Trend Forecasting for Fall Winter 2009 2010 - Effects of recession on fashion

Who really dictates the fashion trends, buyers or consumers?

I was in New York City last week and met with a lot of buyers, showrooms, buying services, and designers and was quite enlighten about the trends coming up for the season. Pretty much all of it is affected by the recession.

1. Lower price points. From online shops to brick and mortar stores everyone is lowering their price point. $100 tees or even $60 tees aren't doing so good. I was told by a couple of big online stores that their lower priced tees are flying out but having difficulties pushing the higher price tag ones. This sentiment was also given to me from a big department store in the US. They are lowering the price points on tees but they are still carrying the big names like Affliction and Ed Hardy but just lower price point.

2. Out with the bling bling. "No one wants to look like they have money," I was told. People feel guilty when they shop and buy flashy clothing. So the trend is for more subdue and subtle aesthetics. This is not good for Juzd as we are all about the heavy graphics and bling bling. It's funny, last year before the recession hit I showed the Juzd original to Holt Renfrew and they loved it and it turned out to be their best selling Juzd shirts. Now I design more of those pieces and they are like, "we are moving away from that now."

3. Cleaner aesthetics. There will always be a demand for graphic shirts, buyers are going for a cleaner aesthetics. Compare to other lines Juzd is is not as busy but buyers still put it in that category. As I have been trying to move to more of a busier all over prints, I am not moving back to the clean stuff.

4. People still want to go shopping. Shopping is like a drug for most women and in our capitalist society there is a sense of gratification when we own something new. Ever notice how complete you feel when you go out shopping and come back with something, anything! It makes you feel like your time wasn't wasted. Well people are still shopping and still want to shop, that's one of the reasons American Apparel is so successful in recent years. Their items are inexpensive and you can easily buy several of the same items in different colours. This makes shopping easy so you'll feel more productive.


5. Mix of high end and low end. People are piecing high and low end pieces together. People are pairing up thousand dollar leather jackets with $300 dollar jeans and $18 American Apparel tee. This may not be caused by the recession and have been happening before the recession but with what is happening, it is surely accelerating the trend.

Inexpensive American Apparel black t-shirt and tie-die tights
combined with leather jacket and boots

On my trip to New York I've learned about several of these trends. But the buyers tell me that they don't know for sure but that's what they think and they can be wrong. All of us in the fashion industry have been screaming and yelling that the busy gothic and graphic heavy shirts of Ed Hardy and Affliction are going out for as long as they've been in yet their sales are still expanding. I guess the diplomatic answer is that it's a combination of both and like anything in culture it's interdependent and organic.

See 6th trend and our latest updates on Fall Winter 2009 2010 trend forecast

Dark Knight, a reflection of our Dark Society

I remember popping the bootlegged video cassette tape into our dusty old VCR. Lights off, window curtains closed. Sitting on the ground of our small stuffy rented room arms length from the new 17 inch TV my parents treated us to. No remote, just dial channel turner. This was after couple years of my sister and I continuously begged our parents for it.

This thing was huge, the size of a large microwave with a fake wooden pattern plastic case. We were immigrates into Canada and this was considered a major entertainment event for me as we could not afford going out or anything else that cost money for that matter.

I was in awed with Batman, the original. I loved the movie so much I watched it at least five to eight times complete from start to finish. I’ve always been a fan of Batman. I was a comic book fan but didn’t truly connect with any hero except for Batman. The main reason was he was human. No special powers. He was just like us. Something I can aspire to. And he was dark.

15 years later as I watched the Dark Knight, I remember the early days and compared how our society has changed during this time. Also with each Batman movie how the movie reflected the society and how it can affect society.

For instance the Batmobile is symbolic of how our society has changed. The original Batmobile was more of a showcar than a pragmatic crime fighting car. Whereas the new Batmobile is a grungy practical machine, small, compact, nimble, and looks pretty durable. If you compare the Batman himself, in the last two movies he is more human and flawed. You can see his weaknesses and mental angst. He gets attack by dogs, fights his moral dilemmas, in fight scenes he gets hurt. He is not perfect, he is human, he is not immortal but he tries his best. It’s no coincidence that other recent action flicks has this characteristic, movies such as the Borne series, the latest James Bond, and to a degree Spiderman. Movies are a reflection of society and culture.

We are at a point in our society where we are moving towards a deeper consciousness of our environment and our mortality. We believe that we are each flawed, we knowingly do things we should not. What ultimately matters is that we maintain our principles. That’s what make us a hero but it doesn’t come easy. It’s a constant battle.

This is clear of the eco movement. We know that there’s no easy turnkey solution and it’s not going to be easy but we have our principles. We know that we each can’t be fully sustainable over night and many things we do damages the environment but what matters is that we do the best can. Our principle is to constantly strive to change and make everyday decisions that will help.

As I spent the whole summer trying to come up with the theme for Fall 2008 and Winter 2010 collection nothing I came up with seems right. As I impatiently waited to watch The Dark Knight I knew it would have a major impact on the collection but didn’t know how. After a good night sleep after the movie the concept became clear to me. But as my unconscious continues to play, and our culture continues to shift, change, and surprise no one will know what will finally come out. Not even me, but that's the fun of it all.