SPRING-SUMMER 2002: NATURE TAKES ITS COURSE
Byline: Daniela Gilbert
NEW YORK — Nature and ethereal themes will influence looks for the spring-summer 2002 season, according to Cotton Incorporated’s latest apparel fashion marketing presentation.
“The link with nature is increasingly important,” said Suzanne Achtemeier, Cotton Inc.’s senior director of fashion marketing for apparel. “There’s a renewed desire for natural fabrics that suggest their raw, unprocessed state.”
With regards to color, Achtemeier said, “White is important. It’s the link color, a mixer with which to create fresh pastels. Blue is definitely stronger than black this season but black creeps in to thicken the blue. Also, now that we have become used to more intense color, we’re adding it with impunity.”
The organization showed five groupings, Sportico, Nature’s Hybrid, Ether/E.com, Urban Garden and Blue White/Imaginer, which serve both color and fabric.
Sportico takes its inspiration from fresh fruit, Achtemeier said. The palette includes colors such as banana, mock orange, thirst quencher and adrenaline green.
In terms of fabrics, it offers a variety of contrasts. Some are reflective and lightly coated for a papery feel, while others are bonded, double-faced and feature textured surfaces and are reversible. Added elements include racing stripes, rubber band prints and ripple effects.
For Nature’s Hybrid, the look is more subdued with a palette of earthy colors such as cactus greens, rusted reds and golden neutrals. The accent color is a soft, pale blue.
Both man-made and natural elements come into play. For example, the group includes a polyurethane coating on raw cotton that creates geometric patterns reminiscent of snakeskin and tree rings.
Lightweight gauzes, mercerized knits and a variety of wovens are also included in this grouping. Transparency plays a key role, with fabrics that include net and mesh constructions, as well as open weaves.
Ether/E.com takes its cue from nature as well with a palette that mimics a butterfly’s wings.
Blue leads the palette with tinted blue-greens, lilac accents and dark inky blues all predominant. Pearlescent khaki colors round out the offering.
Lightweight is the word for fabrics in this group. They include soft cottons, shirting fabrics with iridescence and khaki looks with a more sophisticated edge thanks to steep twills, rep weaves and Bedford cords.
Urban Garden combines nature with the city. The palette consists of a range of neutrals combined with pinks and blues.
The group’s fabrics, meanwhile, are diverse: from animal prints and tie-dyed fabrics with a techno feel to canvas, twills and basket-weave cloths. Coatings are used here to create matte looks and rustic textures.
Japan is the influence for Blue White/Imaginer. The palette combines blues and whites in a variety of ranges from milky, inky and gray blues to translucent whites and copper accents.
Here, denim comes into play, made modern through high tech processes. When mixed with fibers such as linen and wool, subtle color variations are created. When coated, the denim is given a matte look and crisp, papery hand. Also key: lightweight denim that includes small herringbone weaves, smooth chambrays and indigo shirtings.