Stahl announces new leather and technology forecast
15/07/2009
Specialist leather chemicals provider Stahl has issued the latest in its series of leather and technology forecasts for leather surfaces, this time with a view to helping tanneries meet the demands of fashion-industry customers for the autumn-winter 2010-2011 season.
The company says its fashion-conscious customers think not just about colour, but also the way each colour will look on leather surfaces, including "dramatic and theatrical surfaces", what effect the inclusion of metallic and ice-like effects will have, and so on.
In this new forecast, the "deep colours of history" feature under the title Nobility Code. Surfaces are satinised aesthetics. Smooth gloss and matt effects contrast with pin stripes and crocodile effects to give a reminder of both past and present in Eastern Europe, and in the mansions and classic cars of the rich and famous.
A second section, Experimental Existentialism, features surfaces that Stahl has referred to as Magical Oxidation. It believes the trends it has highlighted in this section will remind many people of a world of art deco, of geometrical shapes, of bright metallic effects and modern clothing designs that look forward towards science fiction. Silver and gold stand out as eye-catching patterns and colours against darker shades, sometimes creating an added contrast of metallic against non-metallic.
Moving to the Far East, Asian Fascination is presented as a world of "lacquered seduction", with the leather surfaces in this section showing strong reminders of the décor and furnishings that are the hallmark of Asian countries and island populations. From the high mountains, through countries and cosmopolitan cities where East meets West, and on to the islands linking Asia to Australia, there is a huge range of colours and surface effects that fascinate the eye wherever it looks. Clothing, furnishings and décor all reflect the same thoughts. Many colours, effects and clothing shapes are reminiscent of the ethnic backgrounds of this area of the world. Others are in stark contrast and are clearly influenced by the West, though not entirely as there is still an oriental magic in their look.
Returning to the Mediterranean, Smash of Styles uses "hazardous mixtures" in the effects on show, effects that recreate a past life in which journeys to the Orient and the Caribbean were swashbuckling adventures. This is a world of Spanish galleons, guitars, and footwear that always stirs memories of history-book pictures of these times. Memories of more recent times are evoked by the inevitable Italian Vespa and the young dressed as both rich and poor, a conflict that is still with us today.
If earlier groups tended to create feelings of being bound by cities and community groups, much more freedom is invoked by a fourth section, Forever Natural, with Stahl describing the surfaces here with the term "wild mutation". Here colours and surfaces bring us into the great outdoors, perhaps to the great expanses of the Americas or the great mountain ranges scattered across the world. The effects that appear on clothing, footwear and furniture reflect something of each. Colours and patterns are closely related classic and modern. And clothing trends seem to be able to move either way whilst being obviously “new”.
Finally, colours become the exciting cold shades of the last theme, Future-Retro Action, in which "glacial performance" is the title Stahl has chosen for the surfaces it predicts will be fashionable. This really is a world of fantasy looking forward to clothing with a purpose and clothing with a futuristic glamour.
The company believes this looks like one of the more exciting forecasts of colour combined with surface effects to be promised in an autumn and winter season for a number of years.
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