With Next's Summer range of children's wear featuring so many animal prints and designs, where would be the perfect location to showcase it? At the zoo of course! So, yesterday I attended the Go Wild With Next Blogger Event at London Zoo along with Ella, Kizzy and Freddy and a host of other bloggers.
We were treated to some nice food, entertained with a Meerkat encounter and able to view rails of the gorgeous new Next kidswear offerings. With clothes for 0 - 16 years old, my family love Next clothing, so getting a sneak peek at the new lines is always a privilege.
The summer season promises a nod to nostalgia with key pieces inspired by fashions of the 50s through to the 90s alongside some funky tribal prints, denims and fluros.
For the girls, the Cuba Story is this season's hottest trend with its vibrant colour palette and punchy prints. Featuring retro capri pants and cute shift dresses, it's a fun and bold look. For girls preferring a touch of whimsy, the Paradise Lost range is very pretty and girly. Distressed denims and tie-dye fabrics add a modern twist. Style Tribe brings an urban feel with tribal influences, and features monochrome and ochre tones. Animal motifs and clashing animal prints give an exciting safari adventure feel to this range (which is my favourite of all the new lines!) The playsuit is gorgeous with its ethnic feel and contrasting fabrics.
The boys will enjoy showing off their street style with the 90s Bright range. TV and musical influences of the era bring bold colours with retro tees and high tops giving a cool vibe. Accessories such as snap back caps and sunglasses add a playful touch. 50s Smart gives a preppy mix and match trend. Chinos, floral or striped shirts, blazers and cricket style jumpers give a smart-casual feel. Flat caps and bow ties add to the old school effect of the look. Monochrome makes a statement, especially when teamed with bold, clashing animal prints and geometric patterns. Flashes of fluro add to the story. The Shipwrecked trend brings sun faded colours, Hawaiian and photographic prints. Tropical beach wear, straw hats and printed vests will be big hits this summer. Perfect for hitting the surf.
Overall, this summer season promises a lot of fun pieces that kids will love to wear and adults will enjoy buying. There is a real sense of humour that keeps cropping up throughout the ranges, particularly evident in the graphic tees and with the bespectacled giraffe who appears on a lot of the individual items.
I have earmarked lots of clothes that I loved. The key denims and the graphic tees will be perfect for both Kizzy and Freddy's summer wardrobes. I love the animal inspired babygros and dungarees which will look gorgeous on my baby grandson Ted. Let's just hope the sun shines for us!
After enjoying chatting to the buyers about the key influences of the season, we were free to enjoy the zoo. We received a selection of summer accessories which I would have loved to try out there and then but it was absolutely freezing. Sunglasses and sunhats were usurped in favour of wooly hats and coats!
We visited the monkeys and the tigers, wandered through the Aquarium and the Reptile Houses and saw the penguins before returning to the car for our 3 hour homeward bound road trip. We had a lovely, but tiring, day and are grateful to Next for inviting us along to preview the new ranges.
My mini-fashionista and Next fan Kizzy was so enamoured by the day and the goodie bag she received she has decided to make a series of fashion vlogs starting with this one based on the summer accessories from Next. She blogged about it too on her site A Calm Zoned Kid.
Check out next.co.uk