When we speak of trends we most often think of fashion as it is visible indicator of reflecting what’s new and now
– every season.
Successful fashion brands are masters at leveraging trends to remain current. Over the years the focus has shifted from the actual product (clothes and accessories etc.) to what it represents, the brand.
Brand is more important than ever and legacy fashion brands have developed a strategy of using up-and- coming or trendy fashion designers to continually refresh the relevance of their brand. In 1997 Louis Vuitton famously hired designer Marc Jacobs who went on to create their first ready to wear line and kept them relevant until his departure in 2013.
The dictionary definition of trends is “a general direction in which something is developing or changing”. FYI a fad is not a trend. A fad is intense and short-lived – they come they go – like Silly Bandz.
Trends are a balancing act of art, commerce, and the spirit of the times. Trends help you find the right insight/opportunity, generate the right ideas, and execute them in the right way. Trends emerge and evolve. They are about today and tomorrow. The goal is ultimately to turn desire into demand.
There is a whole industry with a methodology for predicting, spotting and analyzing trends. When I was
at Estée Lauder part of my role was to identify trends that we could leverage in seasonal promotions: themes, colors, fabrics, patterns, silhouettes, design details. I traveled to London and Paris to the annual accessory and textile shows like Vendôme Luxury a style and trend tradeshow and Premiere Vision the world's premier fabric show.
www.vendomeluxurytradeshow.com www.premierevision.fr
I would do visual homework noting the biggest themes, styles, colors, and materials and details that could be a point of difference. I did a lot of sketching (taking photos was prohibited) and bought samples. They also had sessions where industry trend experts and major designers shared their insights and inspiration for the next year.
Some of the best trends are started on the streets of major fashion cities where style innovators create their own fashion trends. Fashion designers get their inspiration from many different places – the street, ballet, historical figures, art, places and of course societal influences – like the current trend of reusability and being savvy with our money.
In the words of Coco Chanel
Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street,
fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.
4 | Rhode Island Cre tiv Rhode Island Creaative Magazine
A few of my favorite trend sites:
www.stylecaster.com www.style.com www.refinery29.com
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