Title: The Movement of Fashion
1Everything you always wanted to know about the
theories and identifications of the movement of
fashion.
- Key Concepts
- Factors influencing the movement of fashion
- Predicting the movement of fashion
- Theories of fashion adoption
- Identifying fashion leaders and fashion followers
The Movement of Fashion
chapter four
2Factors Influencing the Movement of Fashion
- What factors accelerate the adoption of new
fashions? - What factors slow the adoption?
- Who are the fashion leaders? Followers?
- How do we balance individuality vs. conformity?
3Accelerating Factors
Increased Buying Power
- Additional discretionary income means more money
to spend on new fashions - As money flows to new fashion, more variety is
offered to the consumer
4Accelerating Factors
Leisure Time
- Decreases in time spent working
- Vacations demand leisure clothing
- Consumers find shopping in stores losing appeal,
so retailers reacted by offering goods online
5Accelerating Factors
Education
- More college educated consumers lead to
inquisitiveness, heightened awareness and self
expression - Advanced education enables greater earning
potential to satisfy their heightened awareness
6Accelerating Factors
Womens Status
- No artificial social barriers
- No law or custom preventing choice
- Sex discrimination in job market has decreased
- Social acceptance of women who manage both home
and job
AS A RESULT
Todays women have more discretionary income and
are influencing the speed of fashion cycles in
the way they spend that income
7Accelerating Factors
Technology
- As data transmission became instantaneous,
designs were transmitted around the world at the
speed of light, shortening the front end of the
production cycle.
- Technological advances also created new fibers,
allowing for greater comfort and wear ability.
- INTERNET This technology instantaneously
diffuses the fashion of the moment to the mass
audience. It accelerates the cycle of fashion and
adds to the demand for new goods.
8Accelerating Factors
Sales Promotion
- Lets consumers know what fashions are available
to them. - Speeds up the acceptance stage and/or extends the
peak stage of a new fashion.
9Accelerating Factors
Seasonal Change
- New, fresh goods generate consumer interest, and
stimulate both change and sales. - Naturally occurring seasonal changes in the
weather help this process.
10Retarding Factors
Habit and Custom
- People tend to buy garments of a similar
fabrication, cut, and color year after year with
little change. - Customs still influence fashion as seen on the
placement of buttons on mens shirts. Buttons
are placed on the right because it left the
weapon arm free while dressing.
11Retarding Factors
Religion
- Heavy religious influence always encourages
stability and champions custom. This societal
factor greatly influences the fashions, as
fashions reflect society.
- While relaxation of women's dress in most
religious orders has taken place, countertrends
exist.
- Religious fundamentalists in some countries have
decreed modern fashions lead to temptation and
corruption.
12Retarding Factors
Sumptuary Laws
- These laws tell the public what they can and
cannot purchase or wear. - For example, up until the 1930s shorts were not
worn in public in New York City!
13Retarding Factors
Nature of Merchandise
- Some products move faster than others.
- Mens wear typically cycles more slowly than
women's wear, although recently the advent of
dress-down Fridays and casual dress in the
office has accelerated the pace in this cycle for
men's wear.
14Retarding Factors
Decreased Buying Power
- RECESSION If the economy slows, so do the
purchases of the middle and lower economic
classes. - Discretionary income shrinks, and fashion falls
off the list of purchases for the average
consumer.
15Recurring Fashions
- Styles reoccur, with adaptations that suit the
times in which they reappear.
- T-shirts, originally French cotton underwear,
were adopted by American soldiers during World
War I.
- In the 40s they reemerged as tee shirtsfor
golfing and in the 60s they becamepart of
womens fashion.
- Today t-shirts announce to all what the wearer
stands for and where he or she has been.
- Anthropologists concluded that similar
silhouettes appear in fashion approximately every
100 years.
16Playing the Apparel Fashion Game
- Many clothing authorities read a clear message
into the alternate exposure and covering of
various parts of the body sex.
- Womens fashions have tended to concentrate
mainly on different ways to convey sexual appeal.
- Mens fashions have been designed to emphasize
such attributes as strength, power, bravery and
high social rank.
17Playing the Apparel Fashion Game
Pieces of the Game
- Historically, as attention to a part of the
anatomy reaches a saturation point, the fashion
spotlight shifts to some other point such as
Waist Shoulders Bosom Neckline Hips Derriere Legs Feet Figure as a whole
18Playing the Apparel Fashion Game
Rules of the Game
- 1. Fashion emphasis does not flit from one area
of the body to another. A particular area is
emphasized until every bit of excitement has been
exhausted. At this point, fashion turns to
another area.
2. Only certain parts of the body can be
exposed at any given time. Sleeveless
turtlenecks are an example of this.
19Playing the Apparel Fashion Game
Rules of the Game
3. A fashion can never retreat gradually and in
good order. Like a dictator it must always expand
its aggression or collapse. Old fashions never
fade away they die suddenly and arbitrarily.
20Predicting the Movement of Fashion
- Producing and selling fashion merchandise to
consumers at a profit is what fashion
merchandising is all about.
Fashion forecasters must
1. Distinguish current trends 2. Estimate how
widespread they are 3. Determine when these
fashions will appeal to the firms target market
21Predicting the Movement of Fashion
Identifying Trends
- Determining if the trend is moving towards or
away from maximum fashion acceptance has a
profound effect on the number of units produced
and stocked by manufacturers and retailers
22Predicting the Movement of Fashion
Sources of Data
- Modern fashion forecasters depend on vast amounts
of quantifiable information.
- Merchants get instant sales feedback and use
every available source for information that will
help ensure success.
23Predicting the Movement of Fashion
Interpreting Influential Factors
- Forecasters collect data and identify certain
patterns. They also consider factors that
accelerate or retard a fashion cycle. Among these
are
- CURRENT EVENTS News of what is going on in
the country affects fashion response. When women
were seeking management positions in the 80s,
fashion responded by creating business suits for
women, and in the 2000s created a softer, less
mannish look.
24Predicting the Movement of Fashion
Interpreting Influential Factors
- PROPHETIC STYLES Taken up by the socially
prominent or flamboyant young, they rapidly
gather momentum, or falter. The degree of
acceptance gives a sense of fashion direction to
forecasters.
25Predicting the Movement of Fashion
Interpreting Influential Factors
- SALES PROMOTION EVENTS Forecasters must
determine how much promotional efforts stimulated
interest in prophetic styles.
- They must also anticipate how much promotional
they can look forward to in the future.
26Predicting the Movement of Fashion
Importance of Timing
- Successful merchants must know what their target
market is wearing now and in the very near future.
- This allows them to match stock based on where
in the fashion cycle the style is and when the
optimum point is reached for introduction to
their target consumer.
27Theories of Fashion
28Theories of Fashion
- Upper class sends fashion down to the lower
class
- Fashions appear among the socially prominent
Eager manufacturers quickly mass-produce
lower-priced copies that many consumers can
afford, and wealthier consumers seek newer styles
29Theories of Fashion Adoption
- Fashion moves between groups in the same social
strata.
- Retailers watch their own customers instead of
being guided by what exclusive stores sell.
- Fashion innovators, who are quick to try new
fashions, and fashion influentials, who are
sought out for advice, are barometers.
- They play critical roles depending on the area
the retailer is located in.
30Theories of Fashion Adoption
- From the poor and young come the fashions of the
times, i.e., rich and young who adopt a poor
lifestyle.
- Implications for the traditional methods of
charting and forecasting are radical.
- The young are a large, independent group who
exert considerable influence on fashion styling.
- As a result, retailers and manufacturers attend
less European couture shows, and more prêt-a-
porter shows, searching for fashions relevant to
American youth.
31Fashion Leaders
Innovators and Influentials
The rich, the famous, movie stars and athletes
are some of the innovators and influential
fashion leaders
32The Rich and Famous
Queen Rania of Jordan
Tinsley Mortimer
Justin Timberlake
Thierry Henry
33Fashion Followers
- Influenced by a variety of factors
- Insecurity about leading the way in fashion
- Admiration of the leaders
34Fashion Followers
- Lack of interest in the world of trends
- Ambivalence, or fear towards changing trends
- Varying rates of response when confronted with
new designs
35Fashion is Self Expression
Individuality vs. Conformity
- How to balance individual style with that of
ones peer group?
Consumers want to be part of a group and
conform (hence the label phenomenon), but want to
have their own stamp of individuality.
Musician M.I.A.