Trends

Bright outlook for 2010 young styles

Aaww, they grow up so fast don’t they? This has been gushingly uttered by many a parent wishing their little darling would stay little just a little longer. Yet, children want to grow up faster and therefore act older than their actual age (see article on selling to the children’s footwear market). To allow them to feel more adult, there are several mini-me styles that mimic adult footwear.

Boy models on the Urban Fashion & Kids Show catwalk at the GDS Show wore shoes bearing more than a passing resemblance to men’s outdoor boots and outdoor sandals. These came in the browns and olive greens traditionally associated with outdoor wear. Some featured velcro straps, while others have tie-up laces.

Similar to women’s footwear, young girls’ boots for the 2010 autumn/ winter season feature details such as buckles and are made of contrasting materials, for example a shiny patent leather combined with a matt suede. Boots are in dark colours, with purple-shades dominating together with black and dark red-brown’s.

Fastenings come in an assortment of types: laces, buckles, zips — some footwear featuring all at once, but with faux-laces and faux-buckles used only for decoration. Girls’ footwear feature funky lace colours in a brighter shade than the rest of the shoe. There is no conforming or blending in when you’re young and this applies to their shoe accessories as well.

For the discerning younger customer, prints are a fun way of expressing him- or herself. Sneakers come in either bright or contrasting colours, and often feature bold designs. Even the soles are coloured. Colours are bright light colours, especially pinks on girls’ footwear. There are metallics thrown into the mix and used as detail, but some footwear has it the other way around — mainly metallics with other colours used as accents.

The prints are in bright contrasting colours or in the form of metallic detail. Stars are popular on younger girls’ footwear.

Unlike what might have been the case in the past, sneakers are definitely not the safe and easy footwear option for the 2010 autumn/ winter season. You will be hard pressed to find a boring sneaker with retro-inspired styles making a reappearance.

Sneakers feature bright, bold colours as well as funky patterns. Colour itself is used as a pattern — big blocks of contrasting colours are placed in ways to create patterns or interesting detail.

Shiny materials are used together with the more traditional sneaker materials to create shine and contrasts.

Both high-tops and their lower counterparts compete for the consumer’s attention — each providing the wearer with an equal means of grabbing attention with their feet and having their figurative say.

Ralph Rieker, chairman of the Federation of German Footwear Industry, reported during a press conference that ladies’ boots is the best selling type of footwear in Europe — something that is not hard to believe considering how versatile boots are and how apt they are for the cold climate. While SA is hardly as cold as Europe, boots form a large part of many a woman’s winter footwear wardrobe. The popularity of boots was reflected in the various fashion shows held during the three days of the GDS Show as boots made up the majority of footwear shown.

Perhaps this is the extension of the tights trend — boots that look like they are shoes worn with tights or socks. Perhaps not. Either way, one trend for boots are for the foot and leg sections to be of contrasting materials, for example a patent leather foot-section and a suede leg-section, or in different colours. It is a playful and interesting design variation for the boot.

In addition to blacks and greys, the main colour for winter 2010 is purple in various shades tending towards the darker hues. Other colours such as burgundy and deep reds, as well as shades of blue, also make an appearance.

The trend to take inspiration from male footwear when designing women’s styles continues.

Laces were very prominent on the runwalks, as were ankle boots resembling shoes. Laces were also used as a purely decorative element.

Designers played with different ways of fastening boots. Boots were adorned with ribbons — either used instead of laces or wrapped in a criss-cross around the leg of the boot.

Some of the boots featured new places for zips — placing the zip down the front of the boot or down the side of the leg — with the zip being only half the regular length starting from the sole of the shoe.

A cross between a bohemian and cowboy influence, fringes on boots seem to be here to stay. They were seen down the sides of the boots, as well as around the top of the boot.

Look out for interesting patterns used on boots. Some designers printed computer-type graphics down the sides of boots. Others covered the boots in check patterns.