Biker Fashion: motorcycle chic trend
The answer may lie in a trend that has been around for some
time, but a trend that hasn’t been able to be much more than a blip on the
radar while in the shadow of military fashion. The trend? Biker chic.
Take Burberry who, with little ceremony, dwindled the
military motifs that they’ve been known for of late down to a few select
elements in their S/S 2011 collection.
Much of the rest of the collection was biker inspired and infused, so much so
that the collection is named Heritage Biker. So with biker fashion elements not
exactly being something new for 2011, it leaves to be discovered what elements
will help take the style to a new level.
Biker fashion: women’s elements
- Motorcycle jackets
- Motorcycle pants
- Motorcycle boots
Motorcycle Jacket
And so it goes that it’s not merely about an overused cut
and simple black colour. In fact, many a colour will suit. You can take the
lead from Burberry’s colour offerings (above in a traditional Burberry colour,
immediately below in silver, and further below in two-tone leather), or you can
look to spring 2010′s colour trends, specifically those for leather, for
inspiration.
Of course, just because the biker chic trend is about more
than Brando jackets and black motorcycle jackets doesn’t mean to say that the
trend is completely devoid of both styles. Take Balmain’s, pre-spring 2011
offering for instance: it’s a motorcycle jacket that is somewhat
military-cum-Brando.
So with everything from boring blacks to statement silvers
having been designed, what key elements should a fashioniser be looking for in
a statement military jacket for 2011?The answer is two in particular.
1- Zipped Slaves
Zipped motorcycle jacket sleeves from Burberry
- Trench coat with subtle quilting and motorcycle jacket zips from Burberry
- Quilting motorcycle jacket from Burberry
Motorcycle Pants
Motorcycle boots
And last but not least, motorcycle boots round out the key
elements of the biker fashion trend – hardly a surprise given no trend is
complete without a tie-in shoe trend. Biker boots, having been in fashion for
some time now, won’t be hard to come by. You could consider that a plus, but
don’t rest on your laurels: mass marketing of biker boots means that a lot of
very average styles are going to be seen on the streets already, so in order to
get motorcycle boots right in 2011 look for a statement pair; something that
exudes quality and style – a pair such as the Chanel biker boots.
Biker fashion: men’s elements
Spearheaded by a number of design houses, including
Burberry, the main element of the men’s version of trend are statement jackets
– unlike women’s where we’ve also seen a number of additional pieces. The
colour palette is much muted as well: it’s all black, a fact that makes the
trend rather cliche for men but not so cliche that the only motorcycle jackets
on trend are Brando jackets.
