SPRING 2012 TREND ALERT: GEO-BLOCK

It’s not a secret that color-blocking has been a fashion staple for the past few years. Despite the longevity of the trend, designers seem to be able to find refreshing ways to deliver color-blocking each season and the newest version has a 20s art-deco spin featuring geometric shapes.

Quite frankly with the color palette we saw on the Spring runways, geometric color-blocking is likely one of the most exciting trends for Spring. It is a continuation from last season’s graphic sweater and windowpane inspired patterns and one of my favorite palettes is from BCBGMaxAzria presenting bright colored geo-block silk dresses – sporty and feminine all in one.

Clement Ribeiro, Pringle of Scotland, Proenza Schouler, Issey Miyake, Gucci, Celine

Gucci went literal and glam-ed it up with gold and green contrasting leather panels while Clements Ribeiro, a rising British star, made a charming and easy diamond shaped sweater. On the other hand, Celine, Issey Miyake, and Pringle of Scotland all played with two-tones and V-shapes to create a trompe l’oeil effect.

Websites and magazine can’t stop using words such as vibrant and optimistic to encapsulate the new season and I think this fresh color-block trend is a key contributor to that effect.The combination of straight lines and v-shapeed color blocks reminds me of the creative possiblities of Lego blocks, and just as Lego has sparked the imagination of millions of children, these fun geo-blocked items will inspire a whole slew of shoppers to buy into this trend for Spring.

You should expect to find art-deco inspired geo-block from all tiers of markets. I suspect to see this motif heavily used on knitwear (sweater and tees mostly) and you will probably see versions ranging from Colette to Opening Ceremony, and from Zara to Forever 21.

Love these Pierre Hardy booties as an interpretation of the trend. They would go perfectly with a geoblocked sweater and skinny jeans for an early standout Spring outfit!   Time to start looking through my closet and see what I have to get a head start on the season! =)

xMargaret