learn about fashion the slashdot way
[misc]
posted by tom / December 23, 2005 / 
Strangely enough, I came across the following in the middle of a Slashdot bitchfest about the merits of various programming languages. This can't possibly be true, can it?
You thought fashion fads just happened? It's much more organized than that. The "in" colors for US fashion are chosen 22 months in advance, by the little-known Color Association of the United States [colorassociation.com]. Color forecasts are issued to subscribers, and the textile mills, dye manufacturers, and clothiers start to gear up for the coming seasons. Because there are some long manufacturing lead times to produce fabrics in huge volume, the style decisions have to be organized."Pinks and fuchsia were everywhere in spring 2003; CAUS members knew this in spring of 2001."
Here's the activewear color plan for 2006-2007:
- Colors are anchored by light and dark neutrals in addition to the ever important white.
- Red will return as a leading bright, in coral and raspberry shades. - In color combinations, tonalities of one shade look new and dynamic.
- Cool colors like Apple Green, Indigo and teals are soothing, and especially attractive when matched with brown-influenced neutrals like Wheat and Terracotta. Finishes such as metallicizing add dimension and interest to color and fabrications.
Color changes in fashion do not happen by accident.
Comments
I would think that fashion forecasts could be influenced by all sorts of other factors - like textile availability- as well, & not just some group predicting what color is hot/not. If you want to reallllly stretch it, consider geography. For instance: what happens when Teal blouses for majority of American women's fashion corporations are being dyed/manufactured in Malaysia (a giant textile industry) and another tsunami/typhoon/nat disaster comes about? Does the CAUS system fall into disrepair if certain colors become unavailable in certain garments? Kind of a tangent, but I hardly think that some board members in NY have that much power.
(Then again, someone had to invent crop pants. And Project Runway. Dammit!)
Hmm. Okay. That's all reasonable. But I think I'd prefer to believe that the opening scene of Zoolander is plausible.
It actually is kindof frighteningly cabalesque. Teresa Nielsen Hayden wrote about this last year, in some detail.
And here I thought I was a trendsetter... oh, well... back to the Hamptons!
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