From where do trends in fashion originate? Find out more about the area of the fashion business dedicated to future trend prediction.
What Do Fashion Trends Actually Mean?
The newest and most in-demand clothing and accessory trends are known as trends in fashion. Microtrends come and go in a couple of months to several years, such as small sunglasses and high-waisted denim. Unlike the newest fashion trends, macro trends are more likely to be influenced by changes in lifestyle and demography over longer time periods.
Regarding fashion, what is trend forecasting?
The topic of trends in fashion is centered on making predictions about a market’s future. In every business, trend forecasters use historical sales data to predict future prospects. Therefore, the area of the fashion industry that deals with projecting future trends that will stimulate demand from consumers is known as fashion forecasting. These trends may include colors, styling methods, fabric textures, and more. Trend analysts generate trend reports that product designers utilize to design new apparel and accessories for companies.
Extended-Term Trend Prediction: What Is It?
Macro changes, or significant trends in fashion that will be important for more than two years, are the focus of long-term forecasting. These broad trends—such as modifications to lifestyles, demography, and the production and retail processes of clothing—are what characterize the fashion industry.
Brief-Term Trend Forecasting: What Is It?
Micro trends are crucial to short-term forecasting. Seasonal variations in short-term predictions usually relate to color, style, and the impact of pop culture and current affairs.
5 Methods Fashion Brands Use to Predict Trends
Every brand has a distinct process for forecasting trends. Because they often release more collections annually than menswear labels, womenswear brands, for instance, tend to invest more on micro trend analysis. The size of the business and its target market have an impact on forecasting as well, although there are a number of trustworthy methods used by brands to predict trends.
- With internal trends in fashion: Since many large fast-fashion companies are vertically integrated, their trend forecasting is carried out internally. In order to design new items, this enables the fashion forecasters to collaborate directly with product development teams.
- Using a trend forecasting agency: Bigger, non-vertically integrated firms frequently rely on the experience of trend forecasting agencies, who charge for trend research reports.
- Attending fashion shows: Prior to the development of the Internet, trend forecasters spent much of their time researching at these events, taking note of the most promising looks. They subsequently forwarded this information from the catwalk to fashion publications such as Vogue and chain-store product manufacturers. The process by which fashion trends make their way from haute couture runways to high street stores is known as “top-down” forecasting.
- By examining influencers: Trend scouts these days are more inclined to consult blogs, street style, and influencers for information on the newest fashions. This method of forecasting, known as “bottom-up,” entails keeping a close eye on a target market to gauge demand for upcoming trends.
- By observing other sectors of the economy: Independent small-scale fashion designers may choose to forego trend forecasting entirely in favor of developing mood boards that draw inspiration from nature, art, and cinema to create distinctive collections.
The majority of trend forecasters use a combination of “top-down” and “bottom-up” forecasting, in-depth familiarity with the fashion industry, and their own instincts to identify trends in fashion.
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