Natural hair

I looked on WGSN for A/W 14 hair styles to look at what styles would be popular, it seemed that the 'natural wave' was going to be very popular, the natural wavey look is quite popular at the moment but WGSN think it will be popular next A/W so I found some images to look at the style of hair. Their wasn't a particular hair colour that was most fashionable however the models that I looked at did all hair either blonde or brown hair, it was nothing bright or different.

I really liked this natural look, although I did think the waves looked pretty summery however I thought with a beanie hat then this hair style could look really good, so I will use this hair style for my styling with my 1st trend which is the SPORTY DIVA' trend, I think natural waves either down or up in a pony tail will really suit this trend.

Bringing back the 80s trainers

It seems that the 80s casual retro trainers are coming back into fashion. Adidas were the main brand for trainers in the 80s and nike, puma etc were also well known brands for shoes. It seems that the 80s style is coming back as most sport shops are full of Adidas and puma trainers they have only just recently started to become popular, the trend started in the 80/90s and Adidas started off as the higher end products and were expensive compared to all the other brands such as Puma which was usual prices for shoes, then celebrities started to wear them, at first Adidas started in higher end shops and only the higher income people could afford this look, however they then started to become increasingly popular and were advertised on celebrities for sporting adverts, Adidas then become popular in high street shops, and in advertisements, they then went out of fashion but have now started to become fashionable again by being worn on sporty catwalk shows, all the classic sporting brands from the 80/90s have become popular again in all the high street shops, the trainers are still high priced but because they are popular and fashionable people are willing to spend the extra money to buy them to be fashionable.

River Island Collection

After looking at trends in general, by doing primary and secondary research I have found out that most trends are started by magazines or celebrities, if a item of clothing is seen on the catwalk worn by a celebrity then it is more likely to become popular with the public.

For example Rihanna has recently released a new clothing collection in River Island, and just because it is by Rihanna a lot more people have been interested in the collection. As Rihanna is a well known pop star her clothing doesn't even have to be that great for them to become popular.
When the collection was first released I went up to River Island in lakeside, and asked a few people looking at the collection questions about the new range, they were all very polite and willing to answer my questions as I said it was for my college work.
The questions I asked were:
1. Do you always shop in river island?
2. Have you only come in to river island for the new collection?
3. Where did you hear about the new collection?
4. What has made you come at look at the collection?
5. Would you buy a piece of clothing from this collection?

I only asked 5 questions to a few people that I noticed looking at the collection, because I wanted to find out if because was only looking at the collection because it was Rihanna or whether they would look at the collection anyway regardless who it was by.

I took my notepad and jotted down the questions and tallied the answers I got, I only asked 10 girls questions as it wasn't very busy when I went, however all the girls that I asked questions were very helpful and although I didn't ask their ages, I could tel they were all probably aged between 18-22 so they were all very young, after I looked back over the answers when I was home. I found that although all the people I asked do shop in River Island already, but over half of them had only looked in their tonight because they wanted to look at the new Rihanna collection, and they had heard about the collection in magazines and online. 6 out the 10 girls I asked said they were more interested in the collection and to look at the clothing because it was just by Rihanna and they expected it to be good as they had heard a lot about it.

The information I got from my short questionnaire I had asked was quite useful to me as I did find out and I now had evidence that people are more likely to buy and look at clothes if they are designed or worn by a celebrity.

Below are a couple of images of the collection, the clothing is very unique and different, but it is very similar to what Rihanna would wear, so the collection gives fans a chance to wear similar clothing to their idol, so I think the collection will be very popular and give River Island good publicity.

Pastels

I looked on style.com and looked at trend reports I found a A/W 14 report and I found some pastel coloured coats which I really liked the look off. While I have been doing my research I have found a lot of pastel coloured trends, however most of them have been for spring/summer and not autumn/winter so I was quite shocked to see these coloured coats in a winter collection, but I did like the colours.

I found some pastel colour palettes on WGSN, however they were in the S/S 13 colour trends not the A/W, I did find some pastel colours in the A/W section but there wasn't many, more of the colours were really bright too dark, pastels were not to popular.

Street style results

I looked over at all my questionnaires and decided to jot all the answers down in my notepad so it would be easier for me to look at how many people answered each question.

I found that most of the people I questioned because of their fashion style, were aged 21-26, so my new trend would be aimed at that age sector, so after doing the street styling I now new who my target market would be, I wanted to aim at a group that are fashion conscious and would be interested in my trend and I believe that this age sector are the most fashion interested.

All the information that I have found is very useful to me, and will help with my new trends, most people said they get style advice and ideas from magazines, so my new trend will have to be advertised in magazines to get a lot of attention, and appeal to my target audience.

After looking over all my results and looking over the photos I took, I now have a rough idea on my target market group except I might aim a little younger too, as I think from the age of 18 people become more fashion aware. So my target audience will be 18-26 year old girls/women.

I think location is very important to what kind of trend is going to be released, as I saw in Chelsea they wore much more expensive quality and designer clothing to people in brick lane, so when I get more ideas for my new trend I will have to take location into consideration, and where I would like the collection to be sold, because certain types of clothing will not be suitable for certain areas.

A/W board idea

WGSN: Playful kidult styling remaims a strong trend. Sporty silhouettes including the woven jogger and logo sweatshirt are teamed wih comic book graphics, faux fur, playful accessories and flashes of neon. 

      

I really like this trend, as I have written about how I like the faux fur look, and also the bright colours, and also the trainers/converse. I like how it is a random trend, it is a sporty look but doesn't look 'chavy' it looks unique and different instead. 

I want to create a trend like this as I think this trend could become very popular next A/W, however my trend for A/W 14 will be called 'SPORTY DIVA' and it will involve sporty clothing, like coloured trainers and dark coloured leggings however it will also include baggy logo jumpers and bright accessories like beanie hats and bags. The name of my trend is going to be 'SPORTY DIVA' this is because I want the trend to have a sporty feel as WGSN has said this trend will be very popular A/W 14, I have also added DIVA into the trends name, and this is because I want to incorporate bright colours into the trend, as I have enough evidence that bright colours will be very popular A/W 14 from all my research. So I would like to put the sporty look with the bright colours, as I think this trend could become very successful.  

Rendering Reality makeup A/W trend

I found this trend on WGSN, and copied the information onto my blog so it could help me when I came to picking the colours for my styling shoot. 

http://www.wgsn.com/content/report/Beauty/Beauty_Trends/2013/February/a_w_14_15_beautyforecastcolourcosmetics.html

Message: manipulated online images challenge ideas of authenticity, as we investigate the many layers involved in representing "reality"

Eyes: brown, purple and blue tones layered over the eyes to create smoky looks

Lips: ombré lips in multi tones. Mix pink and red with orange in glossy, pigmented finishes

Face: sculpt cheek in statement pink or orange

Nails: high-shine gel-like finishes with a jelly texture. Multicoloured marbleised effects update traditional DIY nail decoration

Colour palette: shifting levels of colour and an interplay of shades. Pure RGB values in primary hues dominate. Colour is spliced, layered and blended together

I did like this makeup trend, as all the colours were really bright, I think this make up trend/colours would suit the bright coloured fashion trend which I found, with the bright beanie hats etc, however I would have to try this out because Im not sure whether bright clothing and bright makeup would look silly together, I think bright lips and eyes would go with the clothing but just nothing to over the top.

Technology

I looked on pinterest and on trend hunter to look at different technology, the most popular technology that kept appearing was APPLE' brand, as it is very well known and the brand is constantly releasing new products, which are bigger and better than their old ones. More and more people are using smartphones for everyday life, the percentage of the sales of smartphones are increasing a lot especially in the last few years. People don't need to move from their seat, they just need their phone to look at emails, contact family and friends, look on social networking websites, take photos or videos, send photos or videos to people, or even shopping-as most shops are creating apps for the smartphones to make it easier for phone users to shop on their phone.

It is the fashion now to carry around a smartphone, the most popular brands are Blackberry and IPhones, however slowly the new samsung phones are becoming popular as they are becoming very similar to apple. Facts about the phones actually state that the new samsung phone is better than the most recent apple iPhone, however sales for apple have still not decreased because of the brand image. Apple have become a very popular and well known brand, so if you carry around an apple iPhone you are seen to be up-to-date with the current technology trends.

Trench coat trend

I got some basic information about the trench coat from google. 

I wanted too look at some history of fashion items, and the most popular item that I have knowledge of and have heard of is the trench coat. This is a raincoat made of waterproof cotton, it originally has removable insulated lining, it comes in various lengths usually ranging from mid-calf to above the knee.

The trench coat was first worn by British and French soldiers in the First World War, The classic color of a trench coat is khaki. Invention of the trench coat is claimed by both Burberry and Aquascutum, with Aquascutum's claim dating back to the 1850s. Thomas Burberry, the inventor of gabardine fabric, submitted a design for an army officer's raincoat to the United Kingdom War Office in 1901. 

The trench coat has remained to stay fashionable following decades after the 2nd world war, the Burberry trench coat, has changed over the years, features on the coat have been changed slightly to keep it more up-to-date, it is still a very popular style coat. 

Looking at A/W trends, I could not find the trench coat, however I did find other coats, that were a very similar style, they were called 'fit and flare coat' so the style were very similar however the new style coat flares out a lot more that the burberry trench coat. 

Found this trench coat in vogue, April issue, so the trench coat is still very popular with brands, because the coats are quite thin and light, they are popular this winter, but vogue is also saying this style coat will also stay popular in the summer this year too, for cool nights

A/W FAUX FUR

I researched A/W 14/15 womenswear, I wanted to look at the outwear section, in this section I saw lots of different coats, the main coat that caught my attention was Faux-Fur, because I have already seen a lot of Fur out this winter, and it is going to carry on into next year according to WGSN. 

Faux-fur effects

Faux fur and sheepskin have become essentials for outerwear, used for all-over coverage as well as for trims on tweed coats. Bright shades offer a rich, vibrant and luxurious look.

When I did Street Styling in London, I saw a girl wearing a faux fur Gillet jacket, so I asked to take a photo, and by researching A/W trends I found that faux fur was going to be very popular next year, so the two girls in Chelsea was very up-to-date with fashion trends. I went to three different locations and the only two people that I saw wearing faux fur were both in Chelsea, this gives me the impression that Chelsea is the most fashionable area I had visited and were the most fashion conscious and worried about their actual appearance. The fur jackets that I saw while I was out were both brown colours, however on the trend forecast they are all brighter colours that brown, like deep pink/purple or deep green colours which I personally liked. 

I carried on looking around on the WGSN website, and found some more images of actual Faux Fur coats, which were on the A/W 14 trend list. These are the images that I found from the page http://www.wgsn.com/content/report/Close_to_Season/Womenswear/Catwalk_Response/Autumn_Winter_2013_14/VIPS_AND_ROUNDUPS/aw1314_global_catwalks_vip.html

I found these two images on trendstop application I have on my phone and they were from the Paris catwalk of F/W 13/14 and both these coats had fur on them, so I thought this was useful information to know that I have a lot of back up information that fur is going to be a key trend next year, so I will definitely look at involving fur in my new trend for A/W

A/W colourful trend

When I first started researching A/W 14 trends I found that a lot of colour was involved, mainly on accessories though, like hats and bags. I looked on WGSN at colour paletes and I found a few that were really colourful, which is strange for a winter collection, but as the years go on colour is becoming more and more important. I noticed that beanie style hats were popular on the catwalks but were also coming in and becoming popular already so I can tell that this fashion phase will stay popular during the autumn and winter.

I found all these pictures from street styling on WGSN, although it was for A/W trends, it used quite bright colours, I have seen a lot of bright colours out this winter already, so I think this trend will carry on next year, except I believe it will be even bigger next year, as sometimes it takes a while for trends to become popular with the whole market.

I got these colour palettes from WGSN also on the colour trends for A/W 14/15, I was quite shocked to see these kind of colours in a winter trend, but as the years go on the colours are slowly coming back into fashion, 'whatever the weather'.

These colour charts really reminded me of the 60s, so I researched 60s images, to find bright coloured outfits, because in the 60s-70s bright colours were the fashion, and it seems now that all these bright colours are slowly coming back into fashion, and because of the colours we have already seen on the catwalk this year, I think these colours can only become more popular and similar to the 60s feel.

These two images, are what I found from the 60s/70s, which are bright colours, I decided to research this bright colour trend because on WGSN I read 'The preppy look will come through on classic basics, updated with bright colour. Prominent colours include ultraviolet, blood orange, electric blue and diode pink framed by blue/black.'














Also from the 80s fashion, disco pants have come back into fashion, and at the moment they are very popular to wear out either in the evening or as casual wear. They started off with the simple black colour at the beginning of the year and now they are introducing more bright colours which are also becoming popular. They have been popular this A/W and I do think they will stay in fashion for a while, as shops are still introducing different patterned ones, however when I have been looking on trend websites at A/W 14 I can't find any information that confirms that disco pants will be back in fashion next year.