OCEAN OASIS

ALICIA MUZZY TREND FORECASTING MEMORANDUM 4 OCTOBER 7, 2014

NORDSTROM

SANTORINI,GREECE

Palm Tree

Seaweed

Caribbean

Nautical Navy

OceanMistDawnCanary

Sand

dol

lar

Sand

Pip

erC

ocnu

t

VolacanoRock

OCEAN OASIS

COLORS: Coconut, Sand Piper, Sand Dollar, Canary, Dawn, Ocean Mist, Nautical Navy, Volcanic Rock, Carib-bean, Palm Tree, Seaweed

DESIGNERS: Chanel, DVF, Hermes, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors

WHY THESE COLORS?In my research and looking at the Spring 2015 RTW shows, I saw that lifestyle trends of travel, relaxation, natural/nature, health, simpliciity, etc. were common and influencing fashion. There is less pattern for spring fashions. Neutral solids are more common with pops of warm color in accessories, shoes, belts, and bags. Flowy fabrics are always common in spring and I found in research that cotton and linen will be found even more in RTW clothing because of its practicality and simplic-ity. These breathable fabrics work well with these solid colors and fit these lifestyle trends as well. Bright, neon colors are not shown on the runway except in smaller details such as accessories and in athletic wear. You won’t see very bright colors in the spring, but arm pastel colors taking the influence from travel and nature. “This season, cooler and softer color choices with subtle warm tones follow a minimalistic en plein air theme, taking a cue from nature.” (Eiseman, “Spring 2015”)

NORDSTROM APPLICATION AND PROJECTED PROFITS:Nordstrom’s target audience is mainly upper-class women between the ages of 25 and 40. This means many women within this target audience have children and quite possibly are in the professional world, working part of full time. These are women who are around people wether in social or work settings. These are women who want to look sophisticated and profesional yet also have practical everyday du-ties around town and at home in the afternoons, weeknights, and weekends. Nord-strom should incorporate the current lifestyle trends and consider color when buying for Nordstrom. Solid garments in neutral and soothing colors as picuted in the mood board are excellent colors to feature in the store. Add pops of warm colors to these neutral bases with varied accessories in Nordstrom from sunset pink heels to canary yellow tote bags and coral scarves. These will be smaller pieces but still add that spice of life and flare to any woman’s wardrobe. However, the solid garments add a value of practicality and versitility for any occassion, allowing the woman to dresss up or down depending on the she is doing and whom she is around (Dembowski, “Nordstrom Retailer Profile”).

Many of these women travel for work or are women who dream of traveling abroad one day. Either way, an oasis away is always on the mind. Allow the woman to have her oasis during any time of any day. Let her escape to paradise through her ward-robe. Fashion says a lot about how you feel about yourrself and your life. It affects your atitude. If the woman yearns for simpler, relaxed life, then let her have it through dress. A trend of wanting to slow down, eating and buying local, and enjoy-ing a simpler way of living is on the rise (Levere, 2013). So, women should dress the same. Slow down and live naturally through breathable, natural fabrics and colors. Dress simply, yet elegant by taking a single Sand Piper linen dress and dressing it up or down through colored accessories. Europe is the number one travel destination in the world, yet people are also traveling more in their own backyard. Buy clothing from these European and American designers so that women can shop these design-ers and integrate these designer’s tones into their lives. Allow the woman to choose her own mstyle and make it her own by personalizing her wardrobe as this is another current lifestyle trend. Consider integrating more monogrammed pieces into Nord-strom, as least having the online e-commerce capability of monogramming. Take a navy dress and monogram her initials on the pocket or on the cute Ocean Mist purse complementing her ensemble.

Men are a secondary target audince for Nordstrom. Typically, these are men whose wives also shop at Nordstrom. Since their lives by their clothing from nordstrom and love the quality and Nordstrom branding, their husbands follow along. For men, Nordstrom should apply the colors for spring and create more button up shirts, blaz-ers, suit jackets, pants, shoes that reflect these colors. Apply the travel/beach oasis scent to men’s cologne evoking a feeling of a “relaxing oasis” for both the man and the woman in his life (Bell, 2014).

LONG-TERM OR SHORT-TERM TREND? I think this trend will be a long-term trend because it is already a classic. These neutral colors have always been long-term classic colors used in classic pieces of anyone’s wardrobe. These are just becoming more prominent with pops of warm, colorful accessories and unique textures and technology incorporated into these traditional colors. For example, laser cut leather is a current short-term trend used for a leather dress or handbag. While this use of technology in fashion may be innovative and perhaps a fad, it is inter-mixed with classic colors and garments. You will always see a white button up blouse in stores, denim, navy pants or blazer, white cotton dress, but these will slightly change in terms of silhouette, cut, fabric, texture, etc. over the years. Neutral colors will always be around; it’s just the hue/inten-sity of the color that may change with time and season.

HOW WILL THIS COLOR STORY EVOLVE?These colors will change in terms of hue and season. While white and black may be popular this spring, a deeper cream may be more common next fall and winter. Different shades of blue come in and out. Hot pink, red, yellow and coral seem popular for accessories now, but these colors may deepen for fall and winter lines to be like a rosy deep red and fuscia pink. Color typically changes with season any-way. I think that the basis of these colors will always exist, but different shades will become more popular for different seasons.

OVERALL MOOD: • Relaxation• Simple• Practical• Optimistic• Chic

CULTURAL EVENTS: Music Festivals, Craft Beer and Wine, Local Food, Cinema, University and Pro Sports, Wedding Indutry, Technology, Health and Fitness Movement, Cancer/ Disease, Obesity.

ATTITUDES & IDEALS: Humanitarian efforts, Eco-friendly, Minimalism, Anti-War, Simple Luxury, Travel, Global Business, Global Minded, Quality, Life Balance, Health.

POLITICS: Immigration debate, Mexican drug cartels, Gaza, ISSIS, Middle East Political/Religious Struggle, Global Poverty, Presidential races, Katie Middleton baby, political protesting, labor unions.PRODUCTS/TECHNOLOGY: iPhone, Android, Eveolution, Web and Native Apps, iWatch, Other Wearables, Lap Top, Nike run-ning shoes, outdoor/adventure gear, athletic wear, Camelback water bottles, Patagonia jackets, etc.

CELEBRITIES: • Amanda Seyfried• Blake Lively• Jessica Alba• Jennifer Garner• Kim Kardashian• Reese Witherspoon• Miranda Lambert

• Minimalistic• Classic• Nostalgic• Natural/Nature• Health• Balance

• Kate Middleton• Prince William• Jennifer Lawrence• Taylor Swift• Clare Danes• Beyonce• Ben Affleck• George Clooney

OCEAN OASIS

(“The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities”)

REFERENCES

Bell, N. (2014, October 1). What Myer can learn from US retailer Nordstrom. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.smh.com.au/money/investing what-myer-can-learn-from-us-retailer-nor strom-20140926-10mdbi.html

Dembowski, A. (n.d.). Nordstrom Retailer Profile. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from https://storify. com/adembowski/nordstrom-retailer-profile

Eiseman, L. (n.d.). Spring 2015 Pantone Fashion Color Report. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http:// www.pantone.com/pages/fcr/?season=spring- year=2015&pid=11

Levere, J. (2013, April 21). Creating ‘Youphoria’ the Nordstrom Way. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/business/ media/creating-youphoria-the-nordstrom-way. html?_r=1&

Spring 2015 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Shows - Style.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www. style.com/fashion-shows/spring-2015-ready-to- wear/

The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/ celebrities/list/#tab:overall

“This season, cooler and softer color choices with

subtle warm tones follow a minimalistic “en plein air” theme, taking a cue from

nature.” (Eiseman, “Spring 2015”)

OCEAN OASIS