“JOIN A WEIRD TRIP” sweatshirt from Balenciaga Fall 2012 (Photo: VOGUE)

“You’re obsessed with ’80s sci-fi,” Sam told me last week at our brainstorming meeting.

She’s right. Every time we’d talk about trends we’d like to feature in the magazine, I’d involuntarily blurt out “’80s sci-fi” like it made as much sense as “color blocking”, or as if it would be 2012′s year-end answer to “prints on prints”.

Let me explain.

It is entirely possible that these fashion obsessions have deep-seated Freudian implications or whatnot, but I think my ’80s sci-fi obsession started with Nicolas Ghesquiere’s Fall 2012 collection for Balenciaga.

On one hand by “’80s” I mean zero prejudice against the glossy and the garish. Along with it came affection for shimmer, bold shoulders, and on occasion, shimmery bold shoulders. On the other hand I guess “sci-fi” refers to a quintessentially retro sense of the the future: space suits, the Jetsons, a utopian robot world, that kind of thing.

So you can imagine my geeky delight when seeds of my little obsession began to sprout in the Spring 2013 men’s shows that have been transpiring in Paris over the weekend.

Mercurial leather at Lanvin; golden boy at at Comme des Garcons; metallic blues at Burberry (Photos: Style.com)

In other trend-related news, I’m personally excited to experiment with this genius pairing of burgundy and cobalt blue, which are two popular colors from seasons past. Instantly one can think of other combinations that pair deep velvety hues with saturated jewel tones. Hunter green and flamingo pink, perhaps?

Far left and right: Looks from the Jil Sander show; middle: Prada (Photos: Style.com)

Another trend that I’m excited is seeing resurgence is this sense of purist, head-to-toe dressing, which is, in fact, one of the major trends in the Resort womenswear shows. (Check out the head-to-toe leopard look at Stella McCartney, and the aubergine tunic-and-pant combo at The Row.)

Case(s) in point: Same wash denim on denim on denim at Calvin Klein; cartoon camo at Band of Outsiders; the sky at John Galliano

Going back to my mini-quandary on the provenance of my ’80s sci-fi obsession, it might also be because of this 1999 Queen Amidala portrait I stumbled on in Vogue while looking for old Irving Penn photographs.

Photo: Irving Penn/VOGUE

So when you see a Candy Cutie surreptitiously clad in a Star Wars shirt in a future issue, you’d know who to thank/blame.

Jed

P.S. Do you have a fashion foresight for trends? Share your predictions with me at the comments section below, or tweet me @jedgcandy!