‘FASHION FUTURES.’
The brief for this short, 2 week-long project was to conduct research and form 2 of our own emerging trends and present a video poster. The reason that I have chosen to include this is because I thoroughly enjoyed the cultural rabbit holes that I found myself diving into and I wanted to display my ability to present research with cohesion amongst visual landscapes and ideation to reach my own trend. A year on and both of these trends are relevant as ever. The trends that I identified and named, were ‘The Neo-Hedonistic Revolution’ and ‘The Persuit of Persona’s’, two areas in which I would be very interested to explore further in my early career.
THE NEO-HEDONISTIC REVOLUTION.
Hedonism is tied to the pursuit of pleasure and the minimization of pain. I have always found this concept interesting from a philosophical point of view. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? In terms of identifying a current world trend within this short project, I began with this question.
Until I realised that I was not trying to understand the answer, I needed to delve into how it is reshaping the current society by flipping it from a philosophical aspect to a cultural one. Hedonism has generally been tied to all night partying, substance consumption and filling sexual desires. Currently, sobriety and escapism is also rising, meaning that brands need to cater towards these two, arguably, paradoxes. The desire to escape is a result of the combined pressures from the threats of war, cost of living and global pandemic. I found within my research that 58% Gen Z consumers would go on a free trip to the moon (I know I would), meaning that brands need to cater to this new emergence of experience-based IRL and URL experiences. These experiences will have to provide a form of human connection, as my research proved that the need for community is at the core of the pandemic’s consequences, even 4 years on.
I’m talking: fantasy, exploration, sensorial, human connection.
This is the Neo-hedonistic revolution.
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THE PURSUIT OF PERSONAS.
2024 is a year where ‘portfolio careers’ and ‘slashies’ (e.g. stylist / interior designer / copywriter) are at the forefront of many lives. Essentially, one job just won't cut it anymore.
With social media data telling us who we are and what we like, there has been a surge in ‘algorithm angst’ and consumers are becoming lost amongst identities and questioning whether they are being manipulated by data companies or not. This has led to paradoxical behaviours, where one may have a strong opinion on one day and not the other.
This increased search of self-actualisation is reflected in the tiktok micro trend, ‘part of me wants to be her’.
Brands need to aid consumers through their own exploration of identity by focusing on life-centricity, as opposed to product centricity.