Stephanie Solomon is a true trendsetter, responsible for finding the most fashion-forward merchandise for Bloomingdale's stores. The Syracuse University alumna is the operating fashion director for women’s ready-to-wear. Here are some of her tips for trend-spotting, trendsetting and more.
As a fashion buyer, Ms. Solomon must always have her eyes on ready to spot the next big thing. She must know and predict what American women want to wear and what they will buy in the upcoming season. Picking trends for a particular season begins with a marketing council meeting, where the fashion office meets with the visual and marketing departments to brainstorm ideas of themes for the upcoming season. She then has a guide to take with her to the runway shows. To decipher trends, she starts at "the big show" which she indicated was Marc Jacob's show. She also mentioned she extracts trends from the models backstage and guests that attend the shows. Models and guests are wearing what is on the runway and adapt them to be wearable.
Deciding trends is also about instinct and intuition. She picks and choose what feels right and what hasn't been done in a while. Its always a combination of influences and endless curiosity- studying your surroundings. Who is wearing what and why. Trends are about finding something that is already out in the culture and making it a product. After all the trends are collected, a powerpoint is put together with information and visuals and then sent to all the executives and certain staff of Bloomingdale's. These ideas are then incorporated into the catalog and advertisements. This translates to what we see in the store.
Although fashion buyers, celebrities, editors, and others in fashion do have a say in what trends are, the people who ultimately change, move, and shift fashion are the designers.
3 things to remember:
1. "Education happens when you listen and shut your mouth and do not let ego get in the way"
2. "Paris is center of all innovation in fashion"
3. "Get where you wanna be even if its for no money and you have to sweep at night"
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