Buyers Guide: New Utility as the leading trend for Fall/Winter 2016/17

Let's delve into an overview of one of the dominant future trends, courtesy of Trendstop.com, one of the world's leading trend forecasting agencies for fashion. As well as producing detailed reports drawing inspiration from catwalks to streetstyle, Trendstop lead the market with accurate forecasts of macrotrends that will be influencing the industry in the coming seasons. Having revealed New Utility as the Fashion Trend of the Year for 2016, Trendstop's pool of experts can now illustrate how this direction has influenced collections for Fall/Winter 2016/17. This week, we bring you a menswear report of the strongest interpretations of this trend for menswear, as seen at the main trend shows in Paris, London, Berlin and Milan.

Raspberry Oxblood

While the New Utility trend relies on a basic, muted palette of neutral shades, a concession to colour is made with this deep autumnal tone. Applied as a block colour, it still leaves space to the linear shapes to come through in their pared-back, simplistic expression, as textures are achieved with strong fabrications and padding.

Tailored Utility

Tailoring meets function in this contemporary twist to classic outerwear cuts. The addition of ample pockets adds a striking, game-changing take on volumes - which breaks with the rules of [tailoring] while remaining faithful to the underlying call to simplicity that permeates this trend. The use of plaid adds dynamism to the neutral palette.

Military Revisited

A stronghold of utilitarian fashion, the military-inspired look is revisited in an urban key. Technical fabrics add shine when mixed in with heavy canvas and hardwearing leather details. But the real innovation here comes with the shapes, reimagined to add a contemporary touch and practical feel to a staple accessory like the ubiquitous backpack.

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Trendstop.com is one of the world's leading trend forecasting agencies for fashion and creative professionals, renowned for its insightful trend analysis and forecasts. Clients include H&M, Primark, Forever21, Zalando, Geox, Evisu, Hugo Boss, L'Oreal and MTV.

Images courtesy of Trendstop: Henry Lloyd, Kinfolk, Christopher Raeburn, Verena Shepperheyn, Norwegian Rain, Mostly Heard Rarely Seen, Ally Capellino, Sandqvist and Daniel Poole.