The Fall Trend Report: Womenswear
A trend is defined as the general direction in which something is changing or developing. Trends are the skeleton of fashion.
Yasmine Kenawi and Radwa El Ziki, known as Zedified, are both Egyptian style bloggers looking to elevate the industry in Cairo through carefully curated, collaborative efforts such as this one. The Fall Trend Report is a project in collaboration with styling house Maison Mehany, founded by Andrew and Anne Mehany, photographed by Alia El Tawil and annotated by Radical, in order to bring you comprehensive style guide for the coming season.
Styling Introduction by Maison Mehany:
"Styling to us is way more than just clothes and apparel. It's more about attitude, personality and taste. We envision styling by going back to history, and make it more contemporary by manipulating garments and understanding the change of the human body. We live in a postmodernist era; a stylist's eye is the major tool for any successful vision because at the end of the day "you see what you choose to see." - Andrew Mehany, founder creative driecter and Anne Mehany co-founder and stylist.
Trend 1: The Power Suit
Yasmine: Major designers have been reimagining the masculine suit for women for a few seasons now; this is a strong comment on the idea of gender equality. It's a good item to have for work; an outfit you can wear to the office and afterwards. You can also play around with the colors, patterns and material. It's a trend that truly emphasizes women empowerment. A representation for the strong working woman.
Radwa: Oversized, pant suits are part of a greater umbrella or trend referred to as The Alpha Male. Women are being championed as leaders, bosses, and entrepreneurs through fashion as a vehicle. The suit can be seen styled with flared pants on myself, and as a short dress on Yasmine, two variations of a daring look.
Trend 2 & 3: Sweater Weather and Check Points
Yasmine: Athleisure has been in for a while now, and is not going anywhere. Choosing to wear an oversized comfy sweater from Zara, instead of Nike for example, shows that you can do Athleisure or Sporty Chic without necessarily having to wear athletic brands. The jeans are TopShop and my Nike Air Force 1's are a street style staple. The look is the epitome of casual street style and incorporates the trend of wearing loud colors this season, specifically red.
Radwa: Checkered or plaid is the print of the season. Pairing my blazer with pants that are colorful and feminine adds a bit of a different touch, while maintaining the streetwear core of the outfit in a classic Adidas white T shirt.
Trend 4: Dot Dot Dot
Yasmine: Balenciaga and Dior pioneered the return of Polka Dots this season, personally I'm not a big fan of the pattern, however this dress with an 80's silhouette, tight waist and flared skirt allows the power of the print to shine through. Many high-end brands have been recreating the classic trench coat simultaneously, adding new colors, textures and cuts to this closet staple. Vetements spearheaded this trend. The trench coat for this look is bright red and suede. The Okhtein belt bag, emphasizes the return of the fanny packs; Gucci having just released the strongest one yet. The silver cuffs are from local Egyptian jewelry designer Taqat.
Trend 5: Daddy's Puffer
Yasmine: Menswear is oddly enough a huge trend for women this fall; wearing menswear puffed coats, jackets, and bombers is the look for winter 2017. This is my dad's FILA jacket from the 80's, it's vintage and worked perfectly to showcase this trend, paired with a Reebok top and Zara striped pants. FILA and Reebok are two underdog brands that have been coming back strong in the past year, through stores such as Urban Outfitters and their own campaigns. Using them together was symbolic of their return, a sort of a comeback to the 'Daddy's closet' look. The boots add a unique touch, for someone who doesn't typically wear athleisure; chic boots paired with an Okhtein bag give the look a touch of elegance.
Trend 6: Circa 1989
Radwa: Vintage never truly dies out, but statement vintage pieces have become a strong trend that will carry through to next season. The jacket from a local vintage retailer called SOLD, paired with jeans and Dior shoes shows how selecting specific items to elevate your look can change its vibe completely. The heels are a surprise, taking streetwear and making it chic.
Trend 7: Code Red
Yasmine: Red is this fall/winter season's color. This whole winter is going to be all about red. Givenchy's collection was almost entirely just red. Red is a holiday color, it's bright and bold and associated with celebration. Anne styled my look in a way that showcases how editorials can allow you to play around with the colors and textures of your clothes, mix and match, and choose how you showcase each piece.
Radwa: The suit I'm wearing for this look is vintage Missoni, the shades are Celine. The idea of this look is to showcase that you can in fact wear red from head to toe; through block coloring. This outfit is a more sleek approach to a very striking trend concept.
The idea of this trend report is to compile styles being showcased on runways all over the world, and make them feel accessible, affordable and attainable. All the looks throughout this editorial can be found at fast fashion stores, or from local designers in Egypt by order. Diversity in styling and using background sets, composition and props allowed for an editorial shoot that helped each piece of clothing to stand out.
The Fall Trend Report is a mini bible for the coming season. Styled collaboratively by Maison Mehany, Yasmine Kenawi, and Zedified.
“Style lives within a person.”
