On Wednesday Feb. 28, Lasell College fashion students had the opportunity to go to the ultimate merchandising experience in NYC, the Coterie trade show. Hundreds of vendors from all over the world had booths set up for buyers to come view and hopefully add their collections to their stores, a job that many fashion students here strive for. Personally, I’m not interested in the buying aspect of fashion, but attending Coterie still gave me a look at all the upcoming trends and still an experience I’m happy I had.
First of all, most of this fashion was fall/winter ’18, so none of these clothes have even hit stores yet, giving buyers, and us very lucky Lasell students, a sneak peek into what could be trending next season.
One thing I noticed was a ton of fur as a staple for next year; almost every booth incorporated it somehow in their displays or clothing. Playful embroidery detail that we’ve seen trying to peek through as a trend seems like it’s going to finally get its moment and be huge next year. Recently, many brands have taken inspiration from Parisian culture, and we don’t see that stopping any time soon. As far as color, neutrals are always in and will continue to be so, but there were also many colors that you wouldn’t consider fall or winter that brands totally made work. For example, bright yellows and pastels will make a huge move to becoming fall colors.
What I loved more than seeing what would be trending next season was seeing what was trending now by observing what everyone was wearing. Almost everyone was dressed as stylish as they could and making a statement with their clothes. A trend that I saw frequently and believe will continue to be hot throughout the spring/ summer season were statement pants. Almost everyone was wearing printed trousers, jeans with high ankle hems and detailing, or various amounts of laces up and down the pants. Many people kept this trend going and kept their tops and accessories simple to compensate with the busy pants. I loved the statement they made; let’s see if this trend continues!
Overall, Coterie was an experience that I’m happy I got the opportunity to go to. It ended up being an extremely long day in New York, but being able to be see how much work brands have put in trend forecasting and making their brand look the most appealing to buyers really inspired me. It’s always great to get to experience fashion in the real world and luckily for me, Lasell provided that at Coterie!