David Wolfe, a respected fashion forecaster with the Doneger Group, predicts that trends in women’s fashion will slow to the “turtle pace” typical to men’s wear.
The next year of sobriety will sweep the nation clean of conspicuous consumption, ostentatious glitz, and “fashion flash points” that are out almost as soon as they are in, argued Wolfe as he presented his spring 2010 “big picture” forecasts to the industry.
“Spring 2010 will be the light at the end of the runway, when fashion comes to terms with our new reality,” said Wolfe, adding he expects “shake ups, shake downs and shake outs” in the meantime — though not on par with the Great Depression when 14 percent of retailers closed their doors. “Like the housing bubble, the luxury market was artificially inflated by aspirational customers who are now gone. When recovery comes, we’ll be a very different nation. People are changing their lifestyles, even if they have the same incomes.”
Wolfe predicts women’s wear will adopt men’s wear’s “turtle pace” that is “about refreshing and replenishing, rather than evolution every season.”
The exception? The green fashion movement. Mr. Wolfe says demand for environmentally friendly products will only grow, and in keeping with the natural aesthetic, floral prints, the color green, wooden accessories, and animal skins will be popular with designers and consumers alike.
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