Fashion trend: Seapunk

Spring Fashion Trends 2013 › Seapunk

Fashion trend: Seapunk

Spring 2013’s Seapunk trend is a product of one of the strangest intersections we’ve seen in a long while. Part Little Mermaid, part 1990s computer graphics, this sea-inspired trend is certainly something new.

While swimming pools, abstract waves and water prints remained mainstay inspiration for some, it was the addition of digi prints, acidic hues and hip hop stylings that really stood out this season.

Explosive as of late in the cultural world (case in point, Azealia Banks’ video for Atlantis), Seapunk’s influence as a fashion trend can arguably be traced back to Alexander McQueen’s last show: Plato Atlantis, Spring 2010. The collection merged larger-than-life digi prints with a serious online component—it was the first fashion show to be streamed live, via SHOWstudio.

This season, designers like Proenza Schouler gave new life to seapunk, infusing the Spring 2013 show featuring Tumblr-inspired prints on split-layered dresses, jackets and more. To boot, the label’s Spring 2013 campaign video was entirely digital, inspired by the online game Second Life.

Back at the more traditional end of the spectrum, serene blues and soft greens breathed new life to typical underwater inspiration, with Monique Lhuillier’s Mediterranean-inspired collection at the forefront. Known for her formalwear, Lhuillier’s digital prints added a unique spin. Appropriately entitled “Kaleidoscope,” Giorgio Armani’s Spring 2013 collection fused navy and turquoise with with pops of soft sea-like colours and fabrics with sheen. Michael Kors adopted the trend in a more wearable way, showing a few dreamy ocean-inspired looks in an otherwise crisp geometric collection.