Chapter 3: The Movement of Fashion

Fashion followers:

- 85% of population - Reasons for following: - Insecurity - Admiration - Lack of interest in dress out of obligation - Ambivalence: Cautious consumer; needs to be convinced - Varying rates of response: "Window pieces" of style too advanced for their own clientele and expose them in windows and fashion shows to allow consumers time to get used to them

Style tribes

- Everyone "belongs" to a group of like-minded people - Adopting specific style or dress in the code of membership - Share specific interests: NASCAR watchers - Sub-cultural groups that give rise to street fashion - Designers create style tribes: DKNY girl or Tommy Boy

Interpreting Influential Factors

1. Current events 2. Prophetic styles: New styles, in the introduction phase, taken up enthusiastically by fashion innovators 3. Sales Promotion: Pay attention to the amount of promotion given to stimulant interest in prophetic styles (EX: Leggings? Will they last?) 4. Canon of taste: Standard - Canons of culture: Modesty, morals, ethics, art, customs 5. Timing

7 accelerating factors influencing the movement of fashion

1. Discretionary income: The money families can spend after buying necessities (food, water, then clothing) 2. Leisure time: Encouraged more use of "at-home" wear, casual clothes, sports apparel, different types of ordinary business dress 3. Education: People's horizons broaden to include new interests and new wants 4. Women: Lack of social barriers and legal limitations 5. Technology: Creates an "instant" world 6. Sales promotion: Shows the something exists and can be chosen 7. Seasonal Change: Wardrobes change with the season- offerings of fall fashions in early June allows the style-conscious to make their decisions way in advance

Fashion leaders

- Innovators and influentials: Do not create new fashions - Royalty - America's first family: EX: J Kennedy with Chanel Suit, pillbox hat, oversized sunglasses; Clinton with pant suits - Entertainment World: Hollywood leaders, EX: Cicely Tyson wore her hair in cornrow braids for the movie "Sounder" - Athletes: Athletic footwear industry, tennis and performance fabrics, every sport requiring particular mode of dress for participants - The Rich and Famous: EX: Kardashians

Summary****

- It's in fashion's nature to change, but the speed and direction are difficult to predict - Some product categories change faster than others - Fashion focuses on different parts of the body at different times - 3 theories to explain the movement of fashion: Downward, upward, and horizontal

Computer Age Conformity

- Social scientists have determined 2 opposing tendencies are at war: 1. A need for union 2. A need for isolation - Satisfaction from knowing that she is expressing something unique - Gains support from observing that others favor the same style

Social Contagion: The spread of fashion

1. Downward-flow theory (Trickel-down theory): In order to be a true fashion, a style must first be adopted by people at the top of the social pyramid; The style than gradually wins acceptance at progressively lower social levels - Two basic rules: 1. Lower class seeks fashions of upper class only after they are accepted by then 2. Upper classes will reject fashion once it has flowed into lower social class levels - Implications: - Mass production for the middle class - Quality vs. Quantity - Fashion travels in all directions at once - Fashion acceptance has been changed drastically by communications *Industry does not wait for approval from consumer for newly introduced styles* 2. Horizontal- flow theory (Mass-market theory): Fashion moves horizontally among groups on similar social levels rather than vertically from one level to another - Not going from upper to lower class, but having a period of peak when people aren't interested all in the same cycle; all wearing the same thing on the same social level - Industry practice: Watch customers closely rather than being guided by what the fashion forward stores are selling - Seek market segmentation based on demographics and psychographics 3. Upward-flow theory (Street style): - Newest theory - Youth of low income groups are the quikest of any group to adopt new fashions, which causes an upward flow of fashion into the higher income groups - EX: Zoot Suit: Fullness in thighs, but skinny at the ankles - EX: 60's "Black is beautiful": Angela Davis advocate of the afro - '80s: Baggy pants/ hip-hop look - '90s: Grunge look - Industry practice: Radical changes in traditional methods of charting and forecasting fashion trends (Look towards style tribes instead of celebrities)

Playing the Apparel Fashion Game

1. Ever-shifting erogenous zone: - Modesty and sexual attracting for wearing clothing - Individuals seek approval - James Laver suggested that once a style has moved away from a particular area of the body, that part has come sterile for sexual attraction - Women's fashion cycles change to emphasize different areas for sex appeal - Men's fashion emphasizes attributes like strength and power - You want to be in the right place at the right time 2. Pieces of the game: - When attention to one area of the female body reaches excess, the erogenous zone will change - Middle ages: Women's clothes designed to play down their sexuality - Renaissance: Showcased great sexual form (larger breasts and abdomen) - 18th century: Large abdomen passed--> slim tummy - Empire period (1800-1815): Entire body emphasized with ultra sheer dresses - 19th century: Interest in hips and skirts billowed, later the trunk side was emphasized with the bustle and ankles were concealed - 20th century early: Limbs of the body: Both skirts and sleeveless or tight sleeved dresses (Youth) 3. Rules of the game: - Emphasize does not flirt from one area to another (No big earrings, belt, and shoes at the same time) - Only certain parts of the body can be exposed at once - A fashion can never retreat gradually and in good order - Fashion merchandising is producing and selling fashion at a profit - To be successful: Distinguish what current trend it, estimate how widespread they are, and determine when these fashions will appeal to target customer

Retarding factors that influence the movement of fashion

1. Habit and custom: Can make or break fashion - Habit: Shoppers selecting similar styles to their current wardrobe - Custom: Formality especially in religious dress 2. Religion - Religious resistance to fashion: EX: Saudi Arabia and grocery retailing - Changes with geography - Much less influence in America 3. Sumptuary Laws: - Regulated extraveagance and luxury in dress on religion or moral grounds (Height of headdress, length of train) - Tied to class status - EX: '90s- more school violence and classroom disruption= dress code; keeping kids from killing each other over designer jackets; uniform sales rose 1.1 billion in 2000 - Most accessories are fads, they rarely succeed with an entire population, just groups 4. Reductions in Consumers' Buying Power: - If buying power decreases, it retards the movement - The rich will keep buying, but the middle class will be cautious so fewer sales made - During recessions, when unemployment is high, consumer buying power is reduced - More purchase to accessories than garmets - EX: Dior Haute Couture collection: John Galliano, 2000--> created a Clochard Chic look by using newspapers and other found objects, but social activists picketed Dior's Avenue Montaigne boutique in Paris 5. Reoccurring Fashions: Styles reoccur, with adaptation that suit the times to which they appear: - EX: Men's reoccurring fashion: The T-Shirt: Originated in France as thermal underwear - 1940s" Re-emerged for outside sports (bowling, golfing) - 1950s: James Dean made it rebel classic - 1960s: They become part of the women's scene - Today: Walking logo

Predicting the movement of fashion

1. Identify facts about past trends and forecasts: - Check inventory to determine where the garment stands - Clever people immediately begin to stock more of new merchandise when the sales start to drop 2. Sources of data: Past sales, product acceptance, educational level, lifestyle, attitudes, economic status - Resident buying offices: Prizm systems, overseas publishing 3. Trend Forecasting Board: Focused just one something where you see a pattern (color, style, design, architectural elements)