HYDERABAD: This year will change not just looks but fashion
Designers in the city forecast upcoming trends with CE and these trends are all set to influence our personality – with dull pastel colours, warm comfort, cool statements and jazzed-up occasional wear. A few designers are looking into the past to seek inspiration while others are far ahead in the future, experimenting with AI and the metaverse. All of them are striving to stay close to reality, to offer us the best of all worlds plus to help us set sartorial codes and make style statements next year.
Bold with gold, pale with grace
Bridal or ethnic, the old will be embraced with a touch of heritage, either inspired by lineage or nature. “In 2023, there will be a lot of borrowing, I think,” said Prathista, a city-based stylist and influencer. She added, “For ethnic wear, most designers are drawing inspiration from temples and nature, while others will borrow style from heritage, like in intricacy of details and usage of materials, such as gold and silver threads.”
There will be a lot of work with fluid textiles like silk, chanderi, or satin for the right kind of fall. Even the usage of hand embroidery will be minimal, more suitable for the looks of destination weddings. “As for colours that will rule 2023, I think it would be a mix of both pastels and vibrant electric colours. For the last couple of years, it was pastels, but this coming year, I feel a dab of vibrant hue will be on outfits, even if it is a little,” predicted Prashasti Goyal, founder, Auruhfy.
A few fashion trends are here for good, like the retro elements borrowed from the 90s clearly will stay and evolve. “The colour ivory will still be a hit in 2023. The drapes will be a hit too, like cowl and most importantly, we will focus on versatile styles for people to mix-match,” Prashasti Goyal added.“It’s more likely to be more of a maximalist look when seen up close because of intricacy, but when looked at from a distance, the saree or sherwani will appear simple, classy and elegant,” said A Ramya, a city-based fashion designer
Suit up with AI
While most designers in the city are seeking inspiration from the past or are making designs to better suit the present My Perfect Fit Style Club, a lifestyle makeover brand exclusively for men uses a combination of AI and real-life stylists to personalise men’s clothing. “We have developed an AI technology that scans face, body type and colour tone, bringing out a personalised menswear shopping experience,” said co-founder Sushil Kumar co-founder of My Perfect Fit Style Club.
He noted that brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton are already in the game and are using AI technologies to come up with the best products. “But since they mass produce, customisation is not that apt. With us, every garment shown after AI profiling is designed to match your look, the occasion, preferences and skin tone, and is handcrafted to give you the perfect fit for your overall personality,” he said.
After the AI profiling is done stylists add a human touch and these styles are combined with the AI algorithms to learn more about each customer’s tastes, and technology gets better every time it is used. “It is the future of fashion design, this year our technology will evolve and in the next five and 10 years it will dominate the industry,” the co-founder added.
The My Perfect Fit Style Club group is a city-based startup that operates multiple brands under its portfolio and perfectly serves CEOs, senior executives, business owners, celebrities, and grooms. “Some other companies have also been using it, but since most designers in the city are focused towards ethnic wear, where the designs vary, it is difficult for them but I am sure AI will soon become the norm,” he added.
Casual comfort and cool statement
Since the pandemic hit our life, the fashion industry, without sacrificing personal style, has started to prioritise comfort. Clothes will be a mix of pastels, while accessories will be saturated and poppy. “Women will more likely wear trousers, denim-inspired bottoms, tweed jackets during winter with retro scarves loosely covering their shoulders,” said celebrity stylist, Sanjay David and added, “Casual wear will be accompanied by messy hair, caps, handbags in eye-popping colours with chain straps.”
Several fascinating and important trends are shaping athleisure’s future in 2023 and beyond. Athleisure is the fastest-growing clothing segment.More and more top athletic apparel, sportswear, and activewear brands are attempting to tap into and gain a share of the almost $400 billion annual athleisure wear market. “Athleisure is all about comfort, functionality, and style. There are so many ways to style the athleisure trend that it’s no wonder it’ll be the most coveted fashion trend to master in the activewear scene in 2023,” said Jeevika Tyagi, Co-Founder and CEO of aastey.
Some trends we see making a comeback next year are
Shorts and Skirts : As you’ve probably seen all over social media, athletic dresses and shorts are one of the most styled pieces this summer. Just gaining popularity, shorts and skirts are sure to be a coveted style in 2023.
Colour Blocking: Perhaps one of the most fun interpretations of athleisure for 2023 is the way of styling this trend by mixing several styles. One of the bigger trends seen on social media right now, and will surely continue to gain popularity in 2023.
We buy, or rather, we got to earn it
Fashion is evolving, and most of us feel the pinch when it comes to buying expensive clothes and for good reason. According to Instagram influencer Akhila G, designers will focus more on quality, comfort and sustainable material usage in 2023. “We already see that several brands are sticking to environmental norms, but we also see that the fabric is much better, and everything is just fitting us right. There are brands which are skilfully catering to a specific set of customers and are procuring top quality material to make the best and that is reflected in the price,” said Akhila, who is expecting the prices to go up further this year.
“We all like good products at cheaper deals, that’s not possible these days, for everything is getting expensive and it’s rather like we have to earn it,” she added.
It’s not the only way though, as per founder of Lea Clothing Co Lavanya Aneja’s perspective, the future of conscious fashion will be less trend-driven and more focused on timeless style and innovation. “We expect to see more brands embracing sustainable methods, not just in terms of raw materials (recycled fabrics, ethically sourced and so on) but also in terms of labour ethics in compliance with the highest industry standards,” Lavanya said.
She added, “Further, with the ongoing rise of social media, re-wearing, recycling, and upcycling are expected to become the norm, especially for younger generations growing up seeing their favourite bloggers’ style one shirt in seven ways.”
As more and more people become aware of who makes their clothes and how they are treated and begin to demand transparency and hold companies to a higher standard, industry leaders will hopefully set the way for a more sustainable future. “One of the most significant changes we have seen is brands becoming more size-inclusive, as fashion is something we believe is for everyone,” said she.
There is also a boom when it comes to second-hand clothes, there are clothes exchange melas in the city which have slowed down post the pandemic but are likely to make a comeback, thanks to the inflation. There are a few designers like Asmita Marwa who took sustainability as an ideology and have been turning pieces of old denim into skirts and wall-hanging decor into jackets. She says, tattered clothes are beautiful and make a boho statement.