Next Season's Handbags & Clothing

I've been spending some time researching the fashion trends & am now beginning to work on my fall line of felted purses & clothing. It's been fun working with the lovely tropical colors & pretty pastels during the Spring & Summer seasons, but I'm really excited to be moving into the colors & styles that I think we all tend to associate with Fall & Winter...the earthy tones; the warm & cozy look of worsted & chunky wools; hats & gloves & scarves, etc.

On the fashion runways we're seeing fur making a big comeback & it's showing up as collars on oversize knit cardigans as the preferred winter coat. If you're opposed to using fur in your designs, take a look at the long nap Angora fibers as an animal-friendly substitute. I made an evening bag recently, felting a chocolate brown Angora beaded clutch that (I think) looks every bit as good as mink.

Metallics are hot this season, too, & not just in silver & pewter as in past trends. Gold is playing an equal role this next season &, personally, I'm delighted. I've always been drawn to gold over silver, particularly in metallic yarn. Can't wait to work with those metallics again & have plans to incorporate them into my felted bags designs - perhaps some evening wear, as well.

Speaking of handbags - they're going bigger, heavier, & with a more masculine look. I notice heavy hardware embellishments - buckles, leather strapping, grommets, etc. Straps are shoulder length, even when carried as a handbag.

Clothing is going a bit more oversize this next season, too, which translates into requiring more yards of yarn for sweaters & dresses. Prices for finished knitwear will spike a bit as a result of our increased material costs...I'm estimating a 20% increase in my prices for both handbags & clothing.

Lastly, the "Mod" look is showing up on the runways again. Seems we'll be seeing more sweaters & dresses with the bold intarsia graphics of past forays into the retro mod look.

So far, I'm not seeing any real trend favoring a particular color for fall - no "buzz" that plum, or cranberry, or forest green (for example) will be all the rage. Perhaps something will emerge later as a stand-out color for the season. We'll just have to wait & see. Meantime, I'm keeping the yarns & threads in the classic earth tones & leaving room in my designs for embellishing with trend colors if I start seeing a demand.

I'm off to the drawing board. More later....