Fashion Trends: Winter gets a fresh coat

Winter is a time for showing off our boots, trench coats and layered styles.

While the collections of top designers featured mainly winter neutrals - blacks, greys and browns - at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg last week, some young designers favoured popping colours on the catwalk.

KHOTHATSO TSOTETSI OF TSOTETSI KL

This young designer wowed the crowd with blue velvet as part of his iN-MATE collection, inspired by the 1950s song Blue Velvet. The garments were made with printed chiffon, cotton chino and bridal chemise.

He says for the sophisticated woman ''blue is the colour to have in your closet this season".

SHANA MORLAND OF SHANA

Shana followed in her mother Stephania Morland's footsteps, sprinkling her autumn/winter collection with bright colours. She says her collection, which comprises a mixture of silk satin and cotton knits, was inspired by bright neon beads in a variety of colours.

Brocade, tweed, sequins and hand-made embellished details were the highlight of her collection. She says having bursts of bright colour helps us embrace the colder, darker months.

CELESTE ARENDSE OF SELFI

For the SELFI autumn/winter collection, Arendse looked at images of waves of energy, DNA, human cells and different parts of the body. The ''Self Awake" collection was inspired by waking up from a deep sleep and having an exciting, beautiful life despite the chaos inherent in it. She used digital prints on scuba and moss crepe for the entire collection to achieve rich colours. "Playing with colour is a big part of my aesthetic," she says.

There's no rule stating that we should wear only black and brown for winter, she adds. "Just because it is grey outside, why should you have to reflect that?"