Includes bibliographical references (pages 232-237) and index
Introduction : Reflections on methodology -- Trend forecasters: fashion's "insurance companies" : Online trend forecasters: WGSN and Stylesight ; It all began in France ; Fashion, capitalism and modernity ; Fashion's movements ; Trend-forecasting agencies as tastemakers ; Two kinds of trend-forecasting agencies ; Offerings of trend-forecasting agencies: how do they claim their competence? -- Trend-forecasting agencies: backstage legitimacy : Inspirational or directive ; Fashion capital ; Confidentiality ; Merely communication or creating and influencing trends ; The phenomenon of self-fulfilling prophecies -- Tastemakers: hunt for the incipient taste : Tastemakers ; Tastemakers at a British fashion magazine ; Tastemakers at department stores ; Tastemakers at newspapers ; Bloggers as tastemakers ; Tastemakers at Swedish fashion magazines ; Tastemakers at Grazia UK ; Stylists as tastemakers ; Online fashion retailer as tastemakers -- Gender and trends: on variability : Femininity as volatile and capricious ; The importance of being right ; Fashion and trends: power and freedom -- Designs, brands and trends: to leave a mark : Mass-market fashion brands ; Consistency and change ; Brands in the mid-range segment ; Designer fashion brands ; The desire to be a trendmaker ; Trends as organizing principle ; Trends as personal growth ; Retromania ; Consistency versus change ; Consistency versus change and gender ; Fashion and economy -- Financialization and trends: trends as fashion risk : Fashion and capitalism ; Luxury fashion and trends from the analysts' perspective ; Trend services ; Valuation of stocks in the luxury segment ; Distinctive features of the luxury industry ; Relationship to trends ; The tension between consistency and change ; Growth in the luxury industry ; Mass-market fashion and trends from the stock analysts' perspective ; H&M ; The risk of not taking risks ; Valuation of fashion stock from the perspective of Swedish analysts ; Valuation of fashion stock from the perspective of British analysts ; The tension between consistency and change ; Expansion and growth -- The BRIC countries and trends : India ; China ; Russia ; Brazil -- Final discussion : Trends as organizing principle ; New ways to manage uncertainty ; Fashion capital strikes back ; The of consumer society ; Trend imperialism ; Trends have become low status ; The discourse of individuality ; The relationship between trends and fashion ; Trendification
Numerous tastemakers exist in and between fashion production and consumption, from designers and stylists to trend forecasters, buyers, and journalists. How and why are each of these players bound up in the creation and dispersion of trends? This book explores the social significance of trends in the global fashion industry through interviews with these "fashion intermediaries", offering new insights into their influential roles in the setting and shaping of trends. The Trendmakers contains exclusive interviews with financial analysts, creative directors from high street stores like H&M to designer brands such as Erdem, trend forecasters at WGSN, buyers from Harvey Nichols, and major fashion names like The Telegraph fashion critic Hilary Alexander. Lantz offers an international understanding of the trend landscape, engaging with industry professionals from fashion capitals like London, Paris, and New York, as well as BRIC countries and the new, emerging fashion nations. The fashion media may have declared that "trends are dead", but Lantz argues that trends still not only serve as a significant organizing principle for the fashion industry as a whole but also as a source for legitimacy. Engaging with classic fashion thinkers like Veblen, Simmel, and Bourdieu, as well as contemporary scholars like Entwistle and Steele, this book considers trends from an economic and cultural perspective to add to our knowledge of the complexities of the business of fashion
