Article by Ceri Heathcote

Most people want to look stylish and keep up with the latest fashion trends. Magazines, celebrities and fashion blogs are all ways that you can keep up with what is in and out of fashion, but how is a fashion trend actually started and who decides what’s hot and what is not?

A fashion trend is described as the general course or prevailing tendency for a style of dress or clothing. This can apply a particular style seen on the catwalk, in the shops or on the streets. Whilst there is definitely some overlap between the three and there will be some fashion trends that will be seen on the catwalks, in the shops and on the street there will also be some discrepancies. For example, there may be a trend in the designer and catwalk collections for very full floor length skirts, this trend may not reach the high street and so may never become a high street trend. Similarly there may be some styles of clothing that never feature in a designer collection and yet become really fashionable on the streets.

There are a number of different influences which help to decide which styles become fashionable and trendy. Each trend is likely to be a result of a different combination of these factors:

Catwalk Collections

Designer collections are probably one of the biggest influences of trends and fashions. Everyone can now easily watch the international catwalk shows live from their computer. Trend reports and analysis of the different styles are also readily available in magazines and on fashion blogs. Designers get inspiration for their collections from a wide range of sources including historical fashion, cultures, famous people, architecture and nature.

Celebrity Style

The influence of celebrities on fashion and style seems to be constantly growing. Magazines and television programmes help us to keep track of exactly what celebrities are wearing and brands are quick to publicise it if a celebrity is seen wearing a piece of their clothing.

Magazines

Whilst magazines help us to find out about fashions and trends they also influence them to a certain extent. A fashion editor of a magazine will usually write about the fashions and styles that they like and think will be popular. Advertising in magazines may also have some influence on which pieces of clothing and brands become popular.

Fashion Blogs and social media

In a similar way to magazine editors, fashion bloggers and other social media also influence fashion and trends by giving an opinion on what they like. This peer interaction can spark trends and also give shoppers inspiration on what to buy and how to wear it. With the internet and blogging growing by the minute, the influence of fashion blogs and social media on trends is fast increasing. There are also plenty of fashion forums where ideas and opinion on clothes can be discussed.

Retail Influence

Retail buyers will also have a certain amount of influence on what will be on trend by the clothes that they choose to stock. Just because a retailer chooses to stock a certain style of clothing, it does not mean that it will be popular but it does make it significantly more likely. However retailers are constantly battling the problem of waste with styles of clothing that just don’t sell.

Whilst all of these factors will have some influence on what will and won’t be in fashion for the season ahead, some trends are just purely a result of the type of clothing that people want to wear.

About the Author

These articles were written by Ceri Heathcote for The Shopping Forecast. A unique fashion forum were users can not only vote on the new fashion that they would like to see in the shops for the season ahead, win prizes and make outfits.

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