Did you know that everything you see, buy, wear, use, eat, love, hate is actually the result of arduous research done my many people all over the world? If you actually thought that how your style evolves, is your choice, you are absolutely and ignorantly wrong. It is a well guided path decided for you by the forecasting fraternity who are the real goddesses/gods, creating, curating and destroying trends everyday.

Fashion forecasts are planned predictions made on observations pivoted on developments in Art, Design, Technology, Socioeconomics, Lifestyle, Food, Travel, along with understanding of demographic shifts and consumer behaviour. Trend Forecasting as it may be sometimes called, is not a science, nor is it an art. You could say it is a combination of the two with a healthy dose of calculated intuition that comes from experience and having a keen eye for detail.

In the pre-Internet world, The leading fashion designers of the world would dictate trends through their shows and forecasters would just have to observe and decide on the most important trends based on which a report was shared with fashion retail stores. The visuals from these shows would reach the public through magazines, 12-18 months after which the trend would trickle down into mass markets. Post the internet burst, the trickle down theory of fashion is somewhat lost as trends are being created, discovered and destroyed by any and everyone (read influencer) with the convenience of their smartphones.

It is a popular belief that forecasting is a fashion specific phenomenon. However, it should be noted that ‘trends’ are not industry specific and are broader by nature than you can imagine. Sure fashion industry is known to direct this field immensely but it directly or indirectly affects the some key industries, like food, media, consumer retail, automobile, beauty and so on which in turn of course affects in the entire consumer population.

As the consumers grow, so does the competition.

To keep up with this capitalistic climate, the only way to survive is by not only understanding market trends but driving them.

Trend Forecasting is a global requirement, however a trend that befits UK might not successfully flourish in China, which is why along with the predictions that are wider in nature, there are also trends that are derived and altered to suit a particular consumer base. For example if disney is a trend, then the illustration of Mickey Mouse can vary from simple line drawing in black on white base in one market to a detailed vibrant version of Mickey in a different area.

Any discussion around Trend forecasting cannot end without mentioning the world's leading agency in this department. WGSN (World’s Global Style Network) provide data, analytics and insights to companies seeking to stay ahead of the curve across a broad range of industries, but their most successful category is their fashion trend forecasting. WGSN claim to be able to forecast colours and trends up to two years in advance. Their textile and materials teams work even further into the future, as the fabrics they predict as key trends need to be manufactured before the clothes can be made.  All this means that the cut, wash and finish of your jeans was probably scouted by trend forecasters two to three years before you even thought about buying them. Might we add that their services do not come cheap but they for sure come very handy.