2018 will be an interesting year in terms of fashion, with fabrics and textures taking centre stage and offering dressmakers the opportunity to create the newest catwalk looks. Sportswear inspiration, soft comforts and a walk into the deep, dark forest are all expected themes of the months and year ahead.
High-performance fabrics
As the sportswear industry gets bigger and blends more and more closely with everyday street and leisure fashion, we can expect to see the use of high-performance fabrics in our clothes. This will include gloss coatings that add a new dimension to flat colour, and waffle-type textures inspired by retro sportswear. It will also see more lightweight, breathable, bonded mesh fabrics that are not only ideal for sportswear but also for general day-to-day activities. In terms of sportswear, you can expect things to get a little extreme in 2018.
Enter the forest
This year we can expect to see our heritage forest foliage reflected in the fabrics we wear, but with the elegant use of lace. Tangled lace with a blend of delicate and heavy embroidery will be used to reflect the disorder of organic foliage. Clothing with foliage lace will be hot property this year. Colours are also likely be inspired by the woods with a mix of greens, especially faded mint and dark green. This year the undergrowth takes centre stage.
Soft, textual contrast fabrics
Fabrics that are soft to touch but have a sturdy quality and contrast texturally with other items are set to be a big trend this year. This includes traditionally rustic textures, which will be softened with techniques such as piling and towelling. Yarns will enjoy double knitting to create clean ‘scuba’ surface finishes, while padding and ribbing of soft textures will add both softness and textural contrast. These soft to touch but sturdy fabrics hold their form well and enable dressmakers to create some truly standout clothes.
These fabrics will be popular with hobbyists who like to create clothes using unique and trendy dressmaking fabric. Whether you choose lace, yarn, breathable mesh or soft fabrics, dress making fabrics available from http://www.quality-fabrics.co.uk/ and other specialists will meet your every need.
Look out for forest lace, soft sturdy knits and high-performance sports-fashion wear in the months and year ahead.