HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020! A SPECIAL EDITION FOR THE NEW YEAR- WHAT WILL BE THE NEWEST FASHION TRENDS? A

At age 34, Nataly Izchukov, a Trendologist, realized her passion and established “The Visionary”, a company which specializes in predicting the future technological breakthroughs that may shape the fashion world in the next two years.

Our team had the chance to hear Izchukov’s lecture about trend forecasting and while we sat and listened, we knew we had to interview Izchukov and bring you her perspective.

But before we jump into the interview, let’s talk about what trend forecasting is and what does that mean to predict the future?

According to Li Edelkoort (one of the world's most famous trend forecasters), Trendology is like archaeology of the future. You constantly have to search, dig and connect the dots to understand how it will later become a trend that will affect our wardrobe, our homes, the way we purchase and what do we purchase.

Fashion trend forecasting is much more than predicting what you will purchase based on your age, income and geography. Rather, it is impacted by the consumers mood, culture and belief.

The best way to predict trends is to research political or economic demonstrations, natural disasters and even wars that started in the past year and a half. For example, during the years 2018-2019, many fires occurred around the world and affected the fashion industry by coloring our clothes in red and yellow.

The Interview:

Fashionating: What made you pursue trend forecasting?

“I was first exposed to this field during my fashion design studies at Shenkar. I attended a lecture by Li Edelkoort at the Holon Design Museum in 2012 and in that moment I realized my life had changed. After her lecture, I realized that there is a profession which brings together everything I love - research, intuition, inspiration boards and aesthetics. I decided to try my luck.

I flew to Paris and knocked on Li Edelkoort’s agency doors and asked if they needed workers, they politely let me in, looked at my portfolio, and told me they would get back to me. After a few days, while I was already back in Israel, I received an email informing me that I got a job in their consulting department. I could swear that every single person in Tel Aviv probably heard my happy screams.

Fashionating: What happened next?

I returned to Paris and started working at the agency. It was one of the most enriching and instructive experiences I have ever had in my life. I met and made new friends for life, discovered new working fields, and grew my professional skills.

After a while I got really home sick and came back to Israel. I decided to establish my own company, “The Visionary”, a trend forecasting agency specializing in design.

It has been 5 years since I started and in the last year, Lior Fisher Shiloni joined the company as a partner. We work with leading companies in Israel and around the world. We provide consulting, research, and forecasting services to predict the trends of the next two years. In addition to giving many lectures in the field, last year we opened a school of trendology.

Fashionating: ”Which trend do you predict to stay with us for a long time?“

The sustainability trend. We all witness the global warming effects happening around the world. There is hard data and evidence that claim that unless we take responsibility as consumers, the world we live in will not survive. A big part of the fashion industry has already started its big transformation and changed its system to a more sustainable one- producing less, changing supply chain, using more Eco-fabrics. We are at the beginning of the change and I believe that in the future, companies will be regulated and laws will be created to protect the environment.

Fashionating:”Does the Israeli market follow trends?“

We are a young country and therefore the pace to absorb and adopt global trends is relatively slow compared to more matured countries with centuries of culture and heritage.

Fashionating:”Is there a difference between Israeli and global fashion? Are the trends different?“

There are global trends and there are local trends. Some of the trends existing in the world can’t be adopted by Israelis due to location and weather. For example you can barely find wool or a trench coat in our country due to our climate, it's simply too hot. Many Israelis wear comfortable clothing, over-sized items, and flip flops.

The State of Israel is very special and diverse in the cultures that exist in it, we usually seek to mix loads of styles that may not be seen elsewhere in the world.

Fashionating: ”The subject of the 2019 Tel Aviv fashion week was body image which you also speak about in your lectures. Will Israel's beauty ideal remain the same in the future or is it a fad?"

One of the positive things that happened in social media is the quest for the “real” model of beauty. We are exposed to more and more different body types, skin colors, diseases, gender, etc. It is a blessed trend that is here to stay.

In the future we will see more and more gender neutral fashion. Also, we constantly look for real people to identify with and to feel comfortable with ourselves.

nd now for the big question:

What will actually be the biggest trends in fashion for 2020-2021:

1-The world is burning- The world is desperately asking for a fundamental change. You can see a lot of kids, boys and girls filling up the streets and screaming ENOUGH. Kids are asking for a CHANGE. You can buy less! It's fascinating to see how it is becoming a widespread phenomenon in the world. This was reflected in the color that dominated fashion week this year, the color green, the color of nature, something that will give us some peace and quiet, optimism, a counter to the fires of last year.

2- Marker colors- Acidic colors that have a lot of statement. These colors include Yellow, Green, Orange and Pink. There is also a brave return to mixing bold colors even in accessories.

3-Nouveau Retro- Back to nostalgia, retro. We have a need to go back to an innocent place, where we didn't know we are in a serious crisis and the world was going to crash if we won't act. Therefore, there is a big presence of earth tones, brown and golden brown in both fashion and home decor. A return to nature made from nature: clay, wood, bamboo, and straw.

4-The Slow Making- Whether it is in the food we eat, what we consume, what we purchase, how much we purchase, the way we live, or how we raise our families, we see slow living, slow eating, and slow making.

After a loud and tumultuous decade in the Fashion world, our mind asks for peace and quiet and that's what will happen in 2020-2021.