the rolling hills of Spring GateAs promised in my previous post about my trip to TNNA last week, here are the forecasted fashion trends we’ll be seeing, as presented by Trisha Malcolm, editor of Vogue Knitting.

Top Ten Colors of Fall 2013

  1. emerald – this has been THE color all year; for Fall, it gets updated with how it’s placed with the new neutrals: linden green, turbulence, carafe, and deep lichen green
  2. Mykonos blue – a bold blue that has a hint of grey to soften it from a bright royal blue
  3. samba – a red, tending toward violet shade that will really pop
  4. vivacious – a really strong, deep fuschia
  5. koi – a bright orange with hints of red; this one really pops with carafe
  6. acai – a deep, purple-purple
  7. linden green – a new “neutral”; a yellowy-green;
  8. turbulence – a new “neutral”; grey-green with a hint of brown
  9. carafe – a new “neutral”; a dusty, coffee brown with a hint of green
  10. deep lichen green – a new “neutral”; a greener version of turbulence with almost a green-khaki feel

You can see all these colors on Pantone’s website. The new “neutrals” are strong enough to stand on their own, but when paired with the brights, they fade into the background.

Further, Malcolm mentioned that many of the brighter colors will be used for accessories or “pops” of color while much of the winter-look will be pastel shades of these same colors with honey mustard, raisin/toffee and dusty pinks/blushes added to the palette. In addition, “yarn will talk the talk” — in other words, hand-painted and marl yarns will be center-stage to add to the overall textural look.

  • Look of the garments: much is about color blocking (large graphic chunks with the new neutrals) and stripe-blocking (different sizes of stripes either textural or color, different stripe directions and mitering). We’ll see two-color garments as well as multiple and tonal colored garments. The fashions shown in the presentation (and then also many of those shown in Yarn Group’s fashion show) are fairly conservative in their color mixing — not a whole lot of mixing of the brights.
  • Knitting style: emphasis will be on what Malcolm called “superb stitching” with lots of fisherman’s rib, brioche and slip-stitch motifs used throughout the garments and accessories. The hand-knits incorporate texture (through the stitch patterning) with the fiber content to make some amazing combinations that highlight the knitting.
  • Overall garment style: we seem to be heading back to the 80s with large cardis, wrapped sweaters, mixing of colors and chunky knits. Some of these items were in the Yarn Group’s fashion show — garments knit on huge needles with 2-inch diameter yarns — not necessarily my style but some may like it. There were also classic stylings which looked stunning with the color combinations above.
  • Novelty styling: fake fur and other yarns will be in style this next season, but as edgings and embellishments rather than entire garments. We’ll also see lots of pastels and “softness” in the winter styles.

So lots to ponder on the fashion front this next season or two. For runway-fashions that show these overall styles (what folks will actually wear are usually toned-down versions of the high- or runway-fashions), check out Style.com for the various fashion shows and see what the big-name and fresh, young designers have in store for the industry!

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