Mad Hatters
Fashion's Loopy Head Gear
Fashion designers have a reputation for their creative and often crazy take on clothing, but ideas are getting stranger and stranger than ever before. At the spring/summer 08 catwalk shows, designers displayed some really glorified accessories. These crazy hats ranged from box designs by Garath Pugh, headless hats by Hussein Chalayan and a swarm of butterflies by Alexander McQueen. However, it was trendsetter John Galliano that took the crown. His collection included futuristic -warrior style metal helmets, rubber swimming caps, extremely oversized rimmed hats, strange looking wraps that covered the whole head and neck, massive feathers and excessive flowers. A chameleon of clothing himself, he couldn't get enough of his delight for hats so decided to take his bow at the end of the show wearing two hats piled one upon the other.
Trend Themes
1. Crazy Head Gear - Fashion designers are creating more bizarre accessories as part of their designs, leading to opportunities for weirder and more unconventional head gear.
2. Futuristic Fashion - The use of futuristic, warrior-style metal helmets in fashion shows creates opportunities for innovating how we think about fashion and its accessories.
3. Excessive Accessories - Designers are using an abundance of feathers, flowers and wraps that cover the entire head and neck creating opportunities for innovating how excessive accessories are used in fashion.
Industry Implications
1. Fashion Design - Fashion designers will need to constantly innovate and create new, unconventional accessories to stay ahead of market trends.
2. Headwear Production - Manufacturers of headwear will need to keep up with the increasing demand for unconventional head gear as part of fashion trends.
3. Artificial Intelligence Systems - As fashion designers become more creative in their designs, the use of AI systems to create and test new head gear designs could lead to more efficient and effective methods for producing these accessories.