took a back seat in favour of longer shorts. 

I particularly enjoyed the glam ‘70s vibe of bootcuts with a fluid, tucked and blousoned shirt topped off with a fluid blazer because the outfits looked polished and fresh against a see of oversized slouch. I love the look of fashionable slouch, but do enjoy a mixture of refined tailoring along with it. And I’m happy to see that the era of body con is behind us for now.