Trends and market research
Fashion trends can be influenced by:
- historical events
- politics
- developments in technology
- celebrities
- media and film
- social trends
- traditions
Fashion companies and A person or company that makes, designs and sells high-end clothing regularly produce catwalk collections. As well as displaying their high level of skills, imagination and creativity, catwalk shows also show the current trends in fashion. Other designers and fashion companies use these catwalk collections for inspiration.
Gathering inspiration
Mood boards are used by designers and are a visual summary of their research. They are made up of images of products, textures and patterns, photographs of the subject matter, drawings, fabric swatches and other materials.
Inspiration for fashion design can be found in many different ways. For example:
- Fashion designers are influenced and inspired by the world around them. Fabrics and prints can be inspired by anything, including architecture, nature and art
- Trend forecasting is the process of using research and data to make predictions for the clothing industry. With this information fashion houses and trend forecasters make visual presentations in the form of mood boards.
- People use what is worn by celebrities on the high street and in costume on stage, TV and film as inspiration for fashion style. Fashion houses use celebrity brand ambassadors and influencers to promote their products.
- Market research is the process of collecting information about the market or what customers want that might help a business to be more successful and spot gaps in the market. is used by designers to find out what products sell and why. It can be conducted in the form of questionnaires, interviews or focus groups. The results are used to develop designs. Researchers also look at sales data and trend forecasting to inform product development.
Target audience
Fashion designers need to consider their target audience:
- who will buy the product
- their needs and requirements
- how the item will be used
- if it鈥檚 a one-off, custom-made or made-to-measure garment
- disability, gender and age
Magazines and advertising are used in the promotion of commercial products. Looking at these is a great way to find inspiration and learn more about current fashion.