CTD 231 Lecture 4: CTD 231 Chapter 4 Notes

Premium

CTD 231 Chapter 4 Notes Trend Forecasting Fashion • Fashion – a reflection of our times, a mirror of prevailing ideas in our society • Applies not only to apparel • Helps consumers to identify what is desirable • About change The Dimensions of Fashion • Each fashion level prioritizes artistic, functional, scientific, and business aspects of fashion differently • Language through which we express our attitudes about age, gender, power, and sexuality • Moves or morphs through cycle of popularity Fashion Levels • Paris Couture – highest level ➢ No-rules environment gives birth to many directional fashion ideas (creativity and fantasy) ➢ Prices $20,000 to $30,000 ➢ 300 core customers; most from the U.S. and Middle East ➢ Luxurious fabric, complex silhouettes, meticulous tailoring, exquisite beading, unique details ➢ Gives cachet to ready-to-wear, accessories, fragrances of same house Fashion Levels • Ready-to-Wear (Pret-a-Porter) ➢ More profit-oriented ➢ Produced in quantities from 100 to several thousand ➢ Not as expensive as couture, but beautifully designed, impeccably made, with finest fabrics ➢ Trend forecasters look here to identify the next hot color, fabric, silhouette, detail or accessory ➢ Examples: Donna Karan, Gucci, etc. • Mass-Market, Moderate, & Better Price Points (**lowest to highest**) ➢ Most consumers purchase from one of these price points ➢ Product developed by wholesale brands, mass retailers, chain stores, or department stores ➢ These price points prioritize value, practicality, and function, as well as aesthetics for the mainstream consumer’s lifestyle ➢ Produced in quantities up to one million ➢ Examples: Urban Outfitters, Target, and Belk • Street Fashion ➢ Originates with consumer rather than a designer or product developer ➢ Free spirits, innovative youth put together unique looks from flea markets, vintage, army surplus, and inexpensive sources ➢ Designers & trend forecasters tract, reinterpret for their own customers • Functional Fashion ➢ Uses scientific developments in textiles, fabric construction, finishing, and elections to make high-tech apparel ➢ Appeals to needs of niche markets ➢ Aerodynamics for athletes often introduced at high-stakes competitions ➢ Resulting technologies adapted quickly for other fashion markets The Language of Fashion • Consumers use fashion as a means of expression • Fashion allows us to articulate the various roles we assume (e.g., athlete, student, professional, spouse, mother) • A trend and its countertrend may appeal to same customer at different points in time The Fashion Cycle • Fashion is defined by trends – preferences for particular sets of product characteristics within consumer group • Fad – innovations with short popularity spurts • Classics – enduring styles that never go out of fashion • Introduction: worn by fashion innovators, including designer fashions and street fashion ➢ Designer boutiques and high-end specialty stores • Growth: fashion leaders pick up on trend and to popularize ➢ Fast-fashion retailers, contemporary boutiques, and specialty stores • Acceleration: the trend interpreted for a mass market lifestyle and purchased by fashion followers ➢ Moderate and better labels at department stores, mass merchants, and specialty stores • Saturation: the trend finds mass acceptance and looks timely to wear or buy among fashion followers ➢ Primarily found at moderate retailers and mass merchants • Decline: fashion followers still wear trend but are no longer interested in purchasing • Obsolescence: looks dated to wear; no one wants to buy it Environmental Scanning • The ongoing process of surveying a variety of resources for economic, political, social, technological, and cultural conditions for insights into the future ➢ Long term forecasting – seeks to identify ongoing trends such as: o Major shifts in domestic and international demographics o Changes in industry and market structures o Changes in consumer interests, values, and motivation o Breakthroughs in technology and science o Changes in the domestic or global economic picture o Shifts in political, cultural, or economic alliances between countries ➢ Short term forecasting analyzes immediate current events and pop culture that can be communicated to the customer through seasonal collections Environmental Scanning Influences • Current events • The arts • Sports • Science and technology Environmental Scanning Resources • Resources developed for forecasters and product developers to project trends up to two years in the future • Media scanning services – customize searches • Fashion newsletters, forecasting services can be product developer’s eyes and ears • Examples: WGSN and Women’s Wear Daily Shopping the Market • Trends identified through environmental scanning must be verified and interpreted for target customer • Timing is critical • Get a sense of how consumers are likely to respond • Shop their own stores and competition’s • Insights from sales associates Determining Where to Shop • Which venues will yield the most valuable information for th