Amongst the client and media appointments the MirrorMePR team had crammed into our day at BETA International (The Equestrian and Country trade show), I had the chance to escape and take a look around the event and see what trends were coming through for A/W in terms of rider and horse wear.
Traditionally, equestrian style has been very slow to catch up with fashion trends, but over the last couple of years, there has been a real and very welcome shift towards clothing which doesn’t feature unflattering horizontal stripes and big shapeless silhouettes!
This year, “sports luxe” was in full effect at BETA, and the shift from poor performance clothing to technical clothing was really obvious. The realisation that riders demand more from their riding wardrobe was clear and there were some really nice touches: crystal embellishment on breeches and competition shirts, silicon grip details on breeches (creating geometric patterns to enhance the look and performance) and a real cross over from gym wear to arena wear.
I love the move towards soft shell competition and casual jackets, without compromising on classic tailoring, offering the rider freedom of movement without compromising on tradition.
Colour-wise, our old favourites such as plum, raspberry, chocolate & navy make a welcome return, as would be expected. I did, however, also spot some neon brights – and not just restricted to high visibility safety wear!
Plus, geometric prints and even a hint of animal prints were spotted on breeches and even horse rugs!
Rider helmets still offered plenty of blingtastic decoration, but there were some really smart examples of sleek and simple design too, which managed to incorporate colour and print with subtle but striking effect.
So riding in style (and comfort) this autumn – or fall, if you’re American – is definitely back in fashion!
