GLS defines three trend themes for the 2008/09 Autumn/Winter season:
Smooth - Smart - Sampled

Smooth
- High-quality leather with a soft touch
- Natural hues and harmonious leather colours
- Deconstructed pouches, casual landscape formats with front pockets, fashionable backpacks

Smart
- Light grey and stone tones, mud, darks, black
- Shine (patent, spazzolato) and metallics
- Unmistakeable language of forms, strictly constructed styles
- Clutch bags, shoppers, handle bags, short-handled bags, weekenders

Sampled
- Basic tones complemented with striking colour highlights
- Casual materials, pleasant-to-touch Leathers, high-quality nylons, suede
- Decorations such as pleats, topstitching, ornamental jewels
- Cross-over shoulder strap bag, saddle bags, shoppers

Colours
The new colour ranges are subdued and inconspicuous. Dark night tones including black complemented by mud, grey, light beige and stone versions as well as natural Leather tones form the basis of the collections. Vividness is ensured by striking splashes of colour that are used more frequently than Last winter. Violet in all its different shades is considered the ultimate trend colour. The required suspense, however, is also created by dark red, burgundy, orange and some occasional petrol and green accents. Metallics continue to feature prominently in the collections; they are less clear in their colour statement now becoming more ambiguous colour blends like so many of the colours next season.

Materials
Quality and value are the buzzwords for materials. This trend not only goes hand in hand with first-class leathers but also increasingly foregoes synthetics. The leathers used are fine-pored, as soft as kid gloves, slightly buffed or feature a distinct grain. Often materials are additionally treated to provide them with striking surface textures. Mock croc and snake are still in demand but new embossed and treated surfaces (such as patent croc with a metallic finish) feature ever more frequently now. In the sportier, more casual segment refined, shiny nylons, suede and casual canvas are used. The glamour theme remains key. Designers continue to prefer patent leathers for their interpretations but more and more elaborate surface treatments are now found alongside these strictly high-gloss leathers. Even the long neglected spazzolato leathers return to the collections and hone in on this theme.

Formats
The choice of bag formats ranges from very big to very small. Mini bags are just as 'in' as 'huge' weekenders and XXL styles, which seem to have passed their climax now, however. This is why big bags are now increasingly offered with a 'little sister. The No.1 bag format is the clutch bag. It will not only stay in fashion but will now also come with numerous compelling size and design variations. Shoppers experience a renaissance and come in host of sizes. In addition to this, collections offer more rigid doctor's bags and handle bags, voluminous landscape formats (preferably featuring front pockets) and soft-line pouches.

Accessories/Decoration
Decoration is scarcely used for the Autumn/Winter styles. Most decorative details are plain and blend in with the subdued overall look. Nevertheless, the elements used suffice to make for the special fashion statement of these bags. Ideas loaned from historical decorations feature for fasteners, handles and ornaments. Jewellery clasps, front pockets and long ties passed through buckles are in evidence here. Metal handles are the new eye-catchers gradually replacing the leather covered ones. Alongside accordion and box pleats the focus is increasingly on a patchwork of colours and materials. Designers ever more often depend on detachable shoulder straps (be it for chic short-handled and large-format clutch bags or for those smart evening pouch-like purses) since they always offer wearers a choice. On top of this, many styles feature decorative highlights inside: linings in contrasting colours or with eye-catching patterns add 'wearability' value.

Accessories
Belts are and continue to be indispensable accessories. They captivate wearers with ever-new looks featuring patent, embossed and treated leathers as well as animal skin looks plus a wide variety of buckle designs. Belts are generally worn at the waist and only casual, relaxed denim belts sit on the hips. Gloves are undergoing a true metamorphosis: they are increasingly perceived as a means of fashion expression, which is why they are now offered in more colour shades and more striking materials. Very popular tools for styling are gaudy styles combined with plain outfits. The continued existence of cropped sleeve lengths creates a need for Long, elbow-high gloves and their explicitly decorative function increasingly takes precedence over their ability to merely keep the wearer warm.

All activities related to GDS/GLS can also be found on the Internet at:

www.gls-fair.com
www.gds-online.com

Press release
GDS-GLS
Düsseldorf, 20. February 2008