It's a wrap for spring.
Designers at North America's second largest fashion week -- Toronto's LG Fashion Week -- offered a wide array of lust-worthy looks for spring-summer 2010.
Expect to see numerous wrap-centric looks with voluminous fabrics, soft and earthy tones and flashes of bright colour that can be topped with the not-so-incognito trench.
Here are five trends to look out for in the coming months.
Think big, bouncy, beautiful -- even budget-friendly!
Volume
Draped and flowy pants -- often called the dhoti pant or aka the MC Hammer style -- are big. The most wearable pant was presented by self-taught designer and Project Runway alum Evan Biddell. Volume was a big theme with skirts, pants, jackets and jumpsuits. Numerous dresses featured short fronts and longer trains for both day and evening wear.
Neutral palette
A soft neutral palette reigns, from soft whites and biscotti browns to soft corals and powder blues and pinks. But many of the looks featured a statement or pop of colour. Sunny Fong perked up his earth-toned collection with hibiscus-red while Nada stepped back into the Victorian era with magenta, David Dixon featured hits of lime green.
The Trench
A must-have item for spring. It was present in nearly every collection. Pink Tartan stuck with the traditional taupe colour but offered a contemporary twist keeping it above-the-knee, in a coat-dress style. Menswear designer Bustle created an attention-grabber with a colourful hunter-green plaid number.
Menswear
Menswear got unprecedented attention at the shows -- about one-third of the 31 collections featured stylish clothing from men -- from Bustle designer Shawn Hewson to Toronto's menswear boutique Gotstyle. Male supermodel, actor and singer Sam Sarpong strutted for two shows and sat front and centre filming looks at another. Boyfriend-inspired gear from tanks to cardigans and low-slung pants are also hip.
Fresh value
Shopping for a new way to market value fashion, retailer Sears unveiled their Attitude collection ($24.99 to $99). The looks included silky, draped, low-rise pants and jackets that could easily travel from work to play. Later, Joe Fresh designer Joseph Mimran (nothing over $59) unveiled a whopping 56 looks with an emphasis on perky shorts and shirt-dresses. Time to pull out those white loafers.
