Coming Up with a Trend

When given the assignment of coming up with a trend that is currently only in London, the task was not  easy. With globalization and fast fashion retailers like Zara, H&M, and Forever 21, located in countries across the globe; borders and oceans are not considered limitations in the movement of fashion. When viewing blogs as well like lookbook.nu, facehunter.blogspot.com, and glamcanyon.com one can get a strong sense of the fashion being seen on the streets in Sweden from the comfort of their homes in Texas. When first beginning my search for "America's Next Top Trend," a trend that would translate from London to New York, I looked in the streets as well as in the stores. After a week of intensive research, I came to the conclusion that Tie Dyed Denim, especially in pastel colors, was something new and exciting that had not yet been done in the states but was certainly adding flavor to the sales floors and streets of London. 

Inspiration

What first inspired me about this trend was all of the pastel colored denim that has been so popular. The way I looked at it, a customer would come into a store, take a look at all the pastel colored denim, and realize that he/she had a pair in every color. Moving forward, he/she would spot something fresh and new; tie-dye denim. 

Additional inspiration for me included mood pieces from the 1960's. Janis Joplin was known for sparking the tie-dye trend.

Inspiration was also taken from the runway. Designers showing this trend included Danielle Scutt, Isabel Marant, House of Holland, and Bottega Veneta. These are designers that the tie-dye denim target customer would look to for inspiration. 

The Evidence

When building on my trend, I gathered evidence from various retailers in the UK; primarily TopShop and Urban Outfitters that currently carried my trend. Additionally I searched blogs for photos as well as taking street photos of people on the streets of London in my trend. Graduate Fashion Week outside of Earls Court was a primary spot for scouting out interesting fashion.

 

TopShop

Lookbook

Lookbook

 

Cassandra Past

Merchandising & Target Customer

In stores, this trend is easy to merchandise. The tie-dye denim shirts and vests will be on the same fixtures as colored denim as it can be mixed and matched. The tie-dye shorts and pants will be with colored basic tank tops and t-shirts. Part of what makes this trend successful is that even when the economy is down, one tie-dye piece can be worn with many different basic colors so one piece can change an entire wardrobe. The denim on denim trend from last season was overdone and did not look as good. This season, denim on denim has a new twist because tie-dye denim can be layered and it doesn't look like denim on denim or overdone as a tie-dye piece with multiple colors can be paired with another tie-dye piece with only one or two colors. 

The target customer for this trend is a man or woman between the ages of 18 and 25 who is most likely a student or recently graduated. He/she makes a maximum of $50,000 and shops at TopShop and Urban Outfitters. He/she is fashion forward and looks to designers for inspiration however develops their own style as well which is more adventurous. 

Retailers

Current retailers that carry this trend include TopShop, Asos, House of Holland, and Urban Outfitters. I predict the retailers that will carry this trend include Zara, H&M, Forever 21 on the lower end in the United States. On the higher end include True Religion, Rag and Bone, 7 for all mankind, Lucky Brand Jeans, Guess, and Alice and Olivia. I predict too that the Kooples will carry this trend but on a more minimal scale and the tie-dye may only be one or two colors instead of a multitude of colors. 

Tie-dye denim is a trend that will move from London to New York for good. It is popular in apparel as well as accessories. It is colorful, photographs well, and is an easy sell both online and in brick-and-mortar stores to someone looking to spice up their wardrobe but may not be be quite ready for something too avant-gaurde.