LONDON TRADE SHOW REPORT
London, England, 4 Aug. 2006

The edition of London trade shows spring/summer 2007 - encompassing TBC, Margin and The Park - took place July 30-31, [2007].

At all the shows, the color palette was muted and looked suspiciously autumn-like: black, white, gray and khaki ruled. Keeping with the subdued hues, womenswear captured a prim and proper air. Never have so many puff-sleeved, round-collared polo shirts hung under one roof at the same time.

Menswear, too, had a formal, dandy-ish vibe. These elements materialized in smart cuts and accessories as well as in prints. The new label T-Book offered neat tie/neck piece hybrids with its cleverly printed tees and shirts; Luke matched scarves to its grandpa cardies and sweaters; Red Dot embraced the trend by printing silk scarves on to its tees.

This edition of Margin drew a large proportion of international names, including an entire Finnish brigade among the show’s 80 exhibitors. These included Zukale & Huoviala and Tiia Vanhatapi, whose cute naively printed tees and pretty dresses made of nappy gauze were lovely. Another great name to watch there, albeit not Finnish, is Muffty, a menswear label offering a new spin on the polo shirt: a neat shawl collared version.

In addition, Wayne Pinnock Live’s quirky men’s separates also stood out in all its modern-art-meets-tribal ethnicity glory.

What you can look out for next Spring
Recently we checked out Margin London, the leading alternative streetwear tradeshow in the UK.

Here are the Spring/Summer 2004 trends we saw:
Colors: The dominant palette consisted of bright pastel shades of yellow, pink, green and blue, for both men’s and women’s wear. The most popular color was Swimming Pool blue, which is a leading contender to be the color of next summer.

Stripes were everywhere at the show. Prints were vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or creatively computer manipulated as seen at the label Urino.

Brighton-based label Get Cutie used original 50s artwork re-printed onto new fabrics to create a new twist on the vintage trend. Underwear designer Nora Nilsson traveled to Honolulu, where she selected original Hawaiian manufactured and print fabrics, which she turned into cute and sexy swimwear.

Other cool mentions:
Trends in fashion and music have always been very closely linked, and Margin’s offerings were no exception. Twisted Generation used recycled 7″ vinyl as a substitute for the traditional ink on paper press release. Lazy Oaf illustrated their business cards with a cassette tape graphic. And Eternal Beau’s line was covered with guitar-inspired stripes. Also available at the show was the first issue of Fact, a publication dedicated to lovers of all things vinyl. The size, shape and design of the magazine resembled a 7″ single, even encased in its own record sleeve.