On February 26-28, 2018 "Buro" cafe loft was boiling with creative ideation. 26 Armenian designers and brand managers gathered there to participate in an one-of-a-kind workshop, which has never been organised in Armenia previously. Gwyneth Holland, international trainer, freelancer writer, trend consultant, senior lecturer at the University of Westminister and University of the Arts, co-author of a book on Trend Forecasting for Laurence King, delivered a training on Fashion Forecasting for Armenian fashion designers.
Trend Forecasting is a multi-billion-dollar industry and thousands of fashion and lifestyle businesses use trend services, or conduct their own trend forecasts. Trend forecasting helps designers to better understand their customers, trends help designers and brands decide what to produce and sell. Trend forecasting is a way of understanding changes in culture and design. Usually, trend forecasters act as deep researchers, they look at subtle and significant changes in the world around us to project how the market will change in the coming months and years.
“Trends aren’t everything but they are a powerful tool to help designers tailor their products to their market, and their consumer – vital to the burgeoning Armenian fashion industry”, commented Gwyneth talking about applying trend forecasting skills to Armenian fashion industry. The workshop gave participants an intensive and inspiring introduction to trends, using a combination of practical methods and shared expertise. Together with Gwyneth Armenian designers divided into cultural, pop art and fashion trends, created cumulative mood boards for upcoming seasons and left with distinctive skills to be used in development of their future fashion collections. Upon completion, participants refined their research skills and increased their ability to foresee changing styles in order to create products that meet the needs of their existing and future customers.
