A Guide to Fashion Forecasting - Fairchild Books
A Guide to Fashion Forecasting - Fairchild Books
A Guide to Fashion Forecasting - Fairchild Books
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What makes a product fashionable? What makes merchandise new<br />
and exciting or old and out of style? Who decides what will be “in fashion”<br />
in the next season? Where do these ideas and concepts come from?<br />
These are some of the questions that fashion professionals ask themselves<br />
when trying <strong>to</strong> plan for the upcoming season. The key <strong>to</strong> answering<br />
these questions lies in the field of fashion forecasting, which will be<br />
explained throughout the chapters of the book.<br />
WhAT Is fAshION fOreCAsTINg?<br />
<strong>Fashion</strong> forecasting is the practice of predicting upcoming trends based<br />
on past and present style-related information, the interpretation and analysis<br />
of the motivation behind a trend, and an explanation of why the prediction<br />
is likely <strong>to</strong> occur. By communicating the information <strong>to</strong> designers, retailers,<br />
product developers, manufacturers, and business professionals, they are<br />
able <strong>to</strong> produce products that consumers will want <strong>to</strong> purchase and profits<br />
can be made. Since fashion is constantly changing and evolving, forecasting<br />
has a pivotal role in the fashion process. Focus must be continually directed<br />
forward, always looking for what will be in the future. <strong>Forecasting</strong> future<br />
trends is a complex process that involves a fusion of skills, some that are<br />
objective and scientific and others that are more subjective and artistic. The<br />
ideal method of fashion forecasting should include a mixture of methodical<br />
and creative means. Sourcing and data collection, analysis of data, and<br />
interpretation of facts are scientific methods. Awareness, observation, intuition,<br />
and memory are considered more artistic approaches.<br />
When developing a fashion forecast, one must understand the difference<br />
between a trend report and a fashion forecast. A trend report is an<br />
account describing in detail something that already exists or has happened.<br />
Trend reports are often written based on observations from runway collections,<br />
red carpet events, or street fashions. For instance, a recent trend<br />
Chapter One : Introduction <strong>to</strong> <strong>Fashion</strong> <strong>Forecasting</strong><br />
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