Last night I attended the Hurricane Jeans Summer 2008 fashion show, held at the gorgeous Lagerfield bar on Blair Street. In a laid back manner, models cruised around the bar showing off some of the looks that will be around for summer, which will be in store from August/September.

Hurricane Jeans has been around ( in Manners Mall ) for donkeys years and stocks an array of funky labels including Wrangler, Levi’s, Lee, Nobody, Workshop Denim, Grab, Chapel, Golf Punk, Ben Sherman, Federation, Superdry, Mavi and Nique.

The Show, organised by the very clever Simone Marquis of Hurricane Jeans and Martin Brown from Little Brother, was based on the theme of 117km/h, which is what the wind speed gets up to before it becomes a hurricane. The theme set the tone for the hair and make up which was big and windblown and streaky and was balanced by the mostly casual nature of the clothes being modelled.

The women’s looks were dominated by the return of the high waist, and the continuing skinny jean trend. The high waisted trend was evident in two styles, the skinny version, and the flared version (by Wrangler). The latter is a very laid back 70’s look (think Nicole Richie) and looked great paired with a subtle striped t-shirt by Wrangler and an adorably sweet checked shirt by Levi’s. Another direction was that dominated by the skinny jean, in a variety of washes (including red acid wash). This look is a little bit bogan, a little bit Grease. Denim motorcycle jackets and a hint of lace completed the look.

Shirts, for both men and women, were also dominant. For the girls it was mostly oxford stripe shirts, worn a little bit baggy over skinny jeans, and for the guys it was the return of the flannel shirt! A lot of the guy models looked a bit like they had just stepped off the set of A Clockwork Orange, complete with braces and bowler hats, which was an interesting contrast to the 70’s girls and the Rizzo from Grease girls.

For the guys, most of the jeans are still pretty narrow in cut (as illustrated by the appropriately named Wrangler Strangler Jeans). I also really liked the Wrangler Sailor Stripe Strangler Blazer, which looked really fresh when paired with black jeans (Lee stretch stovepipes), although looking at the blazer with its graphic stripes made my eyes hurt after a bit!

So, from what I can gather from last night, the upcoming trends for denim are pretty varied. We can look forward to the return of the flare and the bellbottom, and the return of the high waist (no more muffin tops!!). Skinny jeans, are still part of the mix, but given what I have just said, it seems that anything goes.

Cheers,
Kate