If you’ve been following fashion trends as long as I have, you’ve probably seen it all. As co-author of the Historical Dictionary of Fashion (First & Second Edition), I have documented trends such as the miniskirt, Mod, Grunge, Punk, Unisex, athleisure, power dressing, the return of the corset, leather apparel cycles, minimalism, quiet luxury, DIY, and of course, the never ending rehash of vintage looks from the 1920s thru to the early aughts.
“Everything old is new again” ~ Jonathan Swift, Winston Churchill & Mark Twain
Historical Dictionary of Fashion (First & Second Edition by Francesca Sterlacci & Joanne Arbuckle
Throughout my decades-long career in the fashion industry, one of the questions I am often asked is “who is responsible for predicting upcoming fashion trends and how do they do it?”
What is Trend Forecasting?
Fashion trend forecasting is the act of predicting fashion trends including colors, fabrics, silhouettes, patterns, styles and more, for clothing brands in upcoming seasons.
University of Fashion’s lesson Trend Forecasting by Marieke van der Poel, Chief Creative Officer and Executive Editor of Proef. (Image credit: UniversityofFashion.com)
In the fashion industry, many brands rely upon information from a variety of sources that specialize in predicting fashion trends, color, and silhouette direction. These predictions, which are made more than a year in advance of products making it to the selling floor, cover multiple areas within the industry, such as childrenswear, womenswear, both for clothing and accessories.
To gain insight into how trends are predicted, watch our lesson entitled, Trend Forecasting taught by one of the most respected trend forecasters in the industry, Marieke van der Poel, Chief Creative Officer and Executive Editor of Proef. In her lesson, Marieke covers the history of trend services, the definition of a trend and the various types of trend forecasting. She explores how trends are predicted, how companies use trend services and why trends services are important to the success of any business, not just fashion. Marieke also discusses what role consumer emotions plays in forecasting trends and the various sources of where and how trends germinate.
Proef – their services range from innovation to brand and product strategy. (Image credit: getproef.com)
Predicting Trends Powered by AI
Heuritech – An AI-based fashion trend forecasting service. (Image credit: Heuritech.com)
AI is gaining momentum in the fashion trend prediction business. Fashion forecasters at WGSN, Heuritech and Pinterest Trends scour catwalk shows, read e-commerce data and analyze social media posts to figure out what our wardrobes might look like.
Heuritech, created in 2013 by two PhDs in machine learning, possesses an AI-based visual recognition technology and a forecasting model that assists apparel brands in quantifying and predicting what people will wear. According to Heuritech, their technology helps brands create a balanced collection assortment adapted to regional market specificities and therefore can reduce the problem of overstocking. By analyzing more than 3 million social images a day they claim that they can provide unbiased data about a brand’s market. From celebrity influencers to mainstream consumers, their data-crunching technology claims to be able to predict trends rather than rely on designers to innovate. I don’t know about you but if we start relying on algorithms and data to create product, where is the creativity in that? Would we ever have had innovators like Coco Chanel, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen?
Trend Forecasting is Much More Than Number Crunching
Trend Forecasting lesson by Marieke van der Poel referencing the use of experts to help predict trends. (Image credit: UniversityofFashion.com)
In a recent conversation with Marieke van der Poel of Proef, we discussed the issue. She said that the concept of data crunching is ‘like driving a car while looking in the rear-view mirror without knowing where you are going.’ I couldn’t agree more. The term for it, according to Marieke is ‘referentialism’.
Relying solely upon social media analysis, where there’s an abundance of curated content and people are too dependent on algorithms, fails to consider where certain concepts can go. The data collected only deals in the ‘now’.
Trend forecasting should involve the way people are reacting to social, political and environmental issues to create new concepts using intuition instead of references. A thoughtful trend forecaster uses a philosophical paradigm. The process is often highly intuitive and utilizes emotional abstracts and conceptional thinking. It is much less a ‘numbers’ game.
Trend Predictions for 2025
As we move into the new year, several sources have predicted their colors and trends for 2025. For example, WGSN’s Color of the Year prediction is Future Dusk and at the Pantone Color Institute it’s Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse.
WGSN & Pantone Color of the Year 2025 (Image credit: Pinterest.com)
According to an AI search for the top 2025 fashion colors, it predicted butter yellow, marigold, cocoa, lava red, seafoam green, frog green, sky blue and pink blossom. But of course, their research consists of data crunching from the most recent runway shows.
AI search for 2025 Color Trends based on data collected from most recent runway shows (Image credit: Effective Colors.com)
In terms of clothing trends, AI has predicted that there will be a return to boho chic, sleepwear as daywear, the return of the skinny jean and hot pants, strapless dresses, asymmetric designs, leopard prints, and probably the most exciting trend of all – personalization. That means we have finally been given the right to choose our own style!
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By: Francesca Sterlacci
Title: Trend Forecasting 2025- Innovators vs Data Crunchers
Sourced From: www.universityoffashion.com/blog/trend-forecasting-2025-innovators-vs-data-crunchers/
Published Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2025 08:45:39 +0000
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