Fashion forecasting is a process of analysing upcoming trends by predicting colours, fabrics and styles that will be a part of latest collections in the stores. The forecaster works on all categories and variants of the fashion industry.
Haute couture, pret-o-porter or ready-to-wear and street wear or mass market, all can benefit from trend forecasting. It also involves a study of emerging trends in make-up, beauty and cosmetics, to predict a complete look of the season.
Various practices involved in forecasting are:
- Study of various fashion seasons
- As an impact of globalisation, mapping of megatrends by analysing collections at fashion capitals of the world
- Comparative study of current and previous trends
- Identifying the niche market/client/group
- Understanding and analysing the demographic and psycho graphic structure of the targeted market/client/group
- Predicting themes, stories and trends for upcoming season by generating a style and trend report
Various fashion seasons
Design collections are launched as per specific seasons. These include:
- Spring/Summer
- High Summer
- Pre-fall
- Autumn/Winter
- Resort/Cruise
The two biggest seasons are Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. These collections are showcased at major fashion weeks almost six months prior to when they appear in stores. These include both haute couture as well as ready-to-wear collections.
High summer is when some fashion houses or brands launch a collection after Spring/Summer collection has been launched. Several times, these collections are extremely impactful on trends that will emerge in the upcoming season.
Resort/cruise collections are launched for those who are keen on wearing trendy comfort wear at holidays or while travelling for leisure.
Pre-Fall collections have a wide customer range but they are launched to target the elite fashion fanatics and leaders. These fashion leaders are fond of an updated wardrobe. Celebrities of various fields are often the first to get these fresh off the runway outfits.