Christopher Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, sat down with Clare from the Wardrobe Crisis podcast, to discuss what's around the fashion corner - and how our trend forecasters go about figuring that out. Enjoy a sneak peek of some of Chris' answers:
How do you feel about trends?
In sustainable fashion circles, that word can have negative connotations. After all, it's the sped-up trend cycle delivers us fast fashion. Flipping between different, and often conflicting, fashion trends, it's easy to lose control, buy and waste too much. But there's way more to trend forecasting than predicting that next week you'll be wearing yellow. Or Barbiecore. Or whatever momentary madness TikTok is serving.
But aren't trends obsolete?
No way. Now more than ever businesses are trying to stay ahead of how culture, lifestyles and appetites and tech are changing. Also, trends aren’t just pink vs. blue; the trend forecaster’s job is to map out bigger shifts that look likely to shape our tastes and behaviour going forward. Mapping cultural, lifestyle, economic and societal trends helps us form a picture of where we are headed and shape our strategies for everything from new business models and products to reaching our chosen audiences.
Want to know how the metaverse will impact retail? Or if consumers are really likely to spend more on sustainable solutions going forward? Keen to figure out how Gen Z thinks, or if that's even a thing? Some predict generational terms will soon be a thing of the past...
Discover our Back to the F**kture podcast, hosted by The Future Laboratory’s co-founder and best-selling author of The Trend Forecaster’s Handbook, Martin Raymond, where he asks renowned thinkers to put foresight predictions under the hindsight spotlight.