5 hot fashion trends for '08
Forecasting firm Tobe is the oracle of the retail world, its January trend report one of the industry's most closely-watched forecasts. Here's a sneak peek at Tobe's five picks for the coming year.

Tomorrow's hangouts
No longer is it enough to stock the latest shirts, dresses and handbags. Up and coming retailers are adding lounges, nail salons and bookshops to their stores in the hopes of luring customers and getting them to stay longer.

Metropark, a City of Industry, Calif.-based chain with 18 stores nationwide, aims to be part club part street boutique. DJs spin records at its stores, which sell hip fashions, off-beat art work and music. SoHo boutique Lounge also has a DJ booth as well as a spa. Deegie's Carma, the brainchild of a former Nordstrom executive, is set to open its first store in Kansas City in March. In addition to racks of trendy, teen worthy clothing, there will be a lounge as well as a hair and nail salon.



Industrial fabrics
High-tech fabrics, such as those with anti-microbial or rubberized properties, are increasingly finding their way onto the runways. Burberry is selling a trench coat made from rubberized materials originally developed for scuba diving. Two hundred dollar T-shirts by a company called Established 1887 are embedded with silver chips that have antimicrobial properties to repel stains and odors. As an added benefit, these fabrics are harder to knock off and so help designers differentiate their clothes from a sea of imitation.



See-through clothes
Nearly naked looks were the talk of the recent runway shows and now they are coming to a store near you. Raincoats, shirts, and blouses made from sheer fabrics such as organza, chiffon and georgette are expected to be a big look for spring.
,br>Designers such as Jil Sander, Marc Jacobs and Narciso Rodriguez led the way, but keep an eye out for these so-called "weight watcher" fabrics at trendy stores like H&M and Zara.



Fashion sneakers
Nike and Adidas have been making hip kicks for years, but mainstream fashion brands from Lacoste to Michael Kors are now selling sneakers as casual footwear - and trying to claim a share of the $15 billion market.

Michael Kors has a faux python metallic ($109) sneaker. Creative Recreation, started by two former Vans executives, sells sneakers in zebra stripes and a kaleidoscope of colors. At Generic Many, the sneakers are made from Italian leather and sell for $200. "These are sneakers you could wear with at T-shirt and jeans or $3,000 suit," said Brandon Day, a Generic Man founder.



The scarf
Never mind handbags and shoes. Scarves are the next must-have accessory.

Fashion house Balenciaga featured models draped in them during its fall 2007 fashion show. Hermes just unveiled a smaller and less expensive ($280 compared to $325) version of its traditional printed square. At American Apparel, $15 jersey scarves are among the top-selling items, aided by an in-store video that shows shoppers how to tie, wrap and drape to their hearts' content.

i love scarves!!!

I love those American Apparel combed cotton scarves - I've just recieved a new batch of them I ordered in summer colours. I'm going to cut them in half (so they'll measure 200cm x 20cm, instead of 200cm x 40cm) so they're even lighter and mix them up with my summer wardrobe. They end up about $11 if you order them wholesale, but you don't get to choose from the full colour range.

I'm not convinced suits with sneakers is the way forward, but those Lanvin high tops...





I wanted a pair in Black or Navy for Christmas, but I can just hear 'Santa' now... "$950 what!?"

Post Last Updated:16.12.2007 at 23.26

Love that second pair. Where in Australia can one get them from?

How thin are the AA scarves? I want to kit out my wardrobe with some ultra thin ones, and experiment with using them in a cravat style.

I'm agreeing with the forecasters on 'tomorrow's hangouts' and 'see through clothing', I think they'll both become increasingly popular.

It seems the Lanvin high tops are only availible online (places like Diabro, Luis Via Roma, Barneys...), I'm not even sure if Lanvin currently has any distributors in Australia!

The AA scarves are pretty thin - they're made with the same fabric as the vanilla AA tshirts, get your hands on one of those if you want a preview.

'Tomorrow's hangouts' is going to be a really natural one for a lot of stores. It perfectly fulfills all the modern mantras in marketing - participating in the consumers space and contributing with value, making their life better, investing in providing experiences instead of advertising.

I personally can't wait to see more high tech fabrics. I think it's a completely logical move for fashion houses as they already charge $200 for tshirts on the myth of exclusiveness/quality/design, it'd be nice to offer some value over the counterfeits.

I'm definitely going to try the AA scarves then - sounds like what I'm after. Does anyone know if American Apparel have opened on Chapel Street yet?

Answering my own question - the American Apparel store isn't open yet. Like Prada on Collins Street, they decided to miss the Christmas retail period. Strange.