Trend forecasting with industry professionals in Paris

The trend forecasting process started with students doing personal research in the city of Paris, then we had a presentation by Philip Flimmano from Trend Union. He explained the history and scope of the influence that his boss, legendary trend forecaster Li Edelkoort, has on the trend forecasting industry. Trend Union is distinct from other trend forecasting companies in that they project future trends based on their interpretation of global cultural, economic, and societal influences. The trend reporting they do is very conceptual, based on non-fashion images and words. Contrary to many trend forecasting companies that kind of "do it for you" by giving sketches of actual garments or photos of people in the street, Trend Union taps the user's creativity at its core, inspiring the viewer to look to primary sources and to interpret the information in his or her distinct and unique way. Trend Union works with a very wide range of companies, from car manufacturers to apparel. Other activities they are involved in include design education and Heart Wear, a division that works with people in underdeveloped countries market their craft, working toward economic prosperity.

As you can see, I'm a BIG fan of Trend Union!!!I thoroughly believe that the way to be truly creative is to develop one's taste and style and work from primary sources to research and synthesize.

Philip was kind enough to pose with the students in the PAA Garden after our last lecture.


The step after the Trend Union lecture was that the student teams created their own mood boards. I bought a bunch of magazines, and mat board. The students worked with Lasell professors and Jen Muggee, a PAA professor who is also the accessory designer for Anne Valerie Hash.


The PAA classroom was ideal for this project, as the groups put the collage on the cork wall, critiqued it, then glued it to the boards.

The creative synergy was palpable!!