WHY DO SEASONAL CHANGES IN FASHION DICTATE THAT IT IS TIME TO BUY SS12 AS WE'RE HIT BY A COLD SNAP?
On Friday morning, after snow had fallen all through the night on Thursday, I went to Westfield London for the first time in a long while and was greeted with shop windows displaying their summer collections.
Topshop's online summer campaign
Although I have been following fashion closely for years, one of the things that perplexed me the most was the seasonal changes. Fashion's cycle has us believing that we need to be shopping for summer now, in February. Lookbooks everywhere are creating the allure of hot weather and drumming up the anticipation of a warm summer, their verdict: Prints are in! High-shine/futuristic is in! Neon is in! Sports luxe, in!
In times were people are used to everything being immediate - twitter breaking news, apps informing commuters of immediate delays and not least of all, fast fashion - the weather is something that people still want (and ultimately) need to know in advance. Global temperature is changing though and predicting the average temperature for the next quarter is becoming less and less reliable.
Last year we saw an exceptionally warm and dry spring, where March, April, May were "remarkable for the unusual warmth and the persistent lack of rainfall temperatures" (MET Office) which played into the Spring/Summer collections beautifully for retailers as people in UK love to wear shorts as soon as the temperatures rise above 15.
Sending out for more stock backfired on them though as summer was nowhere to be seen in the months allocated to it and it was wet, unseasonably windy and downright depressing. She did make a comeback in August for a few days and then returned to her main lover, Spain.
Whilst we lamented our lack of fun in the sun four months ago, retailers were pushing big jackets, fur stoles, head-warmers and super-knit jumpers on the masses, there was a final twist - that saw autumn come more like 'warmtumn'.
Spring 2012 T by Alexander Wang
Britain experienced an abnormally warm autumn further adding to the wreck the year's weather had been in. Last year felt like we kept having 'One Week with Marilyn'.
Although the fashion industry cycle likes to predict what we will be wearing six months in advance, predicting the weather ahead of eight days is not as reliable. (Not to say that trends are even reliably predicted either; there have been many a hit-and-miss.)
Had brands adopted a system that meant that their seasonal responses were varied but hyper-local perhaps they would've avoided the buildup of stock over the 'winter'.
Now that winter is truly upon us, reasonable gear is nowhere to be seen; predicting shoe trends in advance does not mean the weather will match the shoes.
Reworking the advance seasonal planning model is imperative but will buyers and retailers, both online and on the high street react quickly enough? Do they even think that there needs to be a reaction?
Planning seasonal changes in advance of six months does not work anymore because global warming has the weather moving like social networks, quickly and unpredictably. This shows that merchandising and manufacturing needs to change with the times and plans need to made for increased flexibility, for ease of response to weather conditions.
As mass production of high street garments reaches a global audience (Topshop in Singapore, Zara in Australia), many retailers have increased the amount of collections they supply, keeping with Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter collections but in several phases in each season.
Zara's Spring/Summer lookbook
Whilst this is good for diversity of merchandise, accuracy is still a problem as not many manufacturers are getting their stock out in the right periods to match the times.
To be fair, there is not much you can do about the weather, especially in Britain’s notoriously unpredictable case. Increasing or advancing the speed of production just because snowfall is predicted in two weeks would be hard and potentially wasteful.
Fast fashion has gone as fast as it can and still gets it wrong, so maybe the ‘in advance’ model is the best bet? Everyone buy before you need? Do you even really need it, didn’t you buy one last year?
As the internet connection between brands becomes more organic and open, there needs to be more dialogue with the consumer.
Social networking allows for conversation all-year round with the consumer which could help to gauge how the consumer will react/shop under the circumstances (read: need to forsake all fashion-forwardness and leave the house in a duvet).
London Fashion Week is upon us this tomorrow and there you will find fashion forward followers (regardless of how cold it'll be over the five-day event) in Spring/Summer's hottest wears whilst attending shows showcasing what we'll be wearing next autumn/winter.
