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Fashion Cy cle | Steps of Fashion Cy cles - Textile Learner

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Fashion Cycle | Steps of Fashion Cycles

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Fashion Cycles:
Consumers are exposed each season to a multitude of new styles created by designers. Some are
rejected immediately by the press or by the buyer on the retail level, but others are accepted for a
time, as demonstrated by consumers purchasing and wearing them.
The way in which
fashion changes is
usually described as a
fashion cycle. It is
difficult to categorize
or
theorize
about
f a s h ion
w it h o u t
oversimplifying. Even
so, the fashion cycle is
usually depicted as a
bell shaped curve
encompassing
fiv e
Fashion cy cle
stages: introduction,
rise in popularity ,
peak of popularity, decline in popularity, and rejection. The cycle can reflect the acceptance of a
single style from one designer or a general style such as the miniskirt.

1. Introduction of a Style:
Designers interpret their research and creativ e ideas into appeal or accessories and then offer the new sty les
to the public. Designers create new designs by changing elements such as line, shape, color , fabric, and details
and their relationship to one another. New creations referred to as the latest fashions may not y et be accepted
by any one. At this first stage of the cy cle, fashion implies only sty le and newness.
Most new sty les are introduced at a high price lev el. Designers who are globally respected for their talent may be
giv en financial backing and be allowed to design with v ery few limitations on creativ ity , quality of raw materials,
or amount of fine workmanship. Naturally , production costs are high, and only a few people can afford the
resulting garments. Production in small quantities giv es a designer more freedom, flex ibility , and room for
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Fashion Cy cle | Steps of Fashion Cy cles - Textile Learner

creativ ity .

2. Increase in Popularity:
If a new sty le is purchased, worn, and seen by many people, it may attract the attention of buy ers, the press, and
the public. In self-defense, most couture and high priced designers now hav e secondary bridge and or
diffusion lines that sell at lower prices, so that they can sell their designs in greater quantities.
The popularity of a sty le may further increase through copy ing and adaptation. Some designers or sty lists may
modify a popular sty le to suit the needs and price range of their own customers. Some manufacturers may copy
it with less ex pensiv e fabric and less detail it order to all the sty le at lower prices.

3. Peak of Popularity:
When a fashion is at the height of its popularity , it may be in such demand that many manufacturers copy it or
produce adaptations of it at many price lev els. Some designers are flattered by copy ing and others are resentful.
There is v ery fine line between adaptations and knockoffs.
V olume production requires a likelihood of mass acceptance. Therefore, v olume manufacturers carefully study
sales trends because their customers want clothes that are in the mainstream of fashion.

4. Decline in Popularity:
Ev entually , so many copies are mass produced that fashion conscious people tire of the sty le and begin to look
for something new. Consumers still wear garments in the sty le, but they are no longer willing to buy them at
regular prices. Retail stores put such declining sty les on sale racks, hoping to make room for new merchandise.

5. Rejection of a Style or Obsolescence:

In the last phase of the fashion cy cle, some consumers hav e already turned to new looks, thus beginning a new
cy cle. The rejection or discarding of a sty le just because it is out of fashion is called consumer obsolescence. As
early as 1 600, Shakespeare wrote that fashion wears out more apparel than the man.

Author of This Article:

Noor Ahmed Raaz
B.Sc. in Apparel Manufacturing
Noakhali Tex tile Engineering College
Facebook: Raaz Noor
Mobile: +88017 227 97 194

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