LANXESS Deutschland GmbH does not hang around to see what the latest trends are – it sets its own! At this spring’s trade fairs, the company showed what leathers will be ‘en vogue’ in the fashion industry in the Spring/Summer 2006 season. There are four main trends featuring a wide range of colours. The company’s leather experts have gotten together with an Italian stylist to produce a collection of 21 leathers – five for furniture and the remainder for footwear upper – that are in keeping with these trends.
– Nouvelle vague – 70s revival of luxury beaches. This trend awakens memories of the glamorous 1970s – memories of Acapulco, Monte Carlo, Playboy, rich Americans and ‘la dolce vita’. People want to enjoy life again, they delight in the exquisite. In fashion, this attitude finds expression in accurately tailored models. Everyone wants to make an impression, to experience a touch of luxury and freedom. Zany accessories are used for emphasis. The colours are reminiscent of fashionable seaside resorts – medium blue to sea blue, sand; aubergine and gray shades are highlighted by lighter or metallic effects.
– Living design. Here we meet ‘old friends’ – classical elements from the past few decades are teamed with modern features. There is no one specific style – design forms part of everyday life, ie individual items are replaced from time to time to create a fresh look. Old shapes are taken as a model for new items of furniture and are finished with the latest technologies – for optimal comfort. Unusual and expressive shapes are used for special showpieces. The colours are young and modern, from orange/red and pink shades to yellow/green. Changing colours that interact with the light are used as highlights for furniture upholstery leathers.
– Traveling in a multiethnic world. Freedom in fashion – young people wear what appeals to them. Styles from all over the world influence each other; different cultural influences merge together. What is needed is creativity and the ability to combine and coordinate materials ranging from African nature motifs to Indian saris and Hawaiian floral patterns. Soft, flowing materials predominate. From matt effects to high gloss – anything goes; metallic effects are likewise featured. There are no aggressive colours – sunshine yellow and apple green are used as accentuating colours.
– Looking forward to Germany’s big event: The whole world is eagerly awaiting the soccer World Cup in Germany – the sporting event of 2006. Everything revolves around sport – its influence is felt throughout daily life and also in fashion. Everyone is getting ready, not just for the matches themselves, but also for the celebrations surrounding the event. Being there is everything. Fashions must be practical, comfortable and casual, to demonstrate one’s sporty credentials. This trend uses a wide range of colours, from pale orange to blue and yellow. Brilliant and in some cases fluorescent shades are also featured, as well as metallic effects combined with matt shades.
On the basis of these ideas, leather technologists in Italy have produced leathers that have the appropriate appearance and colour for the individual themes or the right associations. In the area of Santa Croce, where the company has a competence centre including a laboratory and applications development department, raw hides were converted into fashionable leathers in just a few weeks.
The latest trend articles were on show in April at the Asia Pacific Leather Fair in Hong Kong and at FIMEC in Novo Hamburgo in Brazil. They can also be viewed on the company’s website at http://www.lanxessleather.com. As in the past two years, the trend leathers produced for the ‘Trend Articles and Fashion’ project have been made up into books in Leverkusen, which are a valuable customer support aid for the company’s applications technologists in the regions. The books contain samples of the entire collection ‘for feeling’.
The trend books enable tanneries to produce the leathers for the next season in advance. This gives them a real advantage over their competitors, as they are then in a position to meet the huge demand from the leather industry, which wants the finished leather as quickly as possible for further processing. The corresponding formulation for each sample is also included in the book, thereby demonstrating LANXESS’s expertise in the field of fashionable leather.