Social media has become the pulse of the fashion industry, affecting the world of aesthetic styles. The best thing about online platforms is that most people can access social media. But how can you discern and, more importantly, understand the latest fashion design trends? You’ve come to the right place.
Besides defining trends on social platforms, this handy guide explains how they form and provides five strategies to let you successfully follow the trends. Read on!
Understanding the latest social media fashion design trends
Let’s first define social media fashion trends. These are styles that gain popularity through posts, short-form videos, hashtags, and viral content on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. They can be related to clothes and accessories separately or together, making social networks a perfect place to give rise to new styles. But how do trends start on such channels?
When an influencer shares a post, social media algorithms take it further when they detect an increased interest from their followers, spreading and popularizing it more broadly. Perhaps the main advantage of social media is that platforms democratize trendsetting, allowing anyone to influence fashion, unlike traditional top-down trends that don’t accumulate as many views in a shorter time window. With social networks, trends can go viral within hours, giving creatives and consumers real-time access to fresh styles, concepts, and ideas.
The role of social media in global trend emergence is hard to demean. Ignoring social media fashion trends can lead to missing design, marketing, and personal style opportunities. This avoidance can especially take a toll on your business, given that trends can directly influence seasonal collections and consumer behavior. So, how can you capture trends early and take full advantage of them? Below are five effortless ways to help you do just that.
5 simple ways to learn about social media fashion trends early
Create and inspect a list of fashion design hashtags
Creating and following a hashtag list is among the easiest ways to ensure something promising doesn’t go unnoticed. Oddly, many treat hashtags as knickknacks, paying little—if any—attention to them. However, hashtags can help streamline your searches and dive deeper into relevant context, whether you’re looking for trendy clothes linked to bohemian, classic, NYC, sporty, or chic style.
Instagram, for example, takes its hashtags seriously, and so should you. You can provide keywords to see how many people follow a particular word combination. For example, #fashion has been among the most used, exceeding a billion uses. These numbers will give you an idea of whether or not a keyword is popular among creators and vogue aficionados.
Don’t just follow hashtags, though. Once you see them in your feed, engage in post discussions and save publications, liking and interacting with like-minded people. Doing so will help algorithms understand your interests, influence your feed, and feature better-tailored content.
Follow the trends through individual designers’ profile engagement
Following designers’ social media profiles is effortless but not enough to let you see trends lurking on the horizon. Besides liking people’s posts and spamming fire emojis on their stories, try to go beyond scratching the surface. You want to do the following things as religiously as possible:
- Track engagement. Follow profiles they follow and monitor their likes and shares to see which designs have the potential to spiral into something bigger;
- Monitor comments. Analyze comments and replies on designer posts to get insights into what fashion-forward consumers are excited about.
In the era of social media and the enormous speed at which information is published and spread, a trend’s usual 20-year life cycle is no longer valid. This, however, does not mean the five stages (introduction, rise, peak, decline, and obsolescence) have vanished. They still exist, and social media influencers are often found especially active during the second phase, propelling styles into the spotlight much faster.
Frequent fashion magazines
It’s unlikely that online fashion magazines will provide fresh information about promising trends on their social media profiles first. If you can afford to be their subscriber—go for it. You will be able to access information earlier. However, don’t cross out their social media existence just yet—it can still be insightful.
Many fashion magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, or Harper’s Bazaar share valuable information on social platforms, and it pays to follow their social accounts for occasional visits.
Besides studying trend reports, don’t forget to do the same as with individual designers—participate in comment discussions. Doing so will help you gauge public interest in particular trends or collections and give a heads-up on upcoming trends.
Observe screen stars and models
How can you capture viral-style moments? By watching major events, of course! Keep an eye on outfits worn by celebrities at the Gala, Golden Globes, Oscars, and similar events. These can trigger viral trends across social media platforms. Celebrities endorsing a brand or wearing specific pieces can also signal a potential shift, so keep that in mind.
In addition, don’t leave models behind. Many falsely believe that fashion models only show off and illustrate what they are told to put on. In fact, models don’t just wear clothes and walk down a podium to show them off. Numerous models have impressive taste and a sense of personal style, and they often articulate it on their social media profiles. So, don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn about a trend from their online activity.
Look to past events for future trends
Look to past events for future trendsReturning to past fashion events can shed light on potential trends, combining trendy clothes from the present and past. Though it might be time-consuming, information access is your best ally and can give you invaluable hints. Try finding signs for what’s to come by:
- Reviewing past fashion weeks and runways to spot familiar styles or colors that might resurface;
- Looking for elements from previous decades with a potential to cycle back;
- Paying attention to new, innovative designers debuting at events with exciting ideas and concepts.
Closing thoughts
The spontaneity of the latest social media fashion design trends has redefined the entire industry, forcing people to become significantly more active online. Following trends requires more than liking designers’ and celebrities’ publications; you must dig deeper to discern promising styles and combinations before they take the world by storm. These five manageable steps will enable you to become proactive in finding and analyzing information, all while being among the first to spot coming trends. Now that you are equipped with tips, it’s time for you to act!
