A Guide to Fashion Forecasting - Fairchild Books

FOWARD
THINKER
Pat Tunsky—Creative director, Doneger Creative services:
shifting buying habits of Consumers
The consumer’s buying habits shift as the forces of forecasting move
fashion forward. The consumer’s attitudes about buying are always
changing. for instance, customers in the past would purchase head-to-toe
looks to make up an outfi t. Today, customers buy items to add to their
existing wardrobe. In spring of 2010, seven to eight tops were selling to
every bottom that was sold in women’s wear.
8 The Principles of Fashion Forecasting
report confi rmed the appearance of bows as a new detail on dresses for ladies,
not only for children. Bows, large or small, appeared on the shoulders,
backs and waistlines of fashionable dresses. The trend report showed images
from the runways and the streets illustrating the commercial viability
and consumer acceptance of the trend. A fashion forecast, on the other hand
is the combination of both past trend reports with present information and
insight into the future to create the prediction of upcoming trends. Most
importantly, forecasts explain why new trends may occur.
Three questions that forecasters must undertake are: What has already
happened in the past that infl uences fashion today? What is presently
happening that will notably affect fashion in the near future? What
is likely to occur in fashion in the distant future?
Through a variety of methods, fashion forecasting is the practice
of looking for clues that help in predicting the mood, actions, and retail
habits of consumers by focusing on their current wants and needs
and then anticipating consumers’ future wishes. Successful forecasting
depends on up-to-date information and sensitivity to the ever-changing
desires of fashion consumers.