As a fashion designer just starting out, it can be hard not to get caught up in what’s currently trending. One season it’s all about volume, the next it’s all about minimalism, and before you know it the pendulum swings again and it’s all about something entirely new. But the dirty little secret that no one tells fledging designers is this: it’s your style, not the trends, that will define you as a designer in the long run. Knowing the difference can help.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRENDS AND STYLE.
Trends are of the moment, they’re what’s current, they’re what’s cool. They’re driven by pop culture, social media, celebrities, technology, and world events.
They are: Fast moving Influenced by outside factors Meant to garner widespread attention
Tend to repeat in cycles
There’s nothing inherently wrong with trends, they can be incredibly useful. But they should be used as guidelines not as laws. If you design based on trend alone, your work will always look like it belongs to someone else. Style, on the other hand, is not just about your daily wardrobe. It’s about the thread that runs through your work. It’s in:
The kinds of shapes and silhouettes you choose
The way your clothing makes people feel The fabrics and textures you favor The way you put things together Unlike trend, style takes time to develop. It’s something that you hone through designing, through experimenting, through failure and through exploration. It’s your design DNA, it’s unique, it evolves over time, and it can’t be replicated.
WHY BEGINNERS DESIGN FOR TRENDS.
Most young designers find themselves focusing on trends because: It’s easier (and seemingly safer) to follow the pack Social media is all about what’s trending right now It’s harder to create something entirely new
You’re afraid of being wrong
But the thing is, trend-based designing can only take you so far. At the end of the day it will leave you with short-term success and long-term creative exhaustion. You’ll stop designing from the inside out and start designing from the outside in. You’ll stop asking yourself what you want to design and you’ll start asking yourself what’s popular now.
HOW TO DESIGN WITH TRENDS WITHOUT LOSING YOUR VOICE.
You don’t have to shun trends entirely. You just have to learn how to filter through them. A good designer will: Pay attention to the trends Pull out the elements that they like (a color, a shape, an idea, a trend) Interpret through their own lens Add their own twist That way trends don’t rule your design aesthetic, you rule it.
HOW YOUR PERSONAL STYLE DEVELOPS.
Your personal style doesn’t happen overnight, it happens over time. And it’s something that develops organically as you create: You’ll start sketching and before long you’ll realize you always gravitate towards the same shapes You’ll notice that you repeat the same design choices over and over again, even though you didn’t realize you were doing it You’ll recognize patterns in your work You’ll hone your eye to what works for you
Over time and with more experience, your designs will start to have a thread of continuity running through them, even if it isn’t something you planned. And that continuity is your personal style developing.
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR PERSONAL STYLE.
It’s a process.
THE LONG GAME.
If trends are a short game, then style is a long one. It’s the difference between asking yourself what’s popular this season and what you want to be known for in five years. And when you shift your thinking like that, it changes everything. From the way you sketch to the way you develop collections. You go from reacting to fashion to driving it.