What does AW14 stand for?

Vivienne Westwood Red Label show – London Fashion Week AW14

This last weekend a client asked me, “What does the AW in AW14 stand for?” AW stands for the Autumn Winter fashion season, the 14 is the year – SS14 stands for Spring Summer 2014!

There are also two popular hashtags #aw14 and #ss14 on Twitter (and other social networks) during the various fashion weeks around the world.

The fashion industry as a whole is working around 6 to 12 months in advance – obviously there are exceptions. The Autumn/Winter collections are usually released sometime in February. The next round of shows are SS15: New York, September 4-11, 2014. London, September 12-16, 2014. Milan, September 17-23, 2014. Paris, September 23-October 1, 2014.

The British Fashion Council is always a good place to keep up with events and London Fashion Week.

My fashion and hairstyle predictions are more general and not really seasonal! See: Fashion Trends & Hair Styles – Predictions For 2014 – if you are interested?

BTW, nice hair on the Vivienne Westwood model.

Fashion Trends & Hair Styles Predictions For 2014

Before I start and as per usual, I just want to say, there’ll always be a wide range of key colour palettes, looks and hair styles in any season! I only highlight the fashion trends that have caught my imagination, that I feel will progress forward & blossom and will be of interest to my clients!

Key Colour: Heavily highlighted blond. Natural brunette with warm and glossy high/lowlights.
Key Length: Shoulder to long. …maybe with ‘grade 1’ shaved sides (Alice Dellal-esque) – Haha?
Key Looks: Slightly dishevelled and unruly (Abbey Clancy-esque) – used be called “Au Naturel”. Long to medium-long. Geometric vintage perfection, Dita Von Teese-esque.

Blond has always been a prominent hair colour in my “fashion trends and hair style predictions” and it still is. However, I have a strong feeling that in 2014 we will see trends move to a more natural look, both in hair colour and in hair style. The impact of au naturel means, less brash and maybe a little more warmth.

PANTONE 18-3224 TCX

Get ready with your pink tinted sunglasses, the official colour for 2014 is Radiant Orchid. It’s apparently set to become a fashion, beauty, art and design pandemic. The main properties of the colour are the fuchsia, purple and pink undertones. The colour aims to “inspire confidence and emanate joy, love and health.” But, I’ve a strong feeling that radiant orchid itself will be more of a fleck, hint or tinge – It all depends on whether your skin colouring has warm or cool undertones! Lips and nails me thinks! Pantone? …more two-tone!

2014 is going to be about the reinvention of a specific time period in the 1970’s, Autumn 1974 – Spring 1975. And the outlandish trinity of: Henry Holland’s architectural, 1970’s inspired fabric prints (very Heel’s, Guildford). Vivienne Westwood-esque punk chic (faux mohawk) that challenges the status quo. Dita Von Teese-esque and Agent Provocateur-esque vintage forties, which is geometric, but with a soft ‘modern’ 2014 edge/ maybe twist.

In 2013 I said that I hoped short hair would make a strong return; I’m not sure that it did. In 2014 I hope and feel that the ‘bob’ will make a strong resurgence.

Written by Ian Robson
SlashHair the sex, politics, religion and philosophy of the fashion industry, from the perspective of session hairdresser & stylist Ian Robson. “When you look good, I look good.” Find Ian on Facebook and Twitter. © SlashHair’s work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means: quote me and steal my images, but give me credit by Linking Back.