Trend Forecasting prints, colors, and direction example.
Pattern & Silhouette
After the attitude & color mood boards are created, the next step is pattern & silhouette. If you are starting your collection, the step is just as important as if you had your brand for a while. The next step is to research textiles & style lines from the past 3 spring seasons. This is important to know when trends start, peak, and die. For example the hi-lo hem showed up in 2011, but hit big in 2012. Generally, I will anticipate a two year turn for trends that are non standard. The great part about this type of research is you have concrete historical data for popular trends and log trends.
Some tips and websites I use for research are listed below.
Tips
google: year, trend your following and popularity. Image Search
Google favorite designers and the year.Image Search
Use Pintrest as a way to file images for year and category. It is free and also won't tie up company data. Draws possible new consumers.
Download Picasa or any file system you prefer for visual data.. Files can be created for images on your own computer. Only great if your company has open memory.
Websites
Stylesight blog
WGSN blog
www.apparelnews.net/specialsections/sourcing
WWD
Harpers Bazaar
The board below is the history of patterns in textiles from 2011-2012. Since I am creating a category of clothing that fits the same market as Caitlin, I am looking up women's contemporary
The print from Andy Gilmore is similar to the mirrored imaged seen in Alexander McQueens work.
By researching the past, we can move forward and develop a different approach. I tend to study the visual languages of tribal cultures because they offer emotional, and spiritual context to shapes.
Comentários