When you build your style or want to evolve, it can be tempting to sign up: there is not too much to think about - the codes are already established - and there is a good chance that this pleases some of those around you.
However, is any trend a good one to follow ?
How can we distinguish a lasting trend from one experiencing two months of glory before falling? And besides, how can we explain a trend?
Trend and trends
Trends are everywhere and you can't avoid them. Even the most anti-system hipster embodies a trend based on slim jeans, second-hand clothes and independent cinema...
This amounts to falling into other cultural segments, which are all markets addressed by economic actors.
Based on this observation, there is no point in judging whether or not it is beneficial to follow trends, because you will follow them whatever happens, and me first: we simply cannot do otherwise.
The question then becomes “which trends to follow?” » . And that’s where we’re going to rack our brains.
If we diagram in a simple way, we arrive at three types of trends :
- The underlying trends,
- Cultural trends,
- Market trends.
Basic trends
The underlying trends are linked to society as a whole. They move slowly but we can't stop them. They are the ones who overthrow governments, drive social movements or bring about innovations in our societies and our ways of life.
These trends can have different origins: economic innovations (mechanization), new modes of communication (Internet, then the era of mobile and social networks), but also wars, civil struggles or periods of economic difficulties.
Hippie style is perhaps the best example of how a social struggle is felt in the way we dress... or our hair.
They have a direct and profound impact on the way we dress. But this influence is barely perceptible, because these developments are slow.
For example, the war effort and rationing following the Second World War (basic trend) gave rise to minimalism in fashion in the United States , because it was necessary to limit the consumption of thread, canvas and labor. ... Wearing a garment loaded with details and rich in embellishments was seen as unpatriotic.
Another trend responsible for the minimalist movement in the USA: the mechanization of all sectors of industry and Taylorism, which led clothes to be as simple as possible so that they could be (re)produced in large series with a minimal human labor.
Taylorism in a photo: all in blouses, all in the factory. This is what gave us today's workwear.
Another specificity: the underlying trends are not cyclical . They do not return to the agenda according to given periods, but form a succession of eras and epochs.
Their frequency of appearance is accelerating: it took centuries for the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, and electricity to appear; whereas in the space of 50 years, we have seen the birth of computing, the Internet and mobile phones, and in the space of 10 years, broadband, e-commerce and social networks.
The new trends that are happening (nanotechnologies, 3D printing, augmented reality, advanced artificial intelligence, big data, collaborative consumption) are just as many innovations that will influence the way we consume clothing.
The Aloha From Deer brand plays on laser photo printing.
For example, 3D printing will give us access to very inexpensive, locally produced customizations: a new era of tailor-made.
I already have some 3D printing ideas...
Nanotechnologies will bring about new functionalities such as clothes that are never wet, always clean or antiseptic. And augmented reality will allow us to virtually try on the garment without even having to leave our home...
Cultural trends
Cultural trends are more linked to the aspirations and desires of societies than to technological innovations.
They originate among social groups with very marked identities (subcultures, trendy environments or niche brands, all three often being one and the same entity) before becoming more widely distributed.
And unlike basic trends, cultural trends are cyclical. Depending on the decades, clothes are alternately appreciated loose or more fitted.
The 2000s were, for example, the apogee of very close-fitting cuts, whereas, in recent years, we have moved again towards a looser silhouette or one with contrasting cuts (example: slim jeans worn with a sweater or a parka ample).
The latest Éditions MR collection brings back loose-fitting pants, the “all fitted” seems to belong to the past.
Trends apply to colors, materials, even their origin or the degree of care taken in manufacturing, according to more or less rapid cycles.
Today, Western consumers are sensitive to refined clothing cut from very beautiful materials . They are more attentive to the finishes and social data of the product (origin, manufacturing conditions in the workshops, environmental or social commitment of companies).
For example, this season highlights raw materials (wool flannel, recycled uniforms, tweed), or even patterns like pixelated camouflage or micropatterns.
Pinterest is no exception either!
Market trends
This is what we sometimes call false trends, fads or fads. They have become commonplace in all social classes with the rise of the consumer society. And it is no coincidence that it is among the Anglo-Saxons that we find a specific term for this phenomenon: fads .
They do not emerge spontaneously in people to be subsequently distributed by brands. On the contrary, they are created by brands and the trend firms that advise them, to then flood the markets.
Ready-to-wear brands must be at the forefront of style, to be identified with a trend before it spreads. They intend to sell large quantities of products once the trend reaches the general public.
The fashion for running shoes worn in a casual outfit. It’s the big brands that are rubbing their hands.
Another reason is their objective to move away from the logic of competition and product standardization: by making a different product, you create your own still virgin market.
The problem with large groups and luxury houses is that they launch their own trends, often absurd, knowing that they will inevitably work. Indeed, a large brand with press budgets will necessarily have the approval of the magazines and celebrities that it supports financially.
In addition, the press (and not necessarily its customers) asks them to constantly produce new things to be supplied with content.
This is how we arrive at a situation where completely improbable trends appear , like the Doberman print sweater by Givenchy, or the colorblock which totally lacks subtlety.
This is literally the illustration of the expression “to make bladders look like lanterns”…
Beautiful outfit ceremonial Kanye West fashion week. Hyper hype for... 3 months. But who still wears theirs today?
Life and death of a trend
As we have seen, trends have different origins (cultural and technological movements, subcultures, brands), but always the same stages of life.
At each stage of the adoption curve, we find different social groups : innovators; influencers; followers; the skeptics; passives, who are not at all attentive to trends and take what comes to them.
Lino Ieluzzi, for example, revived the fashion for double monks, as well as the mismatched double-breasted blazer. It's not nothing.
We are all somewhere on the curve. But depending on the area, we will be in different places.
For example, I consider myself mechanically one of the influencers (and not the innovators) in fashion. But I consider myself an innovator in entrepreneurship, a follower of smartphones and computing, a skeptic of cars (I totally trust other people's choices), and a passive consumer of car companies. aviation.
I take the cheapest, regardless of on-board service or reputation: I just want to get from point A to point B, a bit like a passive consumer of clothes would simply want to cover their body.
What to do with trends?
Trying to position yourself as an innovator or influencer is not necessarily a good idea. The main thing is to ask yourself:
- If the area in question really matters to you,
- If you position yourself further upstream of the curve it is of real interest to you.
Let me explain !
As you can imagine, I really like men's fashion. So indeed, I like to experiment (albeit moderately) and share my discoveries with you.
On the other hand, I don't try to be innovative when it comes to fashion, because things that are too extravagant don't interest me . Especially since following the latest weird trends would make me less relevant to talk to you about wearable everyday fashion: it would therefore be a disadvantage for me.
Which doesn’t stop me from trying crazy things from time to time because it makes me laugh 😉
Likewise, I look for efficiency when it comes to IT equipment. Following the latest trends (latest iPhone, latest Cloud software) would cost me more, and would make me waste time abandoning certain technologies in favor of those which have become widespread in the meantime, and whose cost of access has fallen for increasing utility.
On the other hand, I keep myself very informed about entrepreneurship, because we want to remain innovative in clothing distribution and also in customer relations (because we are passionate about this on a daily basis).
Benoît and I speaking at the Traffic show.
I invite you to ask yourself these questions too, this time concerning fashion:
- Do I need a more functional style? Sharper? Dressier? More eccentric?
- What trends really speak to me?
- The ones that resonate with me?
- Which ones can/should I adopt? To what degree?
And as always, don't succumb to the hype : be honest with yourself.
