Fantastical forest themes explored in Harrods' Christmas windows of last year have re-emerged in AW12 but with an organic, almost folkey, take on the luxurious wintry scenes such as that seen below:
Harrods, 2011, my own photo
More often than not the 2012 trend has looked on forest-residing animals for inspiration; replicating colours & textures and using woodland creatures as motifs on jewellery, knitwear, hardware etc.
The word Galactic has been widely used to describe one of AW12's most coveted trends;
GA-LAC-TIC [guh-lak-tik] - adjective
1. Astronomy.
a) of or pertaining to a galaxy
b) of or pertaining to the Milky Way
2. immense; huge; vast
As the second definition suggests, this is a vast trend and encompasses more than just stars and space, it incorporates futurism and the wilderness, merging the contrasting elements of organic life and futuristic geometric forms.
The below music video for Ke$ha's "Die Young", is a perfect example of this season's hottest imagery:
...and Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen" video also seems to call upon this trend but with a slightly more discrete approach:
Influences for this trend can be traced from a myriad of sources:
Photograph: David Sims, Styled by McKenna
The new edition of Philip Utz's menswear biannual Man About Town is The Space Issue. For the new issue, Utz and creative directors Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag of M/M (Paris) pitted the homemade against the futuristic.
"The space theme was chosen because I wanted to break with the retro aesthetic that Man About Town had been championing prior to the Hedi Slimane issue, but also because I felt that it would take the writers, photographers and stylists out of their comfort zone to produce something less self-referential and more thought provoking that what most other men's books have to offer" Utz
The issue has combines unlikely bedfellows such as astrobiologists and stylists, computer programmers and fashion photographers. Further contributors include fashion world heavies Alasdair McLellan, Joe McKenna, Olivier Rizzo, David Sims and Willy Vanderperre.
Aside from the catwalks, celebrities and musicians have played their part in bringing this trend to the
high streets. The Kills launched their retrospective in London's Hoxton Gallery with images taken from their recently published book, 'Dream and Drive'. The Kills' Alison Mosshart once compared the rock 'n' roll lifestyle to...
"waking up in the morning, putting on your boots and shooting yourself out of a canon"
...now 10 years later, the band have decided to mark the decade of musical history with a trip down memory lane, of which guests to the launch displayed their inner rocker through leather.
This season leather doesn't have to mean moto jackets and rocker trousers, battered and worn. This trend is evokes gothic glamour and is rich with suggestions of rebel, vixen and dominatrix; glossy black leather offers a sleek take on autumn's new decadent air.
From a Eurostar tourist booklet, 2012
The presence of leather is not limited to the typical jackets and separates, but extends to visions of sleek gowns in full black leather, in the cleanest silhouettes, as seen in Valentino and Calvin Klein collections.
Knee-length leather coats were created by Loewe, Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg and Givenchy, the cover-up to covet this season - just opt for classic shapes with little to no detailing, save for a neat belt.
Halloween has hit just as the Gothic trend has been released in all it's gloomy glory! It was no secret that leather, lace and tones of black and oxblood were the season's go to fashion fix but the trend has been fully exploited this Halloween.
Aquilano Rimondi
The merge of this intense trend with the dress-up event of year has encouraged consumers to emerge themselves in the bewitching trend and given them the confidence to create bold and beautiful looks.
See below for the Harper's Bazaar interpretation:
"In anticipation of his retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art, filmmaker Tim Burton reimagines the season's dark delights" Harper's Bazaar
Photographs by Tim Walker Read more:Tim Burton Halloween Fashion - Tim Burton Fashion Shoot - Harper's BAZAAR
I myself chose to go with the Black Swan as inspiration for my goolish guise, incorporating the trend of black, satin, net and, most importantly, feathers:
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