FASHION ORIENTATION

FASHION AS A PHENOMENON
FACTORS INFLUENCING
FASHION
Accelerating & Retarding factors
ACCELERATING & RETARDING
FACTORS INFLUENCING FASHION

Socio- cultural Technological

Economic Environmental

FACTORS
Political INFLUENCING Legal
FASHION
POLITICAL FACTORS
World war I
World War II

Between the two wars

Princess Diana

Jaqueline Kennedy

Gandhi

Modi

Mughal influence on Rajputs

American Flag
 WW-I : military influence in
womens clothing

WW-II : War clothing: A collection

of dresses for women in 1942 which
conformed to the latest austerity
regulations
The Khadi movement India
ECONOMIC FACTORS
Asian Countries like India emerging from
recession
Spending power of people increasing.

When the economy is doing well, fashion becomes

more extreme, more expensive, and more colorful
The Great Depression

The "dot-com bubble

The bubble bursts over 1999 and early 2000

Current Recession 2008 till date

Investments Sealing

Exchange rates
Posters requesting consumers
to reuse during great
depression 1929
SOCIO- CULTURAL FACTORS
Demographics
Class/Segment
Income group
Gender
Ethnicity
Age
Occupation
Body Shape
Awareness
Comfort
Religion
PETA,
 CULTURAL INFLUENCES
1963 Hawaiian Influence
1965 Russian Influences
1976 Russian Influences
1977 Egyptian Influence
1960s Indian Influence
Chinese Influence 1960 present
Sub cultures
1963 Hawaiian Influence
Tribal Influence
 Citing 1960s India as their muse, Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig put an awe-inspiring artisan
spin on Marchesa's signature show-stopping gowns
Cultural Aesthetic from Around the Globe
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
Clever clothes
Nylon invention

Lycra invention

Smart textiles

Smart clothing

Bio textiles

CAD/ CAM

E-tailing
This dress with Fiber Optic Dress,
orbiting rings, worn Natalie Walsh
at the Grammys, was
the first outfit Giorgio
Armani made for
Lady Gaga.
Bio-couture
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Weather conditions & climate of a place

Sustainability
Upcycling
Recycling
Eco friendly fibres
Green cotton
Dry dying
 Napking* fashion upcycling installation ..
 Mens shirt refashioned
LEGAL FACTORS
LPG: liberalisation, privatisation , globalisation
Taxes

Excise Duties

Copyrights

Patents
FASHION THEORIES
Fashion Cycle
 FASHION CYCLE
Fashion evolves GRADUALLY giving
TIME to customers to become accustomed
to new looks

Introduction to a style
Growth - Increase in Popularity Bridge &

Diffusion
Maturity Peak of Popularity Adaptations &

Knock-offs
Decline in Popularity

Rejection or Obsolescence
 A FASHION CYCLE

Acceptance
(measured
in sales in
Volume) Peak
Rise
(increase
in sales) Decline

Introduction

(Time)
Introductory Acceptance Rejection
Phase Phase Phase
 LENGTH OF CYCLES
CLASSICS Styles which never become obsolete but instead remain
more or less accepted for an extended period

FADS Short-lived fashions is called FADS which come & go in a

single season. They lack the design strength to hold the consumer
attention for a long period.

CYCLES WITHIN CYCLES -- Design elements (like color, texture or

silhouette) may change even though the style itself remains popular.
Popular styles like jeans remain classics & remain for a long time but
various details, silhouette & features came & went during that period.

RECURRING CYCLES After a fashion dies, it may resurface.

Designers often borrow ideas from past. It may reappear in an
interpreted way by changing fabric or silhouette. Its not totally new
but its never exactly the same.
BASIC, FASHION, AND FAD
PRODUCTS
KURTIS
SKIRTS
FASHION CLASSICS
FASHION FADS
CYCLE WITHIN CYCLES
 RECURRING CYCLIC FASHIONS

PLAT FORMS SHOES

HOTPANTS
CONSUMER IDENTIFICATION WITH
FASHION CYCLES
 CONSUMER IDENTIFICATION
WITH FASHION CYCLES
Fashion Leaders - Innovators, Motivators or Role
Models, Victims

Fashion Followers Lack time, Busy, Need

exposure, Insecure about tastes, Fit in with
friends, Imitate
 FASHION LEADERS
People who look for new Fashion & wear it
before it becomes generally acceptable are
often referred to as Fashion leaders.

They fall into 2 categories:-

Fashion innovators

Role models
 FASHION INNOVATORS
Some fashion leaders actually create fashion,
they may be designers or just want to
express their own individual style
 FASHION MOTIVATORS OR ROLE
MODELS
Designers lend new styles to celebrities & public figures to get publicity.
They become role models for everyone who identifies with them.
There are Fashion leaders for every market
 FASHION VICTIMS
People who have too much money to spend
who become slaves to designer brands.
They blindly follow a brand without any
discernment & without any analysis.
 FASHION FOLLOWERS
Fashion followers imitate others & follow a style only after they are sure of
the fashion trends.
Consumers become fashion followers for following reasons :-

They lack time, money & interest to devote to fashion leadership. Dressing
fashionable takes time & energy.

They are busy with their jobs & families & think fashion is unimportant.

They need a period of exposure to new styles before accepting them

They are insecure about their tastes &therefore turn to what others have
already approved as acceptable & appropriate.

They want to fit in with their friends or peers groups to be accepted by them

They tend to imitate people whom they admire.

 LATE ADOPTERS & LAGGARDS
As popularity fades, the fashion product is often
marked for clearance, to invite the bargain
hunters and consumers, the late adopters and
laggards, who are slow to recognize and adopt a
fashionable style.

Laggards are also people who stick to style after

the decline of the trend as they find it
comfortable & flattering, and adapt it as their
unique dressing sense .
 THEORIES OF FASHION
ADOPTION

(Downward Theory) (Horizontal Flow) (Upward Flow)

Trickle down or
Trickle across or Trickle up or
fashion adoption
Mass dissemination Reverse adoption
 TRADITIONAL FASHION ADOPTION
(TRICKLE-DOWN THEORY)

It is based on the traditional process of copying &

adapting trendsetting fashion. As new styles are worn by
fashion leaders, more consumers are exposed to new looks
& it becomes popular. To appeal to broader consumer
segment cheaper versions of the same is produced.
 MASS DISSEMINATION
(TRICKLE-ACROSS THEORY)
Modern communications bring fashion from
around the word into our homes instantly.
Consumers see trends & want to look fashionable
as the celebrities. Manufacturers copy hot new
styles immediately to meet the high demand.
Speed of production is of greatest importance.
Mass Dissemination (broadcasting) is becoming
the prevalent mode of fashion adoption.
 Designers Interpretation

As accepted and available to the masses

BALLOON DRESS VARIATIONS

REVERSE ADOPTION(TRICKLE-UP
OR BOTTOM-UP THEORY)
Manufacturers & retailers also pay
attention to consumer innovation. They
watch people on the street to find ideas
(street fashion). Some of these ideas
influence the designers & eventually reach
the designer market. Eg:- the Grunge look
African tribal's neckwear has been
accepted as popular accessories
world wide

Over Alls

Gypsy Skirts are fashionable global

FACTORS THAT SPEED UP FASHION
CYCLE MOVEMENT
Mass media, modern
communications
Good economic conditions
Increased competition
Technological advances
Social and physical mobility
More leisure time
Higher levels of education
Changing roles of women
Seasonal changes
FACTORS THAT SLOW DOWN FASHION
CYCLE MOVEMENT
Bad economic
conditions Religion
consumers have less fashion may lead to
money to spend corruption and temptation
Cultural customs Laws/government
passing down
traditional clothing; not
regulations
tariffs, quotas
buying new
Disruptive world
events
droughts, wars, terrorism