Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 – The Toronto Fashion Incubator held a small presentation open to TFI members. The night turned out to be highly informative and well worth the $35 (almost double for non-members) to attend. Being the high school-er I am, I’m not afraid to admit some of the economical talk, and superior lingo went right over my head. So here I have compiled my notes from the evening into a non-PHD holder friendly format.
About WSGN
Simply put, WSGN is a trend forecasting company; an insanely huge international forecasting company that has helped the names like Target, Nickelodeon, Guess, Adidas, Sony, etc. They look high and low in every hidden corner of the world; observe social behaviours, and study the economy, culture, and so much more, all to bring you trends in a wide in fields that cover design and style. Now without the fancy words: Companies subscribe to their trend reports (for a rather large, but necessary fee) to stay above the competition.
The top 3 trends for 2012/2013
1. Hyper-Culture […Sci-fi collaborations of every culture imaginable…]
- Think Gaga in Asia wearing an African kimono. This hyper-culture trend is all about cultural collaboration. The colours we’ll be seeing are pastels on acid. The hue is just slightly different in a more intense way than the pastels we saw this past winter. Also, fashion is truly becoming a statement. The general public will begin to care about the message they send with their clothes. One idea discussed is having two different style shoes (one plain, one with embellishments), to say you are putting your best foot forward. Punny. Shape-wise we’re looking at drapery, and wrapping with a sci-fi feel, meaning we will also have sharp edges and strong clothing structure. Remember that paint splatter trend? Where we threw paint all over our jeans (think Mean Girls 2). Well, prepare your spray paint bottles for the new graffiti inspiration.
2. Radical Neutrals […Quiet designs that speak volumes…]
- Moving far away from anything “hyper” we’re quieting down to hear the loud whispers of radical neutrals. Simple will take center stage, and speak volumes by doing so. One of the biggest trends coming in is that of gender neutrality. We’ve slowly been seeing it in Japan. It goes without saying that the colours will be muted and faded (barely-there shades). When I first heard about the trend immediately thought of the minimalistic trend that I not exactly new, but now I understand Radical Neutral to be more of silent protest against the cluttered, unjust world.
3. Eco-Hedonism […Environmentally responsible extreme-luxury…]
- Scientists are the new celebrities. We’re no longer looking at science as something to discover, but something to change and alter. Why? For survival? For aesthetics? Or possibly just because we’re just discovering that we can. We’re all about nature and science becoming one changeable and ultimate force. Food is included in this. Think of a micro-photo of the genetic build-up of a tomato, enlarged, printed, and sent out on a dress. Back in 2009 Lady Gaga emerged on stage wearing a rock formation inspired dress, thus begging geological formations into fashion muses. Continuing with this into 2012/13 we’re seeing the underbelly and forgotten sides of nature; fungi. The undersides of mushrooms, and moss, and all sorts of other things I wouldn’t want to be touching in a forest, but as an embellishment on a sleeve I’m all for it. Moving on, fur is out. Fur coats peaked with Marilyn Monroe, and should have died long before Snoop Dog got his hands on one. Now we’re looking at feathers as more than an embellishment, but as a texture (think of fish scales).
Photo credit: Original
