SS18 TRENDS
BY ELLA TUNG
This spring/summer season will debut looks that are bold and sharp, as well as delicate and feminine. As far as bold statements go, there is of course the obvious, which is color. The primary colors, in their purest form, are enough to make heads turn. With no need to accessorize. Stella McCartney and Christopher Kane are both designers that are rather fond of bright colors.
Sheer fabrics and plastic material are also in this category. Some outfits that have a sheerness can definitely be seen as controversial, but this makes it all the more of a daring statement, which proves to be a prevalent theme this spring and upcoming summer.
Designer Karl Lagerfeld, well known for being the creative director of the Chanel fashion house, has used waterproof plastics in a variety of ways for his spring/summer 2018 collection. From bucket like hats, to thigh high boots, he uses this material in places you would rarely find it. Other luxury fashion houses like Burberry and Fendi have made use of plastics as well, except in an array of color. Lagerfeld also features fringes and pastels which are on the more dainty side of things. Lilac purples, baby pinks, lemon like colors can be thrown onto feminine ruffles or in completely unexpected ways, such as business attire, just as designer Victoria Beckham and fashion house Celine have done.
FAST FASHION AND ETHICS
by ALEX NAKAHIRA
During fashion week, models adorned in the latest fashions dominate our social media feeds. It is easy to feel envious of the selective few that actually get to experience the insider thrill of fashion week. The high fashion world feeds off these feelings of exclusivity and luxury and for most of us who don’t have the finances to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a t-shirt, designer clothes is just a dream. Instead, we turn to fast fashion brands, stores that boast cheap prices for styles that mimic the latest styles we see on models during fashion week. The clothes’ material is cheaper and the handiwork can be sloppy, but their prices and fast delivery balance this out. Although fast fashion brands like Zara or Forever 21 are more common than high fashion brands, their sales are impressive - fast fashion’s projected market size for the year 2020 is 1.65 trillion US dollars worldwide. The main point of the fast fashion industry is to make you keep coming back. Brands like H&M and Forever 21 get daily shipments of new styles and other brands introduce over 400 new styles a week. For high fashion there are two seasons: fall/winter clothes and spring/summer. But for fast fashion, they are overproducing small subsects of seasons - creating over fifty seasons in this past year.
Many people, including myself, fall victim to this trap. Their marketing tactics clearly work, especially in consumer driven America. By mass producing clothes with convenient prices and introducing new styles constantly, consumers keep consuming more and more. But this overconsumption leads to fatal effects on the planet.
Sequins and cinderella shoes with sequins, are also huge trends. The sequins themselves have been displayed on about every article of clothing, but if you are looking to downplay the longevity, there’s always the princess like pumps, except with the touch of glitter. Fashion houses Gucci, Chanel, Dior, Tom Ford, and Marc Jacobs, are all loving this trend. Checks are also a pattern that is very prominent as of right now. They tend to mostly be on trench coats, blazers, and pants. Some designers have gone with the more basic, traditional look, while others are more overt.
If you’re someone who needs a bag larger than life just to fit your items, you’re in luck. As of recently, luxury fashion houses are accessorizing their runway models with multiple bags. Whether they be totes or handbags, these brands are doing it all.
Micro sunglasses are also sticking around, and not just for these seasons, but most likely for the rest of the year. Farewell to the big frames, and hello to the sleek, skinny shades, a trend that has been started from fashion models like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. These sunglasses have appeared during the debuts of various collections from Miu Miu, Prada, Stella McCartney, and Louis Vuitton.
Lastly, wild aspects of design have been added to the basic sneaker. This has been displayed through studded spikes from designer Junya Watanabe, and the crazy length of Public School’s pair of Jordans that go up to the knee.
Overall, the Spring and upcoming Summer season, have trends that contrast at first sight, but when put together, they create the daring, beautiful scene in our fashion world for the rest of this year.
ULTRAVIOLET: THE BEAUTIFULLY INTENSE COLOR OF THE YEAR
by KAYLIE YAKURA
The Color of the Year is one moment in time that provides strategic direction for the world of trend and design, and during December of 2017, Pantone revealed what the color for the next year would be. For 2018, it is a vivid shade of purple, specifically "PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet".
In a statement made by Pantone, they said that it is "a dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade,"one that "communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us towards the future." Enigmatic purples have long been symbolic of counterculture, unconventionality, and artistic brilliance.
Musical icons such as Prince, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix brought shades of Ultra Violet to the forefront of western pop culture as personal expressions of individuality. Nuanced and full of emotion, the depth of PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet symbolizes experimentation and non-conformity, spurring individuals to imagine their unique mark on the world, and push boundaries through creative outlets.
The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world - only second to oil. The excess garment waste along with the shipping and production of clothes are the main causes of the pollution. The high fashion industry, although guilty on some parts, is not the main polluter - the fast fashion industry is. The overconsumption and mass production leads to the garment waste, the shipping uses large amounts of natural resources, and the production, in addition to natural resources, uses pollutants like chemical dyes and pesticides.
So what does this rich shade mean for the world of fashion and beauty? On the runway or the streets, Ultra Violet is an enchanting purple that provides a harmonious linkage for both men’s and women’s styles. True to the coupled nature of Ultra Violet, created by combining red and blue, Ultra Violet lends itself to unique color combinations in fashion and is easier to pair with all colors on the spectrum than one might think. With golds or other metallics, Ultra Violet becomes luxurious and dazzling; with greens or grey's it evokes natural elegance. Similarly, Ultra Violet takes on distinct appearances with different materials. Lush velvets in the color suggest intrigue for evening, but are also unexpectedly modern in athleisure or sneakers. In accessories, jewelry, and eyewear, Ultra Violet suggests the complexities of natural gems, textures, and florals. After the the Spring 2018 fashion cycle, trend forecasters even included the saturated purple color in their reports with design houses such as Gucci (who used an Ultra Violet strobe light for their catwalk), Rochas, La Perla, Loewe and more sending brilliant ultra-violet looks down the catwalk.
Fashion’s carbon footprint is bigger than most would expect, but most don’t think about where their clothes come from. Most fast fashion clothes are made across the world and shipped over in a fossil fueled ship. Employing workers from underdeveloped countries is cheaper than employing US workers, similar to how buying a fast fashion shirt is cheaper than buying a high fashion shirt. But as we’ve learned with fast fashion, the cheaper option is not always the most ethical. Almost eighty percent of workers in fast fashion factories are young women from the ages 18-24. All these women make less than three dollars per day. They work fourteen hours a day under poor and harsh conditions where they are subjected to sexual harassment.
However, how does one wear the Pantone color in real life? One of the easiest ways to wear purple is by using it sparingly as an accent – think vibrant socks, a coordinating crossbody or jewel-toned accessories. If lilac and lavender are too sickly for your fashion taste you’ll enjoy incorporating the shade into separates like a knitted jumper or show-stopping patent booties. But if you love to experiment with colour, Ultra Violet presents the perfect base for making the ultimate sartorial statement. A singular matte purple on the lips or nails makes a bold statement of non-conformity, while softly blended metallics and shimmers in Ultra Violet transform the eyes into windows to the cosmos. Purple shades in hair continue to elevate street styles as a symbol of creative expression.
On the palette for every beauty medium, Ultra Violet complements and emboldens every other color, adding intensity and mystery. Mixing blue and red, two shades that are seemingly opposed, to create something entirely new, Ultra Violet is one of the most complex colors. During such turbulent sociopolitical times, the world should be excited about the prevalence of a color that stands for hope, discovery, limitlessness, and reflection.
This clear exploitation of workers is not just common in fast fashion, it is a normality. Most sweatshops are located in South Asian countries like Cambodia or Bangladesh - the latter having over 400 million garment production workers. Bangladesh also is where the deadliest garment factory incident in history took place. In 2013, the Rana Plaza collapse and killed almost all of their employees. Rana Plaza was a garment factory that was deemed unworkable to work in due to its structural failures, but their workers were forced to go to work. This exploitation of workers is not limited to just sweatshops - every single stage of the supply chain in the fashion industry whether it be harvesting materials or yarn spinning pay considerably less than a living wage. Even more horrifying, many of these workers are a lot younger than eighteen.
*ALL THESE SHIRTS WERE IRONICALLY MADE BY WOMEN IN SWEATSHOPS
The use of child labour and the exploitation of women alongside the negative environmental impact are horrifying facts about the fast fashion industry; the ethics of fast fashion simply cannot be debated.
THE DIFFERENT FACES OF VISTAMAR FASHION
by VISTAMAR FASHION CLUB
When I first came to Vistamar School, a senior told me that what she wore to school was what she wore to sleep the night before. As I became more familiar with Vistamar's community, I realized that this casual approach to how you style yourself was pretty un-unusual around the school. Most people tend to wear leggings and sweatshirts to school. Sofie Kupeic '19 created a fashion account that centered around this fact around a year ago. Sofie commented on this saying that "what makes Vistamar unique is that you can dress really 'fashionable' on one day and wear sweats the next day and no bats an eye." She created the account "to highlight a different aspect of the Vistamar fashion scene" and show "all of the others who shared my love for comfy/interesting clothes."
Another social media account that details Vistamar's everyday fashion is one by our very own fashion co-leader, Daisy Davila '19. She made this "to be able to look back at outfits I admire. Since fashion and trends are constantly shifting, I feel like documenting outfits is kind of nice because you can be able to look back and be like wow, I can't believe that was a trend!" A typical post on Daisy's account consists of a few pictures of someone's outfit and tags to where they got their clothes. She explains why she does this, going back to why she created the account in the first place: "I wanted to create a space where I and others can draw inspiration. On most pictures, I tend to tag where the clothes are from. If people are really inspired, they can go out and know where to shop for them." Although both accounts show very different ends of the fashion spectrum, they both showcase that fashion at Vistamar is subjective to who you are.
Still wondering about fashion at Vistamar? Keep scrolling down this page to see more featured Vistamrians!
VISTAMAR'S TAKE
by VISTAMAR FASHION CLUB
We put up a few polls relating to SS18 trends, street style, and celebrity looks and Vistamarians responded! Fashion is subjective to you and the mixed answers and opinions all prove this. Here's the results:
SS18 Trends:
SS18 Street Style:
Celebrity Looks:
THE QUEEN OF THRIFTING
by VISTAMAR FASHION CLUB
If you read the article about fast fashion, you are probably aware that it's a terrible industry to support. The easiest and cheapest way you can avoid supporting it is through thrifting. However, thrifting is hard. So, when faced with the puzzling challenge of thrifting and actually finding something that doesn't smell a type of way and/or actually fits us, we turn to current Vistamar senior Celeste Meijia for advice. Whether it's the colorful clips in her jet-black hair to her sharp winged liner, Celeste's personality stands out through her unique and artistic style. She's known to be a frequenter in thrift stores, so naturally, we asked to interview her on her thrifting tips and experiences.
What are some of the benefits to thrifting?
Students, whether high school, college, or whatever age, might not have tons of money - so, if you're trying to be ballin' on a budget, it is definitely the way to go! It's a cheap alternative to dress a little funkier and find your own style while still, if you please, go with the current trends! A huge benefit for me was finding my own unique style and in that, expressing the female gender in a non-comformitive manner. It also has lead me to crop and DIY for my own vision! Also, a huge benefit for some can be reselling the clothes on apps like depop, poshmark, etc. and getting more $$!!
A lot of people who want to thrift are typically discouraged and want to give up because they do not know where to go. Do you have any suggestions?
In the South Bay, you will find tons of Goodwills and Salvation Armies! Savers and NCJWLA Council Thrift shop are also nearby. In the greater Los Angeles area, if you do have a bit more money to spend, Buffalo Exchange or Out of the Closet are good places to start.
What are some of your own personal tips for thrifting?
DON'T BE AFRAID OF GENDER BINARY LABELS! Personally, I see all thrift shops as gender-neutral and can go through every clothing rack. That leads to another big tip - going through every rack will take a long time, so I prefer going alone and keeping my earphones in. That way, I can spend hours in a store. Also, if there's another thrift store down the street, venture down there as well! TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE PATIENT!! Personally, I prefer Salvation Army because one, they're huge, and two, they are cheaper than Goodwill. However, Goodwill does have better quality. One other pro-tip, coming from what I directly do, is to get the cart and fill it all up with items you adore. But at the end before trying on, you sort everything out and remind yourself, "Would I actually wear this, or am I just getting it because it's a dollar?" Patience!
What are some of your favorite items you found while thrifting?
My favorite item has to be this awesome heavy leather bomber jacket I found at Goodwill! It was a total steal, maybe like eight dollars or ten dollars; the quality is amazing and it has TONS of patches on the back. Jackets are usually the gems, always hidden. You have to dig!
Why did you start thrifting?
I started thrifting because of my aunt. A while ago, when she didn't have a lot of money, she used to thrift and she introduced me to what it is! I continued because I found a unique fashion sense for myself.
