What’s In and What’s Out

I’ve always wondered how people decide what is officially going to be trendy for the next few years. It’s called fashion trend forecasting and I’m guessing it’s done by experts in the fashion and fashion-history field. I remember a few years ago I was so blown away when I learned about the colour forecasting group: a group of people who decide/predict which colours will be in trend two or three years down the line for the global retail industry. Large retailers follow their advice because they work on their production a year before it hits the stores.

Once I started Brass Tacks I found out that at a more local level, trends are told by the media from their interviews with designers and retailers. I am often asked what the current trends are- a somewhat hilarious question considering I pay no attention whatsoever to “trends” in fashion while designing my collection. I firmly believe that people should wear what they like and what they feel comfortable wearing. Everyone’s taste is a function of their environment while growing up, so it would be ridiculous to suggest that someone who grew up in a small town with a modest household income should gradually aspire to wear something more “trendy”- like harem pants for example.

What shocked me recently, is that fashion magazines have started a section within their magazine on “beauty”. They mean “trends in cosmetics and the how-to of grooming”, but they call it beauty. The beauty section tells you what’s in and what’s not (sorry South Asians with thick eyebrows and big hips, you are not “in” this year) and how to change yourself if you are not in. I guess cosmetic companies and make-up artists call the shots on beauty, and just like with fashion, what gets my goat is the lack of cultural understanding. Or in the case of make-up, no regard whatsoever for difference in racial features (“black glossy lips give power to your pout” – but do they really if you are brown?)

And finally, here is my confession and dilemma: as a small company with practically no budget for advertising, I need every kind of publicity I can get. So if a journalist calls me to ask what the latest trends are, or what I think the Indian fashion scene is lacking, I try to answer the question to the best of ability even though I’m no authority. So in my own small way, I could be accused of contributing towards the message the media sends out about fashion and beauty. Maybe it serves me right that my hair dresser asked me if I want to thread my eyebrows, for my wedding at least.