Skip to main content

Fashion Ed: Fashion Adoption Theory

When a style or trend debuts, whether it's trying out a new BB cream or obtaining a pair of trendy cut out boots, when would you say it is that you catch on or adapt to a trend? The fashion adoption theory was one of my favorite theories to learn, as it tells you how a style or trend starts and ends.

Fashion Adoption: A process on how an individual accepts and purchases a new fashion or a style. This Innovation Adaption Curve plots out the five categories and basically shows that with time, any new style or trends popularity rises and eventually fades.

Innovation Adaption Curve

There are five categories that describe how early a consumer adopts a new fashion compared with others: Fashion Innovators, Fashion Opinion Leaders, Mass Market Consumers, Late Fashion Followers, and Fashion Isolates and Laggards.

Tartan is trending right now, so I feel that it would be a great example to follow.


Fashion Innovators
Yves Saint Laurent-Metro.US


Consumers who adopt a new fashion soon after it appears on the market relatively earlier than most other consumers. This category usually consists of socialites, models and actresses who shop and can afford to purchase the latest styles when they are first offered or shown on the runway.


Fashion Opinion leaders
Hello Magazine

Those who have a genuine interest and love for fashion that they adopt the style and contribute to its rise in popularity. They communicate information about new fashion to where  other people are influenced by them to accept or reject it. Fashion magazines, popular fashion bloggers along with fashion innovators would be in this category. Retail buyers pay very close attention to fashion opinion leaders  for they can spark or end a trend.


Mass Market Consumers
Neiman Marcus
This would be the category I would  say that most people fall into. Once a style/trend is well accepted, it will become widely available in retail stores which leads mass market consumers to adopt it.


Late Fashion Followers
Zara.com

The trend will eventually start waning down and the adoption levels start to drop off. At this point the late fashion followers will adopt the trend. 


Fashion Isolates and Laggards

Consumers who adopt the style because of social acceptance or of its availability at low and discounted prices. At this point you will start to see the style/trend available at off-price and discount stores.


Well there you have it. This of course is just my explanation of the fashion adoption theory and hopefully you were able to follow along and learn something new. Which category would you say you fall into?

Thanks for reading!

-Desi









Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 1, 2013 at 8:44 AM

    Bonjour, I like your blog so much! What about follow each other on bloglovin'? Let me know, when you'll follow me!
    Good luck with your blog❤

    ReplyDelete
  2. DesiOctober 1, 2013 at 7:37 PM

    Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fashion Ed: Fashion Flow Theories

Today I want to discuss the theories of Fashion Flow: Downward, Horizontal, and Upward. You probably have heard these terms before but I want to go into further detail as to what they mean and the difference between them. Downward Flow Theory ( Trickle - Down) This theory is the most widely known and the oldest theory of fashion adoption. The basic definition in short-to be identified as a true fashion, styles must first be adopted by those at the top of the social pyramid, then the style is eventually accepted at the lower social levels. This theory assumes that there is a social hierarchy in which lower income people seek to identify with more affluent people. Because those at the top want to disassociate themselves with the lower social level, once the fashion or style has flowed to the lower social level, the upper classes will reject it and move on to the next new fashion. The phrase "that is so last season" comes to mind when I think of this theory. Ag...
1 comment
Read more

Fashion Profile | Eileen Fisher

As stated on the company's website:    ONLY 66% OF WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS SUSTAINABLE. THAT'S GOING TO CHANGE. NO EXCUSES. The dress is bluesign® certified silk. The jeans are made with organic cotton. And the cardigan? It's one of our Icons, made with fine-gauge linen. The fiber isn't organic this season, but it will be. And by 2020, if the linen is conventionally grown we won't use it.This isn't a perfect picture, but it's an accurate one. We know there's still work to be done. No excuses. In my search in finding sustainable brands, I stumbled upon an ad for Eileen Fisher and their Vision 2020 initiative. This is the first fashion company I have come across with this type of initiative. This is definitely a brand I will keep an eye on to see if they are able to accomplish their goal. Eileen Fisher's vision is in tune to what I feel fashion retail companies should be doing specifically in regards to addressing their social, et...
1 comment
Read more