1. PROJECT 3 : FASHION FORECASTING & MARKET RESEARCH
Fashion forecasting is a global career that focuses on upcoming trends. A fashion forecaster
predicts the colors, fabrics and styles that will be presented on the runway and in the stores
for the upcoming seasons. The concept applies to not one, but all levels of the fashion
industry including haute couture, ready-to-wear, mass market, and street wear. Trend
forecasting is an overall process that focuses on other industries such as automobiles,
medicine, food and beverages, literature, and home furnishings. [1] Fashion forecasters are
responsible for attracting consumers and helping retail businesses and designers sell their
brands. Today, fashion industry workers rely on the Internet to retrieve information on new
looks, hot colors, celebrity wardrobes, and designer collections.
The job of a FashionForecaster is to:
• Locate the spawning grounds of trends
• Identify emerging concepts
• Fashion information passed on to other forecasters, product developers, marketers and
the press
• Work for all kinds of firmsStrategic Window i.e. a window of opportunity
• Timing a firm’s product offerings to the customer’s readiness and willingness to accept
and adopt those products.
Forecasting should identify:
• Source
• Underlying Pattern
• Direction
• Tempo
• Forecasting attempts to project past trends into the future
• Anticipates future developments by watching for signals of change in current situations

2. Fashion Forecasting gives a tangible trading advantage with a measurable upside.
When you can see market activity in real-time, you can perform better and lower risk.
With forecasting one can transform this mountain of raw fashion data into actionable
information for commercial decisions around product mix, price-points, discounting and
merchandising. For buying and design, there's even more on the table with live consumer
insights.
Opportunities come and go in moments in fashion retail. Fashion intelligence gives the real-
time market knowledge necessary for identifying and capitalising on market movements.
7 Steps in Developing a Forecast:
Tools and techniques that are systematically applied in Developing a Forecast
1. Identify the basic facts about past trends and forecasts
2. Determine the causes of change in the past
3. Determine the difference between past forecasts and actual behaviours.
4. Determine the factors likely to affect trends in the future7 Steps in Developing a Forecast
5. Apply forecasting tools and techniques while paying attention to issues of accuracy and
reliability
6. Follow the forecast continually to determine reasons for significant deviations from
expectations
7. Revise the forecast when necessary
Long Term vs. Short Term Forecasting:
Long Term Forecasting:
Long-term forecasting is the process of analyzing and evaluating trends that can be
identified by scanning a variety of sources for information. When scanning the market and
the consumers, fashion forecasters must follow demographics of certain areas, both urban
and suburban, as well as examine the impact on retail and its consumers due to the
economy, political system, environment, and culture. Long-term forecasting seeks to
identify: major changes in international and domestic demographics, shifts in the fashion

3. industry along with market structures, consumer expectations, values, and impulsion to buy,
new developments in technology and science, and shifts in the economic, political, and
cultural alliances between certain countries. There are many specialized marketing
consultants that focus on long-term forecasting and attend trade shows and other events
that notify the industry on what is to come.
Short Term Forecasting:
Short-term forecasting focuses on current events both domestically and internationally as
well as pop culture in order to identify possible trends that can be communicated to the
customer through the seasonal color palette, fabric, and silhouette stories. It gives fashion a
modern twist to a classic look that intrigues our eyes. Some important areas to follow when
scanning the environment are: current events, art, sports, science and technology.
Getting an edge with Fashion Forecasting :
1. Benchmark your offer and trading performance against competitors, looking outside your
business for insight into competitiveness and gaps in the market.
2. Maximise margins and sales opportunities by identifying styles that are in demand and
undersupplied in the market, adjust prices and replenishment.
3. Use social media to determine what your customers are thinking of trends in real-time, validating
design and buying decisions with consumer endorsement.
4. Optimise pricing by following sector price changes in real-time. Follow the new product cycle,
observing when competitors make changes.
5. Buyers, merchandisers, traders and designers can now react instantly and pre-
emptively. Monitor sizing, colours, fabrics, styling details, pricing & discounting to increase
sales and avoid markdowns.
SOURCES FOR TREND FORECASTING:
Fashion Leaders submit their forecasting verdicts to be followed for coming time via various
medium.T hey suggest styles an trends on
• Forecasting Sites
• Magazines & Journals
• Fashion shows

4. • Billboards etc
Retailers and Brands can find this information by keeping up with such sources.
Some of the fashion forecasting websites are -
www.wsgn.com
www.trendspot.com
www.fashionforecastservices.com
www.fashiontrendsetter.com
FORECASTING FOR SPRING/SUMMER 2013:
Spring/Summer 2013 ready-to-wear women’s forecast will be swept away by the
environmentally friendly organic movement and crafty chic. The organic movement is the
return to all things natural powered by environmentally conscious consumers. Consisting of
chalky washed-out vegetable dyes with a burst of hybrid floral brights’; the organic
movement combines pastel purples, blues, and green hues with fuchsia and lemon yellow.
Organic cotton, Bamboo, and Soy fibers will be in high demand for the organic movement
and will be accompanied with eyelet, embroidered, and burn out effects. Emulating the
organic shapes of nature the organic movement silhouette focuses on sack sculpted and
elongated shapes with feminine baby doll cuts and scoop necklines.
Crafty chic is the modern day crafter inspired by vintage Scandinavian and ethnic wood
blocking art. Crafty chic features earth tones such as beiges, creams, and browns with
precious earth stone teals and greens. Crafty chic will be festooned by hand crafted knit
decals, recycle patchwork, and fabric blocking organic cottons. Sweeping away the down-to-
earth interactive will be A-line jumpers, baby doll smocked blouses, and functional pockets
with appliquéd detailing.
I. COLORS

5. A. Organic Well beings
1. Pastel purple, yellow, pink
2. Sea foam, light blue, pale green
3. Chalky washed-out
B. Vegetable Dyes
1. Raspberry, Copenhagen blue
2. Plum, Forest green, lime
3. Environmentally safe dying

6. C. Naturals/ Earth Tones
1. Sand, beige, browns
2. Washed accents, gem stones
3. Pale green, blues, teal

7. D. Organic Floral Bright
1. Blues, yellow
2. Fuchsia, Pinks

8. II. FABRICS
A. Bamboo, Soy, Organic cotton, jersey
B. Hemp, burn out linen
C. Embroidered, ripple effects, Eyelet, Burn out
D. Hand crafted knit decal, recycle patchwork crochet
III. DETAILING
A. Needlework embroidery
B. Patchwork & quilted
C. Print & solid fabric blocking
D. Yoke details, banding & Binding
E. Layering, strapping, wrapping
F. Shirring, smocking, pleating

9. IV. SILHOUETTE
A. A-line, Trapeze angles, Baby doll
B. Billowing, sack, sculpted, elongated shapes
C. Apron style dresses, two fold dresses
D. Scoop neckline, sleeveless, skinny straps