A New Trend in 60 Seconds

Charlie Dawson helps you get dressed in the morning. Photo: Rex Features

DIGITAL PRINTS

Next time you decide to have your holiday pics printed onto a mouse mat or a mug, you might want to consider adding a dress to your list. Really? Well, not really. Nobody wants to see you baked like a lobster in Tenerife with a pina colada sparkler in your hand – but European high streets are awash with digital prints this spring to ensure you look, er, as pretty as a picture. Think pixelated prints and graphic shapes in futuristic fluro, so that you look like you’ve just walked out of a ZX Spectrum.

According to Vogue.com, Peter Pilotto and Mary Katrantzou are among the designers who clicked send on the trend, “a new generation of designers using computer graphics to add energy to their prints”. Barely out of fashion college, Katrantzou’s digital prints of giant jewellery on jersey dresses last year started a massive fashion digi-off, with Armani, Gucci and Versace all sending similar pattern explosions down the catwalk. Designer William Tempest used digital snaps of Hampton Court Palace in his collection too – a-MAZE-ing (ahem)!

So, can you recreate the look down Snappy Snaps? Er, no. You’ll need digital printing software to create designs that are propelled, via inkjet printer, onto your chosen fabric – a technique pioneered by Brazilian-British design duo Basso & Brooke, who made waves in 2004 with a collection that was made up completely of digital prints.

But if you’re ready for your close-up (like Amanda Seyfried, pictured) the high street has racks of this trend, from Oasis and Topshop to Zara and Mango. Avoid over-exposure by limiting accessories to handbags and shoes. Too much fuss will compete for attention, so ban the bangles. Go for eye-popping maxi dresses if you’re a petite pocket rocket, otherwise go for thigh-high mini-dresses, tunics and shorts.

Don’t panic if you’ve eaten too many pains au chocolat at the breakfast buffet, these prints are fab at camouflaging bumps and humps, too. Whether it’s futuristic florals or kaleidoscopic whirls that leave your head in a spin, it’s digi or die this spring.