March is upon us, and that means the coming of spring. In the fashion world, February signifies the start of Spring Fashion Month, which includes an almost month-long fashion show displaying the hottest spring looks. The Paris Fashion Week that is referenced throughout this article was in the fall of 2017, but fall and spring fashion can be interchangeable. Designers come together with their newest looks for the spring season. The Street Style aspect of these fashion shows applies to high schoolers the most. Unlike the stereotypical fashion show with the catwalk, and the thousands of cameras taking flash photography, Street Style literally takes place on the street. This style can have designs for adults with an office job, to high schoolers like us. Encompassed in Street Style for professionals are jackets and umbrellas, so when it happens to be raining at lunch, as it did during the New York Fashion Week this year, you are prepared. For those who would like to relax on the weekend or anyone else who doesn’t need a collared shirt and tie, Street Style offers anything from jackets to shoes and even scarves for colder climates.

Many trends were mirrored across the four main events this month, the most prominent of these trends being stripes, plaids, checks, and cropped pants. Stripes were a popular theme at all the shows except in Paris. Stripes were mostly found on pants and shirts, and rarely on outerwear, though it was still present. In London, stripes were mostly found on casual collared shirts, and occasionally on pants, as well as in monochromatic outfits. New York’s Fashion Week saw stripes primarily featured on pants. The stripes tended to be thinner, almost like pinstripes, and they were dark, with even darker backgrounds. In Milan, striped shirts were a huge hit. Shirts were the main bearer of stripes. This included shirts with and without collars and shirts with and without words and graphics. This clothing tended to be lighter in color, with darker stripes.

As to plaids and checks, yes, they are two different things. Plaid is multiple different colored and sized stripes running in several directions. A check is one stripe, often with a pattern inside the stripe. All four fashion shows produced a heavy dose of plaids and checks. London was perhaps the most plaid-filled of the major shows, giving us a surplus of plaid and check jackets with a small integration of pants. Milan showed us some loose collared shirts, mostly with light backgrounds, and medium patterns. Paris featured plaid and checked sports coats and overcoats, as well as pants. In New York, designers felt an urge to put check patterns on overcoats and flannel shirts because of the cold, wet New England spring climate. All in all, plaids and checks were big at all the main shows.

Cropped pants were the main attraction at all four shows as well. London welcomed cut off pants, displaying them mostly in outfits worn on sunny days. The pants were mostly in bold, primary colors, like red, blue, and yellow. Paris entertained us in a similar fashion — a lot of bold colors to complement the sunny theme. Examples of cropped dress pants were presented at the Paris Fashion week, paired with monochromatic suit coats for an unusual look. New York was quieter when it came to cropped pants. Since it was cold and rainy almost the entire week in New York, more conventional pants were worn. Still, there was still a good turnout of the cropped pants. Milan was nearly the complete opposite of New York; sunny and warm. The cropped pants had the spotlight, again coming mostly in bold colors.

2018 is a new year, providing new looks, and different trends. The trends listed were created by top designers to be exhibited at fashion shows around the world. Other trends not included, but still popular are puffy jackets and pants, furs, and the colors brown and black. Whether or not people buy into these trends remains to be seen. Clothes from the designers in question, such as Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, and Supreme, are very costly and may not correlate with what other companies may do. To end, stripes, plaids, checks, and cropped pants may or may not become popular in 2018, but the world’s best designers are betting they will.