In an age where information and knowledge is driving new ideas and future decision making, THE TREND OFFICE is a tool to help keep you informed on fresh and inspiring reports, interviews & articles to aid your "forward thinking" no matter what creative field you're in. The Trend Office Story
Traditionally in merchandising or retail lingo, "The Trend Office", (aka "the fashion office') is where
the internal teams of marketing, buyers & designers go to, for any creative or fashion direction for their idea jump starters or product line development. Having worked in the fashion industry in multiple roles for almost 20 years, my grass roots as a fashion designer allowed me to hone my technical skills of design, pattern making & sewing for various fashion labels until fulfilling my dream of having my own womens wear line at the age of 25. It was then that I sharpened my business, sales and branding acumen. I had an opportunity to make connections with buyers, magazine editors & stylists to fabric vendor, sales agencies & sewing factories. By the age of 29, I went through a personal & professional rough patch and although my line had gained momentum and had won awards and showed during multiple fashion weeks, I had to close the business. There I was questioning what was next for me and trying to figure out my life when I was offered a job as a Fashion Director for a fast fashion company which later on, landed me into a Trend Director job at a department store. Sounded great...but what does a Fashion Director really do? Little did I know, it would open up a whole new career. My new job was essentially made up of two things:
1. Travelling all over the world to trade shows, designer vendor showrooms, retail stores, runway analyzing, & people gawking and monitoring every aspect of fashion that was coming down the pipe line and be able to decipher what was the next big trend to invest in. I became a professionally trained 'sponge'.
2. Distribute the information: How? After digesting and processing all the information in thousands of photos, I created these almost 'biblical' type reports, which essentially contained tailored fashion direction for each buyer & product developer to kick off their next season. I simultaneously worked on future and current state and as I was held financially accountable for the trends I had predicted or advised on, meant I obsessively combed retail stores to confirm what trends were a hit or if I had missed the mark on any. For me it was a dream job! This took me from designer to global market place editor. It essentially trained my eye to look for cyclical trend 'ups & downs' and when to place my betting chips. Not an easy task, to say the least. After 10 years in a role as a Fashion/Trend Director, I decided to venture on my own, which can be one of the scariest plunges anyone can take. Today, I am designing my own future and given that I have a lot of experience under my belt in so many areas, I look at things a little differently than most. I can find the fine balance between art & business therefore able to think like an creative professional but also think, how to strategize monetizing from it. Since leaping into freelance, the past two years have been a personal transformation journey. I am tapped into every part of my creative potential. I currently work as a freelance Trend Consultant helping clients develop brands or edit lines to creating seasonal reports to help them develop their products. On the other spectrum, I also work as commercial & editorial stylist as well as an art director. Here I am able to meet new clients and work on upcoming merchandise for their look books, advertising media and aesthetically mould a finished product rather than helping develop it. If that isn't enough, I decided it was time for me to mentor and give back, and now teach a trend forecasting class to college kids once a week. With so little time left over but much information overload and stories to tell, WHY NOT START A BLOG?! I have contemplating starting a blog for quite a while but never found the right time to start. I also wanted it to have a differentiating factor. I didn't want it to be specifically about me and my lifestyle, I wanted it to be a something that went past the shiny exterior and had a point of view, the why or how factor? I wanted this blog/site extend to my fellow industry members, students or anyone that had a curiosity for valuable or new information. THE TREND OFFICE was created for an online platform for future webinars, how to's, news, interviews, inspiration and just plain creative stimulation. Whether you are a stylist, designer, magazine editor, student, blogger, or just a style curious aficionado, Trend Office welcomes you all to sit back and soak in some insightful style download.
