Wednesday, March 31, 2010

How Fashion Jewelry Trends Develop

In the 20th century, fashion jewelry trends were developed on the runways of the fashion capitols of the world such as Paris, London, Milan and New York, then were passed on to the consumer through fashion magazines and in the trendiest shops. In the 21st Century, the methods of these developments have evolved into a more complicated process. This evolution is actually a mosaic of influences that combine to create what is considered vogue and defines the fashion system.

Jewelry looks tend to change concurrent with clothing trends, so it is important to look at the route with which garments styles are formed in order to track jewelry style tendencies. Color and fabric is a big part of what dictates the cycle of a fashion trend. That cycle begins about a year before the fashions hit the runway when those in the know predict what colors will be popular during a coming season. Color forecasting is a delicate balance of art and intelligence gathering which is then interpreted to create their predictions. Companies such as Pantone, the color experts, are highly regarded for their knowledge and insight on the subject.

The couture design houses then use the predicted colors and other influences to create their lines for the next year. The ready to wear designers look to the trends coming out of the couture houses to develop their designs. Some other influences can be street style, which has taken on a level of inspiration of its own. Developments in society such as economics and culture can play a hand in all this as well.

The upcoming season’s fashions hit the runways of Fashion Week celebrations around the world along with accessories like shoes, bags and jewelry. Editors from fashion magazines and blogs, celebrities and their stylists are all in attendance and report on the trends. Celebrity stylists who are in-the-know, such as Rachel Zoe, can have a huge impact on what consumers want because they take the new fashions, combine them in a creative way with accessories to give them a unique look and place them on famous people who wear them where they will be photographed and get attention. Consumers are influenced to want these styles by all of the up-to-the-minute images and thus style trends are born. If fashionistas reject fashion dictates and do not embrace a style, then it will fade away and the trend never develops.

Consumers can play a role in creating trends as well. When shoppers want a certain product the trend expands and takes on a life of it’s own. Shoppers go into stores looking for an item and if enough demand is seen for that design, the store buyers stock them in the stores. Although those requests may be similar to what is being worn in the magazines and on the stars, sometimes they prefer to stray away from the mainstream of what is being sold to them as "the item of the moment". They prefer to add their own style and personality to the items they request and in doing so create several sub-trends which give way to the next 'hot' item which in turn can be seen as an influence on fashion designers. The cycle continues.