If you’re into style and fashion or like to keep a track of the latest trends, a thought that might have run over your mind at least once is who decides fashion trends and how they work.
The making of new fashion and trends is an interesting topic. There are a lot of factors involved in this process. What you see and purchase as a new style or trend in the market, there might be some interesting history behind it.
This article discusses the process and factors involved in the creation of fashion trends.
Men’s vs Women’s Fashion Trends
There is always something happening in women’s fashion and there might be big changes just after a season. There is a big difference in men’s and women’s fashion trends.
Men’s fashion trends don’t change significantly. Be it a particular clothing piece, a way of wearing something, or a color, it stays for a while.
Skinny jeans stayed with us for many years in the last decade. Slim and loose-fit pants are the new trend now.
Men’s fashion can stay for a while
Two fashion trends that started in 2018-2019 have reached a point where they are now becoming part of our everyday menswear –
Retro-inspired style- 80s and 90’s nostalgia wear started to gain popularity back in 2018. A lot of menswear brands started making retro-looking pieces. Retro-inspired chunky sneakers, light wash denim, windbreaker jackets, etc were some of the very important styles made by popular menswear brands.
Minimal sneakers- Minimal sneakers have been in existence for a long time but they were made popular by the footwear brand Common Projects when they introduced their super minimal sneaker called the Achilles low back in 2004.
The minimum sneakers style became a big trend in 2018-19 when many fashion influencers started wearing them. It is not a trend anymore and has now become classic.
Styles like these show us that any new styles can stay in the menswear industry for a very long time.
Who decides Fashion Trends ?
The process of trend-making and how trends work involves many factors – The designers, brands, journalists, influential people, etc.
There are two ways trends start-
Top-down and,
Bottom-up.
Top-down –
Designers –
Most of the trendy pieces in our wardrobe are what a big fashion designer creates or is inspired by it.
It starts with the fashion runways where big fashion houses showcase their fresh styles. The majority of the current trends are inspired by what the designers wanted the fashion models to wear on the fashion week runways. We see new styles every season.
Most of the styles you see on fashion runways aren’t suitable for everyday wear for the general public. This is where fast fashion brands come in. The majority of the people buy clothing from these fast fashion brands. These brands design and produce style pieces that look similar to the runway pieces at a fraction of the price. And hence, the trend is bought by a lot of people.
Celebrities and Influential People –
We all know about the following celebrities can have. It is sometimes very easy for a product to become successful if a big celebrity like an actor/actress or a singer endorses it. People also seem to follow the styles their favorite celebs wear.
A big celebrity has more reach than any fashion blogger or magazine. It makes it easier for them to start a trend that might get very popular.
Since the past few years, American singer Kanye West is someone who could be considered influential in the world of men’s fashion. He created the successful sneaker brand Yeezy and made the Yeezy style popular. He could also be linked with other trends like ‘big baggy clothing worn in a modern stylish way’ and athleisure.
To sum it up- fashion trends can come from people who are considered influential in society in some way or other.
Fashion Bloggers –
There has been a rise in the number of fashion influences recently. Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest have become the place of fashion influencers now. They can easily build quite of following there with the right fashion content.
Fashion bloggers and influencers are always ahead of the curve when it comes to new styles and trends.
They tell you the ways of styling and sometimes even the details like pricing, why you should get it, when it’s available, or the right time to wear it. This is why people who like fashion turn to fashion bloggers, they can get fresh styles and have a wider approach to fashion.
With a big following, they have the power of making a style trendy. Many brands reach out to bloggers to share their products with them for promotion. These products, if bloggers wear and talk positively about them, might get popular in no time.
Bottom-up –
Streetstyle –
It is the everyday style people wear on the streets that leave an impact. Street style emerges from the streets so it might not necessarily include clothing pieces from the runways. When people notice the good style that other people are wearing themselves, it becomes easier to like it and follow the same.
Street style has bought us some very cool nostalgia outfits in the past few years. The ’80s and 90’s nostalgia style, as you might know, has been very popular for a while now. Be it shoes, sweaters, pants, jackets, etc, we have been seeing retro versions of these all around.
The trend was started by big designer menswear brands when they showcased some retro-inspired styles on runways back around 2018. Then there was a wave of Chunky retro sneakers in menswear.
Retro style is not a just a trend anymore, it has become a part of our everyday style now. But how?- it was Streetstyle. The millennial generation seems to be obsessed with nostalgia. It is this generation that made the retro style popular with super amazing streetwear looks.
Outcome
Trends are important for fashion. You don’t have to chase all the latest trends though. If we leave the native cultural attire aside (which is important too), universal fashion is a part of our life now. We have reached a stage where, from childhood to old age, fashion is unavoidable. We live around fashion and have to adapt it in some way or the other