Fashion forecasters are professionals who predict colors, fabrics, silhouettes, and design details that are relevant to the zeitgeist. Fashion refers to the prevailing style or custom. The term can be applied to many forms of expression (architecture, art, home furnishings) but is most commonly associated with mode of dress. By nature, fashion is dynamic; it reflects the ideas, events, and people in society that influence us. It responds to our behavior and reflects our mood. Forecasters help those in fashion identify emerging trends on their way up the fashion curve. They help to guide the element of change that makes fashion a big business in today's global marketplace; newness induces people to buy.

Fashion theory suggests that fashion trends may trickle down, trickle up, or trickle ...