The Military Trend

This year Spring/Summer catwalks saw a huge influx of military looks internationally. 

I can guarantee that whenever anybody is asked to come up with ideas that associate with the trend 'military', the first thing that comes to mind is the colour green. 

Green is everywhere but in this respect I think of the more murky and earthy 'khaki' shade. 

To begin with, I felt that the variation of military attire was quite small. For a short period it seemed everybody and their grandma was sporting either a khaki parka or vintage jacket. However, now I feel as though this has been expanded dramatically, within both the luxury and high street brands.

One luxury brand that I feel epitomises a military vibe and has done so for some time is Balmain. Ever since Olivier Rousteing was appointed as Creative Director of the fashion house in 2011, it is inexplicably clear that he has noticed certain technological advancements and used them to his advantage, creating a number of hashtags in order to connect with his audience, his clear favourite being "BalmainArmy". Immediately this screams military, which implies that perhaps Rousteing see's this particular area as his niche, wanting to embrace it and expose it to his consumers as much as possible. 

Anybody who follows Balmain's collections will know they they often do use the signature khaki green shade, but for me it isn't just that which places it within the military trend. I feel that every single one of their pieces are bold, structured and extremely well crafted, this being shown particularly on the embellished blazer in the centre image above. Although stunning, I do feel a bit sorry for the models as some of the dresses look as though they'd be extremely uncomfortable to walk about in!

The Military trend hasn't just been present on the catwalk however, with a number of fashion magazines incorporating it on their covers as well as forking out thousands for photo shoots within their pages, these shots being taken from VOGUE China and Paris.

Here we can see the typical iconography and props associated with 'military', being bullet belts, medals, aviators, boiler suits and distressed backdrops to name just a few. Although such props may be deemed as slightly cliché or perhaps fancy dress esqué, I feel as though they add to the realism of the images, making it easier for consumers to see what they're trying to say.

I hope you enjoyed reading my first mini trend post, plenty more to come!

Love, Lana Skye x

Photo credit: Google Images, Pinterest.