Wait, This Isn’t A Trend Anymore? Oh Ok…–The Cycle of the Trend

There’s just something so frustrating to most of of us when choosing clothing at the store: trends. Which are in? Which are out? How long will this actually last? Should I even CARE about trends!? Yup. It’s kind of a problem. So, I decided to help out:)

So, there’s this thing…it’s call the “Fashion life-cycle” that consists of 5 stages a trend goes through until it’s out of style. Hopefully, this will give us an estimate on how long a certain trend will last and if we are early enough in the style-game for the purchase to be worth it.
Anyways, here is the fashion cycle:

Introduction: A trend or brand is introduced by a designer or outlet to an exclusive audience.

Rise: The trend is introduced to the rest of the market through fashion shows, TV commercials, magazines etc. The product is available only in specific brands or at specific outlets.

Peak/Saturation: The trend is made common to the public and is available at common outlets.

Decline: The trend is offered at discounted rates in retail stores.

Out-of-fashion: The trend is hardly available at any store and is considered to be an old story.

For the introduction phase, it is almost always only a couple of weeks long. The rise stage can vary from a month to a season (never last longer than a season.) The peak or saturation stage is really important because it defines how long a trend will stay in the market. This stage may vary from a season or a year to even ten years for some products! (Yeah I guess that won’t really be a helpful estimate:p)

There really isn’t any set pattern for the length of the saturation stage though it could have something to do with the boldness of the trend. If it’s too “out there”, not many people will purchase and the decline will be much faster than a more simplistic item.
The decline phase of a trend usually never lasts more than a quarter of the time.

But, the question still remains: When should I buy this product?

Ideas-Smart.com says that “5% of the people buy the product in the introduction phase. These are the exclusive people that have access to product in the introduction stage and set the styles for the rest to follow. 15% of the people buy product in the rise stage. These are the fashionable people of the society. More than 60% of the people buy the product at the beginning of peak/saturation phase while around 20% buy the product during the end of peak/saturation stage or in decline stage.” The sooner you buy a product, the more chance it has of surviving a few months before running out of fashion.

Thus, the key time to buy any product is the beginning of the rise stage:) You would be able to identify the beginning of rise stage by checking magazines and exclusive fashion outlets.
The aim is to to buy the product when it makes economical sense, though.
Paying close attention to the the cost of the item against the time during which the product would still be considered fashionable.

For example, if you buy a hat worth $10 during the saturation stage, you still might be able to wear it for two months and thus it makes economical sense. But if you want to buy a $200 dress, you should only buy it during the rise stage: as just after a few months, your dress would not be be considered fashionable anymore. You will start to see the prices develop and change each stage as well.Typically, you would see a major increase in price of a product during the rise stage. During the saturation phase, the prices would come back to the original price range, while the decline phase would cut the price of the product maybe even up to 30%. The same trend would be sold at up to 70% discount during the out of fashion stage.

So maybe we should just stick with the fashion classics?
I mean they haven’t gone out of style for decades! Chances are you’ll wear this item for years:) Seriously though, as much as we all probably hate to admit it: fads are almost impossible to just ignore as we are bound to just join in on the passing trend anyways.

So how did we find ourselves purchasing what was considered a fashion faux pas, for so long? Well, everything has a cycle and people always want a new look and a refreshed wardrobe: something that they haven’t seen in ages. So, that’s exactly what happens. Let’s face it you guys: these retailers? They know how to sell: by keeping up with trends because they know you will too.

According to the LAVER’S LAW?
10 years before – indecent
Five years before – shameless
One year before – daring
In fashion – smart
One year after – dowdy
10 years after – hideous
20 years after – ridiculous
30 years after – amusing
50 years after – quaint
70 years after – charming
100 years after – romantic
150 years after – beautiful
(Source: Fashion-era.com)

The fact is, we now live in a fast-paced consumer society, and we know that. Pictures of what’s on the catwalks of London Fashion Week today will be on the internet today, hence being absorbed quicker than ever before which makes us as the consumers want a new trend and a change in fashion so much quicker than ever before.

You start a trend, it gets old, it gets revamped and then gets rediscovered. People get bored and the trend is no longer hot on the market and everyone moves on so quickly from trend to trend…and everyone keeps up with it.

So, should we continue to do this? Is it worth our money when trends pass so fast? Will we keep creating new trends forever? It’s a fast paced fashion world and at this point it is almost inventible to stop creative style from reaching the mass market. So, what do you say to just maybe not freaking out so much when you find out something you’re wearing is out of style? If you like it you should wear it:) But, if you want to keep up with the ever-changing fashion world, I hope you found this post helpful!

For this post, comment below if you freak out if you don’t have the latest trends or not or if you simply don’t care. I would love to hear:)