For me, trends always begin with colour. They are the building blocks of any collection, a palette upon which a design is inspired. Cape Town Fashion Week showed off a multitude of striking shades for Spring/Summer 2011/2012. From brights to whites and all that's in between, here are the biggest colour trends for the next season.
Brights
A rainbow of eye-catching colours sizzled on the runway. Orange and navy reigned supreme, falling in with overseas trends. I don't really like orange but I do love the ruffled Stephania Morland dress (pictured fourth on the top row). Yellow was seen in lemon, lime, chartreuse and gold. Cerise pink and bright violet made a bold appearance. Blues were popular, from aqua to royal blue and indigo. I like the combination of blues in the stunning chiffon gown by DanielleMargaux (pictured fifth on the bottom row).
Black and White
Black and white are timeless as well as seasonless. Although many of the designers displayed their version of a long white dress; round and v-necks, slits and flowing fabrics were a common denominator. Black dresses were shown from short to long lengths. Lisp showed a chic black catsuit with floppy hat. The silhouette of the Abigail Betz gown with bateau neck (fifth on bottom row) is very 'Elie Saab' like.
Neutrals
An earthy-inspired palette of colours ran across all collections. Dove greys, sandy nudes, chocolate browns and charcoal; simple colours brought to life by invigorating designs. Gavin Rajah's Jaipur inspired beadwork, wispy frills at Stephania Morland, retro shapes at Thula Sindi and satin waist bows at Leigh Schubert.
