Trends are fashion styles that catch on and become a part of popular culture. They can come from a number of sources, including the catwalks and celebrity media.
But, a trend isn’t always a good thing. It can easily get out of hand and make your marketing campaigns look outdated. Keeping your finger on the pulse of what’s trendy and relevant is crucial to making your brand’s message stand out from the competition.
When it comes to trends, the key is to find ones that have a foothold in the market and are not simply being pushed by marketers or fashionistas. It’s also important to understand how a trend gets started and evolves over time.
A trend starts with a group of people who adopt the style early on. This is called the early majority. They will typically follow the lead of others in their age and ethnicity, as they’re often already familiar with the trend.
Once the early majority are hooked on the trend, it’s more difficult to stop them. It may even become a norm. It’s common for marketing professionals to identify these groups of people and attempt to influence them with design-based campaigns.
It’s important to understand that the first people who jump on a trend don’t necessarily represent the entire population, and they aren’t all going to be happy about it. They may not be ready to invest in it, or they might not feel it is worth the effort.
For example, it’s common to see people who love wearing the Cronut – a croissant shaped like a doughnut – but who might not be able to afford one. This would create a divide in the market, and could ultimately kill off a trend before it had a chance to gain any traction.
Similarly, it’s not uncommon for a popular style to go through several phases before it’s completely abandoned by the early majority. This can be because it’s too expensive, or people might feel it looks dated.
But, the most successful trends, such as the Cronut, are ones that strike a chord at the right cultural moment. They can be as simple as a new flavor of gourmet cupcake, or as complicated as the rise of fondue in the 1970s.
Another popular trend is fast fashion. This is when clothes from high street stores that have been designed to imitate the latest catwalk or celebrity style are put on sale at breakneck speed to meet consumer demand.
This trend was a major driving force behind the rise of low-cost fashion in the late 1990s and 2000s. It’s easy to see how it became popular, as everyone had access to a range of clothes that were cheaply produced and could be purchased at any time.
The trend was then pushed by designers and fashion houses, who began re-creating the look of the latest catwalk or celebrity styles on a wider scale. This is known as the “fast fashion” movement.