Every season we come across inspirations which not only give way to interesting silhouettes but also surface developments. One such inspiration making a comeback after creating waves in the S/S ’12 collections is the ‘underwater’ world. Many designers this season took us under the sea for their S/S ’16 RTW collections, with garments embellished with sea shells, loose knit mesh, and shimmering sea sparkle. Complete with a colour palette that one would only find among the corals in the warm tropics; vibrant corals and misty sea foam greens hinted upon the growing sea influence. Flowy silhouettes, sheer fabric use, shell buttons, and increased usage of sailor aesthetics gave a direction to the exporters and fabric manufacturers for experimentation and new developments.

Summer wardrobes usually bring in details like floral prints and vibrant colours, but this year’s Spring/Summer ’16 collections took us to the depth of the ocean. Inspired by the iridescent shades of the sea and the tropic colours of coral reefs, designers had their models grace the catwalk as mythical sea creatures and urban mermaids. Oceaninspired clothing and accessories felt fresh in the form of flowing silk gowns and coralprint swimsuits. Some wispy gowns were decked out in an array of exquisite marine embellishments, from beaded sea horses to almost ‘cartoonishly’ sweet fishes.

After the over-exploitation of nautical stripes and other ocean-inspired elements that adorned collections in S/S ’12, the trend seemed to have seeped into hibernation, but has now made a powerful comeback this season. It is hard to ignore the marine influence that appeared in collections of many big giants including Armani, Chanel, Narciso Rodriguez, Prada and Versace. From multitudes of ocean blues, sea-horses, shells, starfish embellished jewellery and accessories, to the light, iridescent layers crafted with great enthusiasm, the sea-inspired trend can easily translate into collections by exporters for the mass market, transporting one to a Caribbean state-of-mind.

The Spring/Summer 2016 runways witnessed countless possibilities of sea elements interpretations and applications illustrated by designers. Garments so light and airy, the fabrics almost gave an illusion of buoyancy at Emilio Pucci, whereas, designers like Aigner, took the colour palette inspired by the life of a mermaid; grey blue, sand washed neutrals, and pastels – with glittering pearl-like, iridescent metallics to garnish their collections. J.W.Anderson’s take on an ocean motif was a less literal and uncanny one: asymmetrical tops were kitted out with bits of rope and knotted to ships, but the real show stealers were the sailor pants, which Anderson served up backward, buttons on the backside. A fantastical jewel-toned fish joined a menagerie of other worldly creatures from land, sea, and sky on Mary Katrantzou’s runway as well.

The translation of ocean-inspired elements into collections happened through the channel of surface manipulation… Be it by coral and seashell motifs, patch worked on to black mesh trousers and shifts; fish and sea urchins printed on to diaphanous trench coats and asymmetric shifts; or clams appliquéd on to a chiffon top and full-sleeve ivory dress. Knitted sea motif creations and crocheted waves formations recreated the dreamy aesthetics of the sea. For instance, the coral red sequined shift, layered over a longer off-white lace dress at Pucci or 3D corals and sea urchins embroidered on the bralet-skirt combination at Fusto Puglisi, depicted different ways the sea could be brought to life in the world of fashion.

The sea influence doesn’t necessarily be only portrayed through surface development. Simple elements like white and blue stripes, silver metallic sailor buttons placed on trousers and blazers or anchor prints on shift dresses are enough to show the prevalence of this trend. Dsquared2, with techni-colour beachoriented look showcased silhouettes with bare necklines, cut-outs, and high hems in a loud rainbow of colours. Notable looks included skinny high waist pants, mini dresses with colourful busy prints, and off the shoulder striped mini dresses covered with chiffon maxi skirts.

An ocean-oriented colour palette is another way of preparing the collection for a little deep sea dive. Muted, sandy colours, electric blue hues, aquamarine waves, soaring seagulls, sailor-inspired knots and playful anchor and boat prints evoked everything from sea to sky on summer silhouettes. Exporters and designers have a wide variety to choose, from a palette that includes aqua, champagne, chiffon, coloured gems, coral, green, metallic, pastels, pearls, sea creatures, sequins, shells and silk. Designer Bluemarine sent out a sheer skirt embellished with starfish, shells, and fiery pieces of blue-green corals, whereas, Rodarte, plumbed the possibilities of tidal pools and came up with an ethereal shipwreck of a collection, replete with filmy fishnet and sea urchins. Even Sophia Webster grounded her signature sex appeal with brass anchor accents, porthole grommets and iridescent mesh.

There was a clear connection between the cockle shell image on the scarves and that same motif as a laser cut crochet knitwear pattern on a semi-sheer sweatshirt at Emilio Pucci. The designer was certainly making his mark in a very bold way. A smooth sailing of sequins on daywear basics looked chic and asymmetrical knitwear was a fresh approach to a graphic heritage. The idea of using colourful elements pressed underneath tulle or other sheers is a way of recreating the appearance of plants and elements under water. Though most designers are aware of this new trend, exporters are still by and large unaware, missing out on a golden opportunity.

Exporters who have caught on to the trend, share views on oceaninspired aesthetics…

Sonam, Designer, Alisha W

The trims and value addition that we work on mostly is heavy and blingy. For a style right now, we are taking very thin plastic circular buttons, and using a dryer, we heat the plastic elements and mould it according to the requirement in different shapes and then we scatter it all over the fabric to achieve a fishscale like surface. Our most prominent buyers are Armani, Prada and Zara.

Sandip Kumar, Assistant Designer, Jayshree International

We are working with DKNY and Armond Ferri, and for them we are using different types of laces in cotton, linen, silk, gold, or silver threads. We are creating a lot of mesh like structures. The laces are used as ruffles, pleats, and are modified into starfish shapes and are patched onto base fabrics.

Dolly Sidhwani,  Owner, Nobel Faith Clothing

With patching technique gaining the spotlight again, we are doing a lot of appliqué with embroidery, embellishment and many other variants. We are trying to put appliqué ornamentation on almost every style we develop. We are working with a lot of teals, sage blues and blue greens.

Loveleen Dubey,  Designer, Bittoo Overseas

We are working with a lot of stripes, nautical stripes to be precise. These kind of elements never really go out of fashion, but witness their ups and downs, figuring out the right time to make and bring them to the market is what an exporter should concentrate on doing.

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