Fashion Forecasting, Objective &

Trend Chaser
Lecture -1
 What is Fashion?

 Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially

in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body, or
furniture. Fashion is a distinctive and often constant
trend in the style in which a person dresses. It is the
prevailing styles in behavior and the newest creations
of textile designers.
Apart from basic fashion statement, there are some
more things that we should consider. Here is given.

• Fashion as a social and physical Response

• Fashion as a Popular Culture
• Fashion as Change
• Fashion as a Universal Phenomenon
• Fashion as a Transfer of Meaning
• Fashion as an Economical Stimulus
• Fashion as a Gender differences
Fashion as a social and physical Response

 Clothing simultaneously conceals and reveals the

body and self.
 The buying of fashion is cognitively challenging
($$$ vs. value) and emotionally arousing (+ vs. -)
in terms of symbolic meaning of products.
Fashion as a Popular Culture

 Operating within the domain of popular culture.

 It is sometimes trivial and transient
 This invites skepticism because it sometimes
seems frivolous or extreme
 Fashion as Change
 Fashion captures the charms of novelty.
 Responsiveness to the spirit of the times and the
pull of historical continuity.

Fashion as a Universal Phenomenon

• With international trade came exposure to foreign
style
• Fashion is trade in materials, ideas and artisans
Fashion as a Transfer of Meaning

 Meaning exists in the cultural environment

 Designers, marketers and the press transfer
meaning to consumer goods
 One buys the consumers goods and constructs
one’s worlds.
Fashion as an Economical Stimulus

 Fashion is an economic entity

 Planned obsolescence powers to drive the economic
engines of fashion
 There is a pleasure associated with new looks and
new cloths, styles, etc.
Fashion as a gender differences

 Men’s clothes traditionally occupational.

 Women’s clothes traditionally vented their
individuality.
 Apparel for the genders is not on the same field.
 Fashion Forecasting & Trends Analysis of Fashion

 “Fashion used to come from one sources at a time, be it the

street, the runway or the entertainment business. The interesting
thing about today is that influences come from high and low-
everything from couture to target” - Michael Kors.
 Fashion forecasting is a global career that focuses on
upcoming trends. A fashion forecaster predicts the colors,
fabrics, textures, materials, prints, graphics,
beauty/grooming, accessories, footwear, street style, and
other styles that will be presented on the runway and in
the stores for the upcoming seasons. The concept applies
to not one, but all levels of the fashion industry including
haute couture, ready-to-wear, mass market, and street
wear. Trend forecasting is an overall process that focuses
on other industries such as automobiles, medicine, food
and beverages, literature, and home furnishings. Fashion
forecasters are responsible for attracting consumers and
helping retail businesses and designers sell their brands.
Today, fashion industry workers rely on the Internet to
retrieve information on new looks, hot colors, celebrity
wardrobes, and designer collections.
 Objectives of Forecasting:

 Understand the multifaceted character of fashion.

 Analyze the trajectory of fashion change.
 Identify the concept of spirit of the times, as a frame
work for understanding and interpreting fashion
change.
 Understand the breadth and depth of the forecasting
process.
 Identify the role of forecasting in the textile and
apparel industries.
 Forecasting Defined:

 Fashion forecasting has been compared to chasing the future

with a butterfly net (Gardner, 1995)
 Forecasters vary in the methods they use, but all are looking for
a structure that helps them to predict the mood, behavior, and
buying habits of the consumer. Because trends signal the
emerging needs wants and aspirations of the consumer, canny
manufacturers and retailers capitalize on their potential for
turning a profit.
 Forecasting is not magic practiced by a talented few with a gift
of seeing the future. It is a creative process that can be
understood, practiced and applied by anyone who has been
introduced the tools. A professional does not proceed by rule of
thumb or trial and error but by mastery of the theory and
practice of the field. Forecasting provides a way for executives
to expand their thinking about change, anticipate the future and
project the likely outcomes (Levenbach & Cleary, 1981)
 Trend Chasers-Who, What, Where, When,
Why, And How

 Meteorologists who study the formation and behavior

of tornadoes are called storm chasers. They position
themselves in the geographic location most likely to
spawn these violent but short – lived events. Then, with
skill, knowledge about storm behavior, perseverance
and a little luck ,they locate and investigate the
phenomenon. They transmit their findings to other
meteorologists and eventually to the public.
 Like the storm chasers, trend chasers locate the
spawning ground of trends and use their skill and
knowledge to identify emerging concepts.
 Trend chasers transmit their findings to other
forecasters, product developers, marketers and the
press, setting off the chain reaction that people call
fashion. The result is a continuous flow of products
with new styling , novel decoration and innovative
uses.
 Trend chasers work in many kind of firms- for
designers, advertising agencies ,fiber producer, trade
organizations, retail chains, and apparel brands.
 Agencies publish trend books to illustrate their
forecasts about 18 months ahead of the fashion
season. The books include color chips, textile
samples, fashion sketches, and photographs to
illustrate trends.
 Types of Fashion Forecasting
Long-term forecasting:
Long term forecasting is the process of analyzing and
evaluating trends that can be identified by scanning a
variety of sources for information. It is a fashion which
lasts over two years. When scanning the market and the
consumers, Fashion forecasters must follow demographics
of certain areas both urban or suburban. s well as examine
the impact on retail and its consumers due to the economy,
political system, environment, and culture. Long-term
forecasting seeks to identify: major changes in
international and domestic demographics, shifts in the
fashion industry along with market structures, consumer
expectations, values, and impulsion to buy, new
developments in technology and science, and shifts in the
economic, political, and cultural alliances between certain
countries It is also called Classic.
 Short term forecasting focuses on current events both
domestically and internationally as well as pop culture
in order to identify possible trends that can be
communicated to the customer through the seasonal
color palette , fabric and silhouette stories. It gives
fashion a modern twist to a classic look that intrigues
our eyes. Some important areas to follow when
scanning the environment are: current events, art,
sports, science and technology. Short-term forecasting
can also be considered fad forecasting. It is also called
Fad.
 Difference between Fad & Classic

Fad Classsic
1.A temporary, passing fashion 1. Never go out of fashion, May
experience slight alterations
through the years, but basically the
same

2.Usually extreme styles, Bright 2. Simple in design,

colors, Large accessories.
3. 50’s fads - Capris . Full skirts, 3. 50’s - Straight skirt , Blazer top
•60’s fad -The baby doll look &60 ‘s - Simple black dress
 Running shoes are a good example of a classic style. ... A
simple black dress, a worsted wool suit, a leather bomber
jacket - these are all classic fashions that repeat themselves
year after year