How are Fashion Trends Made?
Photograph by Dries Augustyns
Fashion styles emerge and become the norm almost quicker than you can think, and it’s sometimes harder to pinpoint how a trend began in the first place. Though there is no perfect matrix that can define how trends in fashion get made and become popular, there are several key sources that beget a fashion trend.
Fashion Trends Inspired by Runways
Fashion statements from runways are the most apparent choices, that transform into fashion trends. Fashion designers try to create special moments in fashion weeks to capture the imagination of consumers. Many times these moments pick so well, that they continue to live on as fashion trends.
There are some well known examples where runway wardrobes were transformed into contemporary trends. For instance, in the spring collection of New York’s Fashion Week 2014, a set of crop tops from Diane von Furstenberg was presented on the runway. This fashion display converted into a full blown fashion trend, with crop tops becoming the leading outfit of the year.
Fashion Trends Derived by Street Style and Internet
Trends that are derived and inspired by street fashion are very contrasting to runway trends, since they don’t involve designers and ramps. Street influenced fashion trends take shape where people get inspired by each other with everyday looks. Street styles transform into fashion trends, because they are easy to recreate and carry. People are also of the belief that they can ‘work’ the style worn by peers.
One fine example of street style that has become the rage among youngsters through social media, is the hippie look of Coachella. Coachella is a music festival which, soon after its launch, became a capital of street style. People now look forward to the festival each year, not for the music alone, but for fashion trends that will get introduced. Fashion statements coming out of Coachella have become so influential that now even fashion designers take inspiration from it.
Social media has now become the new street style fashion dictator. More people now interact with each other on different online platforms. Apart from hashtag trends, fashion trends are also getting cues from the social media world.
Celebrity-driven Fashion Trends
Celebrities were the first icons to introduce certain fashion trends, and they still remain the pioneers for many trends even today. Dapper looks of Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart captured the imagination of an entire generation. Celebrities have a core fan base that mimics their moves, style, choices and aesthetic preferences. These then become fashion trends of the day. Celebrity fashion trends easily seep into mainstream because they are seen everywhere. From silver screens to TVs, from magazines to billboards, celebrity fashion statements are hard to ignore.
Fashion Bloggers
In recent times, especially in the women’s fashion world, fashion bloggers are becoming extremely popular. They don’t have the market reach of established fashion houses and designers, but they are now controlling the helm of many niche fashion trends with their active Instagram and Snapchat accounts.
Fashion trends tend to fade out in much the same unexpected way they began to begin with. Predicting what will be hot and what will not in any given season, is probably as difficult (if not more difficult) as predicting the performance of stocks. Regardless of this fact, we’d all be wearing bearskins, togas, and loincloths if designers didn’t dare to try.
