Trend workshop: A design duo's edgy-kooky take on this season's trends

Stylists turned designers Pat Mosby and Rik Rasos, the folks behind ProudRace, an indie label with a growing following, know that it’s hard to dress up during summer. The heat and humidity often leave hopeful dressers half unclothed by the end of the day.

“I think anything that can save you from dehydrating is a good summer outfit. Which is really hard for me because I’m always wearing black,” says Rik. “Ninety percent of my closet is black. I think just a change of material (is the answer). I’m in love with modal, it’s so light even if the colors are dark. Plain shirts — like Calvin Klein undershirts and Fruit of the Loom is perfect — and Cheap Monday jeans — because it’s light— are my staples during summer.”

Pat’s response to dressing to beat the heat is “T-shirts. Relaxed dressing but nothing too sloppy or drape-y. Cotton, linen and rayon. Lighter materials definitely but not a lighter palette. Tailored, slim silhouettes.”

For summer, Rik recommends investing in the season’s key look: color. “Bags are always a good investment,” he says. “I’ve seen a lot of people with the Cambridge satchel. It’s a nice way to break from monotony, especially the colored ones. Prada brogues for S/S 2011 can make any boring outfit interesting and if you have all the money in the world, buy Acne’s whole S/S 2011 collection,” he laughs.

Pat suggests going another route. “Camo prints from Junya Watanabe caught my eye this season. Invest in basics that you can use for a long time. Uniqlo and Play by CDG never fails to complete a person’s wardrobe.”

ProudRace, the duo’s label, a line they’ve defined as “neo grunge, modern, minimal and a little bit kooky,” is experiencing lots of success of late, with a growing customer base in Singapore (“We’ve seen some Mediacorp stars wear our stuff,” they laugh, “which is pretty surreal”) and now in the US.

“By the end of the year we are gonna be stocked at multi-label store La Dama in California. We wanna get more regional exposure and expand our visibility in Singapore and we’re planning on doing more activities there. This May, we’re screening our first fashion film in Singapore. We’re going to be represented by a showroom called Opus; it’s based in Malaysia and Singapore. Locally, we’re very excited to be part of Myth in Greenbelt 5. The shop is well curated and we’re so honored to be there.”

This season’s collection of ProudRace, which they’ve dubbed “Heartcore,” is a play on rock ‘n’ roll style. “We just took inspiration from rock stars and their fashion statements. A sort of tribute to their personal styles that still remain as an influence to a lot of people today,” they explain.

“This season we used a lot of cotton and modal for our dresses and shirts. And for the first time, we didn’t use leather. We ended up using suede but only for detailing. All the jackets are made of heavy twill while knits were used to make bike shorts. The silhouettes are very slim and straight and most of the pieces are still unisex. The collection is very provocative but not vulgar.”

The twosome put together their take on the top trends of the season. In this workshop story, the designer tackled popular styles like how to wear florals and the new bohemian styles as well as looks traditionally related to cooler seasons like punk.

Punk Revival

“To add a modern appeal to your punk look, you can always add interesting accessories like a body harness, and instead of wearing a beat-up shirt, wear a crisp button-down with your tartan pants, which were staples in every punk’s closet during the ’80s.”

Bohemian

“Another trend that you can see in the runways is the neo-bohemian look. Topshop Unique and Celine S/S 2011 are perfect examples of interpreting the trend in a modern way. Again, with our fascination with menswear and androgyny, we interpreted the look with earth tones and tweed just to make it look tough. Be careful in wearing those fringed jackets. You need the right mix of soft and hard to avoid looking like a cowgirl.”

New Florals

“Floral prints are never gonna go out of style, but it can get too sweet sometimes so we paired it with a chunky sweater and floral denim vest just to add a little bit of androgyny in the look.”

Seventies

“Another tricky trend this season. You don’t wanna look like you just came out of an episode of That ’70s Show or you got stuck in that era. So to make it look more modern, we used a biker jacket over the flowy wide- legged jumpsuit. It’s just the right amount of ’70s without looking like you have disco fever.”

Print On Print

“We’ve always been fans of Jeremy Scott and his way of incorporating different prints in his collection.Leopard print is still very much in trend this season and it’s a nice way to make it less corny and more street. A leopard print mini dress over a Jeremy Scott jumper. You can just tie the jumper around your waist if it gets too hot this summer.”