Bigger, bolder, better.
I talk as if I have a major showbiz bomb to drop, but here’s more exciting news than that. Prints are now being peppered generously among runways, decking one designer label’s seasonal collection to the next.
Gone are the generic and mass-produced patterns that plagued yesteryears’ fashion. (Can we please, please let the “Aztec” prints die?) In come a new, revitalized breed of colored logos, psychedelic shapes, and modernized classics. From Dolce & Gabbana to Gucci, an onslaught of familiar yet fresh takes on form and color is defining this year’s cream of the crop.
Here are a few prints to cop.
Rebooted Leopard
Take power dressing to a new level with the classic leopard print. Its 2016 update complements various textures and other details. Command with a striking coat-and-patterned-trousers combo, or dress down in muted hues to let your star print speak louder.
Animalia
Flaunt your spirit animals in the fabrics you wear. Animal prints take on a more literal definition as cats, lions, and horses make cameos in this season’s latest. Unlike the maturity and power leopard prints and other skins lend, animal prints give off a casual, laidback yet fun vibe.
Optical Geometry
Distorted imagery has penetrated the runways, but they’re far from being eyesores at the very least. Visually confusing prints add dimension to otherwise plain, flat silhouettes. These playful optical illusions animate its fabrics, giving life to each fold and ruffle in every step and turn of their wearers.
Checks and Balances
Those seemingly simple boxes have been reconfigured into daring geometrical shapes. Checks are made interesting by the slightest change in size and color combinations. Sleeker and slimmer checks come off modern and sophisticated, compared to its chubbier and one-dimensional predecessors.
Word’s Out
In case shapes, patterns, and figures have tired you out, try wearing words next time. Depending on how it’s printed—horizontally, vertically, and whatnot—phrases, names, and incomprehensible scribbles make for either striking accents or surprising textures. Brands get to flaunt imperfect handwritten drafts and pass them off as design, which interestingly works too well than you would have thought.
