I was at my friend's birthday party when I discovered the apocalypse was imminent. "December 21st," intoned a fellow guest, with whom I had become unexpectedly stranded among an archipelago of friends. "The end of days. Mayan prophecy, innit?" I must say the revelation put a damper on the evening. Not because I believe an inexorable, cataclysmic event is about to befall humanity. It's just tricky to make small talk when one party is intent on discussing impending Armageddon. Try it with a Jehovah's Witness next time one pops round and see for yourself.
It turns out that this whole 2012 cult is quite a big thing. People are convinced that the Americas' ancient sages were able to pinpoint the precise chronological location of our species' doom. Which strikes me as a downbeat legacy for a civilisation – although the Maya also bequeathed the hammock and the taco to us. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.
Google "Mayan Calendar Prophecy" and you'll discover a glut of bewildered vulnerables, anxiously counting down the short time humanity has left. The whole phenomenon might have been positively dolorous were it not for the gaily spinning wheel of fashion alighting upon it. Of course, fashion didn't "read" doom. It just noticed a Mesoamerican mood in the air and ran with the colour palette, further proving my theory that fashion itself is basically a commercial form of eternal optimism.
This year's key trend is Mexicana – an opulent, eclectic feast of pattern and colour influenced by the Americas, from the Maya and Aztecs, right through to modern Tex-Mex touches (lashings of faded denim) and Dia de los Muertos skulls.
Embroidery is the cornerstone of this look. Mesoamerican embroidery is full of symbolism. The Aztecs even believed that the Moon goddess taught the ancients to weave as she moved back and forth across the path of the sun like thread. I'm not sure of its symbolic integrity, but I've invested in this Asos collection dress.
I also love Markus Lupfer's faded denim shirt with hot pink embroidery detail; Lucy Folk's Taco bracelets, and the cool skull detail on Elkin's bracelet stacks.
The caveat with this trend is that embroidery makes whatever it's on look bigger. So if you'd rather enhance your handbag than your haunches, skip the print leggings and try this Mango shopper. Enjoy! If it's going to be our last summer, we might as well go out looking great…
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