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TRANSCRIPT:

Speaker 2 (00:06 ):

Hey, what's up. Y'all I'm here in beautiful Atlanta. And today I wanted to talk to you about trends. I'm currently in a deep dive of trend research for 2022 and wanted to let you know that I've got several pre-order discounts going on for my 2022 trend guide, plus a live workshop for those of you who sign up early, just head over to my website@laurenleslie.com and click on trend. Leslie is spelled with an E Y and join my email list to get the next discount. All right, thanks for listening to the design drive. Let's start the episode.

Speaker 3 (00:44 ):

Okay. So why are trans important? I think this is the first question we should start out with because there are designers out there who really hate trends and they don't think trends are important. They have no interest in following them. They maybe see trends as being cheap and too commercial or, you know, kind of like it kind of like you lose yourself as a designer. If you're chasing trends all the time, you don't really have sort of this aesthetic that defines your own brand. But to me, I really see trends as art. Especially when you are looking at runway shows and some of the, you know, beginning stages of where these trends are developing. And I mean, it really is art. And I know that these things have a commercial use and that the trends are going to kind of push sales for a lot of products.

Speaker 3 (01:41 ):

Right. And, you know, I understand why people will see that as you know, oh, it's a gimmick or it's a sales tactic, but the thing is of that transit sell for a reason. And it's because they're inspiring. And I don't think that these two concepts are mutually exclusive, right? Like I don't think that just because something sells well, it's automatically not art or it's automatically cheap, right. Just because it's commercial, it doesn't mean that it's not a really amazing and deep and valuable. And so I think that, you know, when you really start to dive into the beginning stages of how these concepts come about from the designer's imagination, right. And the experimentation, and, you know, putting together kind of insane materials. And in ways that, you know, to the current mainstream would seem crazy. Like if you look at a lot of runway trends, they seem kind of nuts and it's because they are exaggerated it's because it is a place where, you know, clothes and apparel and design ideas can be whatever they want because they aren't actually going to be selling in this form.

Speaker 3 (02:52 ):

Right. The life cycle of a trend is that it starts out on something like their runway and it's really wild and really crazy. And then retailers kind of tend to the Trinity retailers tend to be the first ones to jump on that trend, but they water it down a bit. Right. It's not like you're going into a trendy store and seeing the exact same thing that you would have seen in runway fashion. So it's watered down a little bit and it's made more digestible for the average consumer. And then you have, you know, stores and retail brands that are, you know, kinda in the middle there, they're not super Trinity, but you know, they, they see these Trinity stores and they see that, oh you know, proof of concept, right. That people are actually buying these things. So, all right, maybe we'll dabble.

Speaker 3 (03:42 ):

Maybe we'll stick our toe in the water and we'll try this trend. It's a little scary, but we'll try it. And then, you know, those stores, they start selling and, you know, people love it and more and more people jump on the trend. And when more people see that other people are wearing X, Y, Z, or have this kind of trend in their home with its home decor, you know, whatever the category is, then they're like, oh, well, if these people can, can pull it off, then I can pull it off. I think I can pull it off now because I've seen it enough times. Right. And then the mass market stores are like, oh, everyone's behind this trend. So we need to sell it. And then that's when the Walmarts and the Sam's clubs and sort of middle America adopts the trend. And then the market gets really saturated, right?

Speaker 3 (04:30 ):

It, it gets kind of overwhelmed by this trend and then it's not special anymore. Once the market is oversaturated, then it's not special anymore. And that's when the trend, you know, it can coast for a few years. Sometimes it depends on the trend. Every trend will have its own life cycle. We can't say a trend lasts for exactly one season or it lasts for exactly three years. Like some trends last longer than others. But once we see the market gets saturated and sales start to dip, then we kind of know it's not special anymore. It's not fashion forward. It's not exciting. It's not holy crap. Like only, only something you would see people wearing in New York city. Right. And so that's when we see the trend to start to die off. And it kind of just becomes this, this mountain curve where it starts out slow.

Speaker 3 (05:22 ):

Only the trendiest stores are, are willing to put it in and try it out. And then when it really gets into the mass market stores and starts to saturate the market, that's the peak, right. And we don't know how long that peak is going to last. It can again, coast for awhile, but after that, it starts to decline and dipped out. And that's when you start to see it and like clearance stores and things like that. And so that's sort of the life cycle as a trend. But going back to the question are trends important. I think trends are so important. And I think that when people see trans as only being a means to sell or they own, they only see trends as, you know, cheap or commercial or not really worth paying attention to, I think they're kind of missing the point because trans really define our time.

Speaker 3 (06:13 ):

Right. I mean, imagine if you couldn't tell the difference between 70 1970s fashion and 1920s fashion, what if it all looked the same, which is kind of like the way things looked, you know, throughout the 17 hundreds or throughout the 18 hundreds, like trends happened, but very, very, very slowly. And once we hit the 20th century, that's when things get a lot more interesting and we're able to, you know, really separate the decades by fashion and by trend. And so trends are important because they define you. They define where you are in this life, in this decade. And we all get to decide that, and I want to share a little quote from Matthew Smith that says either embrace trends or define them, but never complain about them. And I think that's so true because trends are what they are. And they're kind of magical trends really are defining the present era that we're all living in.

Speaker 3 (07:16 ):

And that's what will kind of put us in the history. But so it's kind of what we'll be remembered for, you know, other than, you know, major historical events. But that's how, you know, our look, our fascia and that's how we'll be kind of looked on in an historic way. And they allow us to define ourselves and kind of to eternalize ourselves in this recognizable aesthetic. And what's really cool about that is that as designers, we get to be a part of that. So I would say we should all appreciate trends. Right? another thing that designers are sometimes concerned about is that they'll lose their individuality. If they focus on trans, you know, they're worried that this brand that they've built for themselves or, you know, the thing that they're known for is going to disappear if they chase every trend.

Speaker 3 (08:04 ):

And I think that that is true and also false. And so let me explain that for a second. I think that you have to know as a designer, when to be discerning and when a trend is not for you and not every trend is going to be for you and that's okay. However, some trends will fall into your brand. They will fall into the industry that you're targeting, right. If elephants are really trendy in baby decor this season that might not really apply to me if I'm designing rugs, especially if they are area rugs that are not for children, right. That's not going to help me very much. And so you obviously have to focus on the industry, make sure that it's relevant to the audience and the consumers that you're targeting with your designs. And with that be