Hidden Agenda

Swirls or schools of fish? Polka dots or eyeballs? Things may not seem as they appear in Spring ’17. Patterns partake in a series of illusions, injecting playful pizzazz into the season’s most trend-right silhouettes. According to Nicole Yee, trend editor at Fashion Snoops, this trickery is an extension of the industry’s routine camouflage. “Traditional camouflage is an extremely important pattern for kids—especially boys,” Yee reports. “Over the years, it has been naturally tweaked in colorations and disguises other shapes and characters, like animals, into the camouflage pattern.” Here, have a look-see.