4.Fashion Term, Cycle

Fashion TerminologyFashion Terminology

And Fashion CycleAnd Fashion Cycle

Fashion terminology – a few Fashion terminology – a few terms…terms…

• Style

• Design

• Change

• Acceptance

• Taste

• Classics

• Fad

• Limited fashion

• Mass fashion

• Trend

StyleStyle• Style is any particular characteristic or look in

apparel or accessories• A style is a type of product that has one or more

specific features or characteristics that distinguish it and make it different from other products of the same type

• Manufacturer assigns a style number to each new design

• A style may come and go in fashion, but that specific style always remains in that style, whether it is in fashion or not

Polo shirt – A stylePolo shirt – A style

DesignDesign – variations of a Style – variations of a Style

• The individual interpretations or versions of the same style

• Within a specific style, there can be many variations in trimmings, texture, decoration or other details

• For e.g., T - shirt is a style – the different necklines, the fabric construction, embroideries, pockets etc. may vary which vary the design of the style

Designs – polo shirtsDesigns – polo shirts

ChangeChange

• Fashion is interesting as it is changing• Though it leads to uncertainty, this change

motivates consumer buying so often• Sense of timing – ability to understand the speed

of acceptance and change

Fashion changes because– It reflects changes in people’s life styles and current

events– People need change– They get bored with what they have

Acceptance Acceptance

• Acceptance makes a style into fashion• It implies that consumers must buy and

wear a style to make it a fashion• It is up to the people to decide whether the

styles will become fashion• The degree of acceptance also provides

clues to fashion trends for coming seasons

Taste Taste

• An individual’s preference for one style or another is referred to as taste

• Good taste implies sensitivity to what is beautiful and appropriate

• It resembles quality and simplicity

ClassicsClassics

• A classic is a style that continues to be accepted, to a greater or lesser degree, over an extended period of time

• Its acceptance endures for several seasons or longer

• E.g., blazer jackets, button down collared shirts

Classic stylesClassic styles

Fads Fads

• Styles that sweep suddenly into popularity are accepted with great fervor, and then just as quickly disappear are called fads

• Their acceptance is for a brief period of time – short lived fashions

FadsFads

• Tattoos

• Body Piercing

• Tags

• Waif look

• Torn pants

Tattooing

Limited fashionLimited fashion

• A very new style, whose acceptance is limited to those who want to be first to adopt the very newest fashions and can afford their often astronomical prices is high fashion

• They may be affordable only for people in top income

• Sometimes styles may be limited because they are too sophisticated to the needs of the average man or woman

Mass fashionMass fashion

• They are volume fashions

• These styles are accepted and worn by a large number of people

• Mass fashions are produced and sold in large quantities at moderate prices and constitute the bread and butter of the fashion industry

Fashion TrendsFashion Trends

• Fashion is not static; its dynamic• This movement has a direction• The directions in which fashions are

moving are called fashion trends– E.g., men’s ties width & length– Women’s sleeves – either get longer or get

shorter– Length of skirt– Women shoes – clunkier or slimmer– Fabrics – wrinkled to creaseless

Trends – Skirts, TiesTrends – Skirts, Ties

Fashion TrendsFashion Trends

• The changes from season to season may be slight but they have a direction

• Fashion practitioners recognize the direction or trend – helps in forecasting

• Fashion forward describe styles that gain acceptance

• Avant-garde fashions are unorthodox, experimental, unusual or shocking

• Though avant-garde fashions are noticed, they may not gain broad acceptance

• E.g., weird hairstyles, color combinations of apparel etc

Fashion CycleFashion Cycle

• Every fashion has a life span – fashion cycle

• Overall fashion looks and individual styles fall in this pattern

• Three major stages– A beginning or rise– Peak or very popular stage– Declining stage

Fashion cycles differFashion cycles differ

A

B

C

Fashion X Fashion Y

A – Rise (leaders)B – Peak (followers)C – Decline (laggards)

Stages of Fashion Cycle – Stages of Fashion Cycle – variation of variation of merchandising at each stagemerchandising at each stage

Rise Peak Decline

Pioneering/ IntroductionTesting stylesPrestige adsLimited salesLimited production

Mass acceptanceVolume productionFull assortmentsRegular price linesVolume salesVolume selling ads

Phasing out stagePrice reductionsSpecial purchasesOff-price adsBroken assortments

Introduction Rejection

Introduction of a styleIntroduction of a style

• Most new styles introduced at high price• Talented designers sponsored to design – use

creativity, quality of raw materials or fine workmanship to maximum

• New apparel is created by changing elements like line, shape, color, fabric and details

• Production costs are high• Few people can afford• Production in small quantity gives more freedom,

flexibility and room for creativity

Increase in popularityIncrease in popularity

• New styles worn by celebrities on tv or magazines

• Popular styles are copied by other manufacturers

• Use less expensive fabric and modify design to sell the style at lower prices.

• High priced designers have secondary or bridge or diffusion lines that sell at lower prices – adaptations of original designs in greater quantities

Peak of popularityPeak of popularity

• When a fashion is at the height of popularity, with mass acceptance, it may be in such demand that more manufacturers copy it or produce adaptations of it at many price levels

• Designers are flattered or resentful of copying

• Copying may be adaptations or knockoffs

Classic – Bean Boots(Original)

Manolo Blahnik(Copied)

Decline in popularityDecline in popularity

• The mass produced style will make the fashion conscious people tire of it and to look for something new

• Consumers may still wear the style but no longer ready to buy them at regular prices

• Retail stores put them on sale racks

Rejection of a Style/ ObsolescenceRejection of a Style/ Obsolescence

• This is beginning of a new style

• Customers have already turned to new looks

• Discarding of a style just because it is out of fashion is called as consumer obsolescence

Lengths of cyclesLengths of cycles

• Some fashions take a short time to peak, others take longer, some decline slowly, others swiftly

1. Classics2. Fads 3. Cycles within cycles- design elements like

color, silhouette or details change, even when the style remains popular

Cycles within cyclesCycles within cycles

4. Interrupted cycles – when manufacturers and retailers do not stock fearing risk, consumer buying is halted prematurely

Normal progress may be interrupted by a social upheaval, economic depression or war

5. Recurring cycles – after a fashion dies, it may resurface

Designers often borrow from the past – a style reappears years later, but it is interpreted with a change in fabric and detail

Designers may be inspired by nostalgic looks of the last century, but they use different fabrics, colors and details that make the looks unique to today

EvolutionEvolution

• Fashion cycles come in five stages:– Introduction of a new style– Increase in popularity– Peak of popularity– Decline in popularity– Rejection, or obsolescence

• Length of cycles have four different categories:– Classics– Fads– Cycles within cycles– Recurring cycles

To ponder…To ponder…

• Does your current wardrobe represent one or more stages of the fashion cycle? Which stage or stages and why?

• Provide examples of products other than apparel and accessories that are currently being affected by fashion.

Consumer identification with Consumer identification with fashion cyclesfashion cycles

Consumer groups

• Fashion Leaders– Fashion Innovators– Fashion Motivators/ Role Models– Fashion Victims

• Fashion followers

Fashion Leaders Fashion Leaders

• People who look for new fashion and wear it before it becomes generally acceptable

• They are confident of their own taste • They may have a stylist to advise them• They dare to be different; attract the

attention of others• They are very small % of the public

Fashion innovatorsFashion innovators

• These fashion leaders create fashion• They may be designers; or want to express their

individuality• They look for interesting new styles, colors,

fabrics and ways to accessorize their clothes• Boutiques/ design themselves• They like to wear beautiful or unusual• Fashion forward or avant-garde

Fashion Motivators/ Role ModelsFashion Motivators/ Role Models

• Only few fashion leaders have the beauty, status or wealth to become fashion role models

• Else they lend their new styles to celebrities to get publicity

• Public events, films, television popularize the style on celebrities

• They may be anyone featured in the media – royalty, politicians, TV and film stars, rock stars, super models etc

Fashion VictimsFashion Victims

• People with too much money to spend who become slaves to designer brands

• They are people who blindly and stupidly follow a brand without any discernment and without any analysis

• As long as it’s the latest rage, they buy it without thinking about adapting it to themselves

Fashion followersFashion followers

• Fashion needs followers, or it would not exist• Most people seek acceptance through

conformity and follow world, national or community fashion leaders to feel confident

• Some are early adopters, some go with the majority and some lag behind

• Many busy people wanted to be judged, not by how they look or wear but by their intelligence

• Fashion followers make most manufacturers copyists or adapters

Fashion followers Fashion followers Why do people follow fashion?Why do people follow fashion?

• They lack time, money and interest to devote to fashion leadership

• They are busy with family and job and think that fashion is unimportant

• They need a period of exposure to new styles before accepting them

• They are insecure about their taste• They want to fit in with their peer group• They tend to imitate people whom they admire

To ponder…To ponder…

• Do you agree or disagree that there are different fashions for different groups of people? List examples to prove your answer.

Manufacturing and RetailingManufacturing and Retailing

• Manufacturers and retailers respond to fashion leaders and followers in their product development and merchandising

• Designer collections provide for fashion leaders

• Manufacturers provide merchandise for fashion followers

• E.g., Retailer – Wal-Mart provide volumes to followers whereas retailer – Saks Fifth Avenue identify with fashion leaders