A friend of mine asked me if I might write about trends and how that works with designing, and as I sat down to write this week I started to think about it.
Trends can be so many things: colors of the season, silhouettes, omnipresent pieces or brands on teens or adults. On a more macro level, I suppose it’s similar to how we view for example the decades of the 1920’s-80’s where each decade was distinctive both in its silhouettes, colors, and really a whole style of its own.
It interests me how this can be shaped by current events, the economy, or what is happening culturally. For myself, when I think about trends it’s interesting to look at what younger people are interested in wearing. I think they embrace trends more wholeheartedly than adults who tend to maybe be more decided about what looks good on us.
For myself, I suppose I am somewhat predictable: I love stripes, polka dots, a beautiful floral print, tailored shapes. Sometimes the struggle I face in my designing over the years has been to reach outside of the classic styles I turn to day to day. As a designer I can’t think of a better word for it, you just have to push yourself a bit so you don’t get stuck. I never wanted to be a designer that made just one thing, or one where my style could be summed up in one word. There is nothing wrong with businesses that run that way, honestly many brands are so successful because they are so good at one thing and they just do that, focusing solely on this. For me personally, and my wafting interests and curiosity I like to keep making new things.
From a design perspective here’s one thing I can say about trends. When you hit on a trend by accident it feels great. For example a few years ago, I made these crop tops and pencil skirts, influenced solely by my watching of the White Lotus ( season 2) and admiring Daphne’s 2 piece Prada set. ( I wrote a post about that here last year.) When they hit the sales floor I realized I was “on trend” because the ladies, especially the younger ladies were buying them swiftly.
Now to counter this, when you try to follow a trend, for example if I notice something and then I think, oh well I could make that too, it tends to fall flat. Often you are too late and by the time you see and notice it. Unless I’m really paying attention to the start of the trend, it’s already been knocked off so many times and people can by their Zara or Uniqlo version.
For example if you’ve been shopping this season I bet you have been noticing a shade of bright yellow or buttery yellow or a pale or brighter pink across all levels of designers. Does that influence you to wear it? I’m not sure? As I waited for my teenage son at the mall, I wandered through Nordstrom and Bloomingdales and there it was- a shocking yellow shade, a hint of pale pink from so many brands sprinkled across the sales floor. I went back and looked online at designer collections and saw this on the runway at Prada amongst others.
Prada SS25 runway
If you wonder how all this information is spread, it all comes from color forecasting. Where I generally see it is from Premiere Vision, a forecasting company that does the color palette every season and defines the trends. All designers see the color card in advance of ordering their fabrics, so it is an interesting sink or swim choice. Do you follow the color card? What if you don’t like the colors that season?
I find personally that I get influenced perhaps in the way where if I happen to see a beautiful fabric in a color that is of the season maybe I look at it more closely. However I am often just influenced by my instincts for color and print. This information all trickles to the fabric companies producing fabric and there are fabric trends also and that defines quite a lot the direction fashion will go in.
I will say I am not under the pressure that I was when I was making clothes for other specialty stores or department stores. Buyers see these colors and fabric trends during market week, and I think the major designers set the silhouette, style trends. If your collection makes no sense next to others sometimes buyers will just pass on it. If everyone is showing pencil skirts and you have a huge ballgown skirts for example it might just look strange. That’s not always true- some stores take a chance or recognize a unique vision but there is a reason why so many collections look so similar.
There are designers like Alaïa who never seem to have subjected themselves to this kind of scrutiny. His collections were a sea of black many times and just a technical exploration of fabric and the female form, immune to trend.
I guess I admire the latter, and gave up on following trends as much when I opened my store. I don’t mind the idea of fashion changing, in fact I love to see it and follow it each season. But, the pressure to conform to it felt somewhat limiting. I think at the highest level designers are able to explore their creativity with so many ateliers at their disposal, with the caveat that they must hit its sales numbers each season.
I really enjoy the freedom to just make what I like, and that it can translate to people when it does. ( or not!) I wonder what you see as current trends right now, I would be curious to hear.
Have a lovely week. If you like this post and can press the little ❤️ like button that is super helpful it just helps more people see this post. I appreciate you being here and for reading!
x Katherine
I love this post, Kathy! Such an interesting subject. For some reason I have always felt that being on trend was kind of bad or lazy. Maybe it's a gen x thing. I don't want to be a follower! There's a funny 80s video with Mr. T and some then small time actors, and he's showcasing their fashion. He says something like "table the label, do your own thing!"
oh, your post left me thinking of how much the place where you live & the people you frequent can influence your style. but some trends i've seen around me definitely have to be 1) nostalgia, maybe like a longing for childhood 2) a drift away from minimalism 3) oversized clothing. i don't necessarily engage in all of them but i do love drowning in hoodies iwi