Have you already noticed that autumn is slowly but steadily stepping into our hearts, courtyards, and closets? I am not only talking about colorful leaves falling down on us to testify the upcoming changes in nature. Fashion websites and stylists have also started to overflow us with the best purchase choices for the frosty season. However, sometimes I feel that the external influence of the surrounding environment is so big that we lose our inner style identity. Thus, I have a theory or rather a suspicion that most of our clothes we buy are nicely being obtruded to us. So, let’s see who stands behind it.
“As abstract art uses shapes and colors to communicate the message, “Muses and Beasts” uses words to portray our reality. The reality, which could be seen from different perspectives and interpreted in various ways, the same as abstract art does”
Haute Couture
I would say that Haute Couture is the fundamental and number one influencer on our style. How? Each season top trends from runaways are nicely “borrowed” by fashion retailers, such as Zara or H&M, which supply clothes to big masses with their monthly or even weekly collections. Just take a look at Channel summer 2018 collection and then check out how it was mirrored by Zara. Spanish retailer stores were flooded with apparel, which materials, forms, and the cut looked so similar to Channel. Moreover, weren‘t you excited about plastic and sportive elements in top designers’ collections? Now, you can easily obtain clothes with these features in various department stores. Furthermore, I do not think that 10 years ago we would have even taken a glance at plastic clothes or shoes while passing the windows of Zara. Then the runaway was obsessed with trends, which makes me smile now. These tendencies look totally outdated and bizarre today.
Social networks’ influencers
I assume, that each of us has an icon or someone who stimulates us. The way they live, eat and dress up essentially becomes a source of inspiration. Social networks’ influencers are another predetermination, which has a clear impact on our purchase choices. Personalities like Kim Kardashian, Chiara Ferragni, or Leandra Medine have such a huge base of fans, that even the smallest change in their outfit could lead to a massive fashion explosion and formation of a new trend. Just remember Kim Kardashian and her face contouring and you will recall that it spread out so extremely quickly! Innovative, crazy, or even strange clothes combinations can easily become massively wearable due to the picture on Instagram where your icon is showing her today‘s apparel experiments.
London, Paris, New York, Milan, or Tokyo
My continuous need to travel is driven not only by the desire to see some new places but also to meet new people. And even more importantly, to see how they dress and express themselves, basically to get inspired. Fashion mega pools like London, Paris, New York, Milan, or Tokyo are flooded with a mass of people, which pulsates tons of different styles and expressions. However, sometimes one particular choice of one street fashionista can evolve into one massive trend. Sneakers are one of those examples, which always stands as a trend born in the street. Started by some big-city teenagers a few decades ago, it became so big that even Haute Couture took sneakers idea very seriously. Not surprisingly, today the cycle processes even faster. With the help of the digital world, street fashionistas best apparel choices are quickly conveyed to us and impel to alter our style.
Fashion analysts
Late information overflow caused by the digital era supplied us with so much knowledge about the surrounding and human beings. Have you ever heard about people who use our daily life analyses to forecast our future concerns, lifestyle, or even fashion decisions? The mostly invisible chain in the fashion world is related to fashion analysts. With the use of big data, these fanatics of numbers could predict what will be our needs, issues, and lifestyle in 2-5 years. These numbers create trends and predictions of what colors, materials, and shapes we will prefer. For example, as we care more about sustainability, health, good food, and mental state of ours, compared to the past, it could be predicted that more natural materials such as linen will be preferred against some not recycled or not ecological materials in the future. This analysis is bought and used by fashion brands in order to create more apparel, which will be preferred and also bought by mass consumers.
“ With the use of big data, these fanatics of numbers could predict what will be our needs, issues, and lifestyle in 2-5 years. These numbers create trends and predictions of what colors, materials, and shapes we will prefer.”
I know, that each mentioned factor not only forms our style but also personality and is, therefore, an inseparable part of our style evolution. Nevertheless, do not be afraid of self-expression, do not be afraid of real you. Each of us is different and each of us is charming in different ways. Use all surrounding inspiration, but do not let the external influence to take over the control of the real visualization of yourself and your voice.
