Fashion trend forecaster visits IU

The Frangipani Room in the Indiana Memorial Union overflowed with apparel merchandising students Tuesday.

A lecture sponsored by the Retail Studies Organization brought world-renowned fashion trend forecaster David Wolfe to speak to students about the trends in fashion.

Wolfe, introduced by Apparel Merchandising professor Rick Bomberger, is the creative director of The Doneger Group.

According to Bomberger, Wolfe spent a lot of his time studying fashion trends in
Europe.

“I’m unofficially known as the trend guy,” Wolfe said, addressing the students about his work.

Wolfe said he is one of the first people to establish the concept of trend forecasting.
“Fashion is a reflection of the society that wears it,” he said to the students.
Fashion, Wolfe said, has been lowered in terms of fascination among a society that requires fast-forward change.

The first part of his presentation featured images of technological innovation. Wolfe humorously added that he didn’t know what the technology was but that he wanted it anyway.

Technology, he said, is replacing fashion in fascinating the world.

Wolfe urged the students to think about the way technology is changing the world’s view of fashion.

“Fashion is not moving at the speed of the rest of our world. Why isn’t fashion design-driven and technology-driven?” he asked.

Wolfe presented the innovation in textile technology in terms of texture, performance and weight.

He then moved on to address the widening age gap, which affects the way fashion is marketed.

He told the audience that soon the stars will be even more segmented in terms of age and licensing.

He also mentioned that breaking the age barrier creates new market demographics.
Freshman Alexa Hochstin, who attended the event, said she is interested in the fashion world and has worked at two retail stores.

“My aunt owns a high fashion store in New York,” Hochstin said. “I can see myself working in fashion.”

This was the last event the Retail Studies Organization sponsored this semester.
The organization was able to bring in the famous forecaster because of his connection with a professor at IU. 

“One of the professors, professor Bomberger, worked with him for the past 30 years,” said Nicole Sloan, a senior member of RSO. “It’s a great thing because he agreed to do this because he wanted to."

Freshman Brandi Zelinsky said she thinks Wolfe is interesting because he’s showing a lot of new ideas.

“He’s telling us to make the changes in fashion,” Zelinsky said.

Wolfe said the era of crazy consumption is ending.

It was a bubble that lasted more than a month and that it’s being replaced by the new
normal.

Yet, he said he believes it’s not ending fast enough.

“We’re really looking for the next breakthrough,” Wolfe said. “I think it’s going to be your generation.”