ABSTRACT
Trends arguably drive the fashion industry, and certainly form the basis of much fashion journalism. By their very definition trends are new, they can be exciting, they are the
perfect blend of catwalk, celebrity and high street, and they please advertisers by promoting their products. No wonder fashion publications love them. Trends are also a useful way to organise and make sense of the hundreds of
new collections shown during the four fashion weeks; they are the equivalent of the journalistic angle. And an editor can demonstrate his or her fashion credentials by picking up
on micro-trends on the street before anyone else – the equivalent of the journalistic exclusive. E-tailers use trends as a way to edit their own collections, producing their
own trend reports, grouping merchandise under trends as well as by designer and by type, and sending out emails to customers highlighting new trends. They don’t please everyone, though. Some commentators see the pushing of
trends as a commercial ploy to keep the public buying in what is a very wasteful system. Caryn Franklin, fashion editor, presenter and campaigner at All Walks
Beyond the Catwalk, says:
Fashion offers this chance for relentless selling, so the industry has created trends that we receive into our lives as the need to be regularly refreshed and updated, and be new and improved at all times.
