It is often said that "fashion is a cycle", which means that what was popular in the past will come back after a period of time.This is probably true, but how exactly is reincarnation?Can all styles be rotated?Why do so many brands appear on the high street after their shows?Why can similar style appear so much difference in price in market?Let's discuss it together.
What is fashion cycle?
Over a period of time, changes in popular aesthetics and trends can be repeated.The hem of a dress, for example, goes from short to long and back again in a fashion cycle.With the change of the spirit of The Times, while people are constantly looking for new things, new fashion inspiration will reuse the previous fashions in cycles.
Clothing Trends from 1775 to 2000
How does Fashion cycle?
Fashion cycle is divided into the first stage and the cycle stage.
The first fashion cycle is divided into five stages: intro, rise, peak, decline and rejection.The five stages represent a bell curve on the number line, which reflects the process of a fashion from the designer's brain output to the consumer's oblivion.
Introduction:
The styles that appear during each season's fashion week are in the intro phase, when designers unveil new designs, styles, colors, fabrics, styles, and more on the catwalk.Once released, some of these elements will begin to rise in popularity and reach a small number of people.They can be expensive, produced in small quantities and worn by only a handful of fashion leaders.
Alexander McQueen showed off his low-rise jeans in 1993. He called them "bumsters."
Rise:
On the uptrend, some clothing brands and manufacturers will copy these styles, but they will use cheaper fabrics (or reduce some details).Because more people can afford the price, the popularity of this stage will grow rapidly and become more widely accepted.Therefore, manufacturers will also produce a large number of such products, thus forming a virtuous cycle of "output - consumption - output".
In the 1990s, Britney Spears was the epitome of many women's love of low-rise jeans
Peak:
At this stage these styles reached their peak in popularity. They became so popular that people were wearing them all over the street.These styles were mass-produced and became cheaper, and the variety of prices for the same styles was most evident at this stage.In order to keep the style fresh, manufacturers will also change the variety of details or change colors, fabrics and so on, as for how long it can be popular in the peak period depends on the public's acceptance.
In addition to the popularity of low-rise jeans, a variety of different fabrics and styles of low-rise pants emerged
Decline:
Because similar styles are too saturated, their freshness will gradually decrease at this stage, and the market demand for such styles will also decrease accordingly.People are reluctant to pay high prices for such styles, and retailers' turnover will drop significantly.
Rejection:
At this stage, it is the last step of the first fashion cycle. People are no longer interested in such styles and start to look for new elements.The price of such clothes has also become lower, but even then consumers may not be willing to buy them.
Low-waisted trousers have gone out of fashion and been replaced by high-waisted ones.
Women's High Waisted Ripped Jeans
Cycle stages:
New elements will enter the silent stage after the first cycle, and a few elements will be used again after the accumulation of time, which is the "fashion of cycle" in the public sense.In 1945, an old man named James Laver published Leif's law in Taste and Fashion magazine.In this law, people's attitudes towards a certain fashion change and reflect at different times.
Leif's law looks complicated, but it's actually quite simple to understand.The translation is that a certain style will be considered outdated for a period of time after the first cycle, and maybe even after 10 years or so, people will think: Why so ugly?
Wearing socks under high heels became very popular in the early 1970s
But maybe 10 years from now, people will look at it and think, "HMMM...It's fun to wear that way, "and over the next few decades it will start to be remembered and people will start to think it's trendy.
In the early stages of the cycle, a small number of people try to get back into the style, and people think they look good but strange and refuse to try it on.So we go back to the steps of the first fashion cycle mentioned above...
These days, fancy dew socks are a must-have accessory for fashion ICONS
The 12 stages of Leipher's Law:
Can everything be recycled?
By this point, I'm sure you're beginning to be overjoyed...Do you think you don't have to throw away clothes that used to be at the bottom of your suitcase?Of course not.
For the masses at the bottom of the fashion pyramid, it is difficult for them to decide which items can be re-popular.But fortunately, the time cycle of fashion cycle is being shortened constantly.
Fifty years ago, it took a long time for a new style to move from designer to consumer. Now, as the print media is constantly being reformed in the information age, a trendy item can be delivered directly to consumers from the moment it is released on the runway.Numerous celebrity model fashion bloggers will also be the first time the heat of a single item to the highest.
Animal print T-shirt
To sum up: One of the biggest effects of shorter fashion cycles in the information age is that a piece of clothing comes in quickly and goes out of fashion quickly, which also causes some items to return to fashion quickly.
Underwear worn outside has been getting hot in recent years
For the average person, no matter what's going on in fashion cycle, what's worth keeping is clothes that are made of good material, cut well and fit you, even if they look just as good decades from now.