Life, the city and the future are going to be more interwoven and complex, whether we like it or not. It’s time to step up on sustainability and innovation and step out of the ‘take-make-waste’ model to adopt an approach that is restorative and regenerative by design.

Flow Culture (Swimwear)

Consumers are opting for savvy, humorous and playful concepts. Hype-driven, lo-fi aesthetics celebrate street-smarts, appropriating banal, popular, contemporary design and retro design. This fresh language is all about Instagrammable self-expression.

Materials:

plain matte and shiny bases for colourful prints or bold, colour-block combinations. From ultra-matte to soft sheen, shimmering satins and lacquered finishing with latex and leather optics. Retro terry, shimmery felt meets nostalgic, compact 1970s Trevira-like (polyester) knits or grainy crêpe and foamy knits.

Patterns: mixing 1960s, ‘70s and ‘90s nostalgia with omni-culture influence. Happy florals, banal heart, mouth, eyes, text and stripe graphics. Nods to Verner Panton, Barilla advertisements, Pokémon and Ikea alongside Etro and Valentino.

Colours:

vibrant, bold and straightforward: fuchsia, ultramarine, cherry, orange and solar yellow. Combinations of navy, brown and beige generate a retro feel.

Silhouettes: basic tank tops, tank swimsuits and halter suits. Also boxers, vests and Ts, simple triangle bras and bandeaux. A focus on genderless fashion!

Real Fake (Swimwear)

How about swapping the real world for a virtual universe? Or finding the dimension between reality and the digital world? Citi GPS estimates the value of the augmented and virtual reality hardware market at $692 billion by 2025. Retail experts foresee mixed reality boosting physical retail and future shoppers’ connection to real products.

Fabrics:

shimmering surfaces catch and refract light, evolving with motion for a fleeting, intangible dynamic. Multi-colour, metallic finishes give ethereality. Pearlescent and high-gloss offer fluidity in solid textiles.

Patterns:

reference interactive, screen-based experiences. Lustre-like sheens dance with colour and create movement and lightness, while surfaces catch and refract.

Colours: ethereal combinations of acid pastels create a surrealist, hyperreal mood. Luminous aspects, reflective, fluorescent, light-emitting.

Silhouettes: skinsuits, glove-like, combining perfect fit with performance features and facilitating the body to look, perform and feel better.

Circus of Life (Swimwear)

A joyful layering of theatrical influences and glamorous showtime aesthetics. Outspokenly expressive and unrestrained, creating fantastical mash-ups. A more-is-more attitude and a rebellion against minimalism.

Materials:

the ancient practice of dressing up on stagecontinues its reinvention in handcraft to technology-driven fabrics.

Patterns:

festive patterns use colour and embellishment from glittery, psychedelic swirls to gleaming ornaments and intricate, abstract multi-colour jacquards. Theatrical rhinestones and starry prints resemble nebula. Glitter and gleaming colours appear on black or dark purple grounds.

Colours:

the colour card has two faces: the first dark and dramatic for satins, soft velour surfaces and fluid silk touch surfaces carrying pale sparkle; the second soft and passionate, with pinkish purple, flaming red, pale blush, gleaming gold and a fresh, twinkling aqua shade.

Silhouettes: inspired by ballet, ice-skating and ballroom dancing. Elegant styles with sensual asymmetrical cut-outs and gathered and draped details.

Hacker Spirit(Swimwear)

Changing attitudes around fashion and spending require new notions of production and aesthetics. This involves investigating opportunities for reuse, recycling and upcycling, and rethinking ideas about new colour palettes every season by taking a curatorial approach towards existing colours.

Fabrics:

voting for longevity in cotton-touch fabrics, with a natural look and feel. Voiles and tulles, as well as sporty satin knits. Fabrics cut in strips, rewoven or stitched back together again.

Patterns:

a raw approach. Rough paint and tough collaging meet raw scribbling and writing. Cutting up and re-assembling. Using wild spray paints, dip dyes and indigenous dyeing and printing methods to revive and upgrade the outdated and used.

Colours:

off-bright hues, thanks to use and reuse, that are off-grid and open to combine with any palette.

Silhouettes:

inventive and intricate by reassessment and reconstruction. Crafting creatively and freely, arriving at a modern sensuality.

Wellbeing(Bodywear)

People are making a conscious decision to live a more balanced life and connect to their inner voice. Fabric and garment concepts are addressing that desire for balance and evoke a comforting calmness. This can be achieved through synthetic routes as well as the pure natural way.

Materials:

an emphasis on lightness as well as the ultra-smooth together with soft and textured materials. Plains with performance features, caressing the skin and enhancing the feeling of wellbeing. Fluid, polished and glossy, adapting to the body’s shape. Plain matte and soapy or glazed, with enamel or mother-of-pearl sheen.

Patterns:

simple colour-knit stripes; two- and three-tone heirloom graphics; refined hand-drawn printed stripes; and subtle two-tone marls. Minimalist black and white graphic patterns.

Colours: shades are soft and sensory. A fresh palette with a series of ethereal pale pastels and a variety of skin shades.

Silhouettes:

minimalist, with only subtle and functional detailing or no detailing at all. To pamper, protect and enhance performance. Crafted with elevated techniques.

Bon Chic Bon Genre (Bodywear)

The 1980s and ‘90s gave us BCBG: bon chic, bon genre, meaning ‘good style, good attitude’. People wanted to be chic, elegant, bourgeois; we want this again today in a few key investment pieces to wear repeatedly as a way to reduce the clutter of fast fashion.

Materials:

fabrics look luxurious and pure – silk touch, crêpe surfaces, suede, and velour. Jacquard geometrics, piqué knits and twills. Laces and tulles with logo embroideries or iconic classics like butterflies, paisleys, leaf patterns or mini graphics. Exploring transparent, textured and 3D surfaces.

Patterns:

charmeuses as well as transparencies, with mini deco graphics, plaid prints and decorative tropical flowers.

Colours:

BCBG must-haves include: camel, pebble and ivory, taupe, ochre, burgundy, rose, mint and loden green – used plain and as soft monochromatic harmonies. No hard contrasts!

Silhouettes: making an art of a carefully curated, minimalistic, durable modern-classic look. Elegant design features. Carefully detailed.

(Athleisure): Active Urban

Functional, versatile and adaptable apparel informed by an urban environment, prioritising performance and utility. Geared towards younger, design-driven consumers living an active, city lifestyle. Addressing some of the challenges they live through by offering products and services that are all about simplicity, affordability, and flexibility.

Materials:

body-swim-active hybrids show grid mesh and openwork, relief textures and plains in all volumes and weights. Overly padded and quilted qualities. Cruelty free is preferable for urbanites when it comes to design: vegan materials, circular solutions, bio-tech innovations and bio-based solutions are key.

Patterns:

grid prints, graphic blocking and striping. Complex optical geometric artwork, bold blocking and rainbow grading. Bold plains are used in severe contrasts by means of colour as well as item blocking.

Colours:

utilitarian uniform primaries, Olympian blue, bold red, cadmium green and acid yellow. Black, greys and white are favourites.

Silhouettes: a multi-functional set of garments representing an urban uniform wardrobe system. Outfits with both style and functionality in equal measure become the norm. Unfussy, clean lines appeal to active urbanites.

MarediModa in Cannes

5–7 November 2019