Normcore? Officially over. Same too for string bikinis and, erm, zoo jeans (jeans ‘distressed’ by lions, apparently). That is, according to the all-knowing Google search engine, which released its first fashion trends report this year, with plans to release data on what our sartorial searches say about us twice a year.
First up, the data. According to the report these are top fashion searches of the year:
- Neoprene swimsuit
- Emoji shirt
- Jogger pants
- Kale sweatshirt
- High neck bikini top
- Midi skirt
- Tulle skirt
- Waist trainer
- White jumpsuit
- Romper
- Palazzo pants
- High-waisted bikini
And these are the ones that are on the decline.
- Normcore fashion
- One-shoulder dresses
- String bikini
- Vintage clothing
- Skinny jeans
- Scarf vest
- Zoo jeans
The Google report is an example of the company’s extension into Ecommerce. A move that comes as two of the biggest online retailers, Net-a-Porter and Yoox join forces.
Lisa Green, who heads Google’s fashion and luxury team told The New York Times that she had begun working with brands such as Calvin Klein, to help them incorporate real-time Google search data into their planning and forecasting. The data will be particularly useful for fast fashion brands, who, as Green told the New York Times, “take a trend identified by Google and run with it.”
“We’re interested in being powerful digital consultants for our brands, not just somebody they can talk to about what ads they can buy online,” Green said.
“They can say, ‘Google has identified this as a trend, and we have six weeks to get this out on the racks.’ ”
Fashion and product searches are also incredibly important to Google’s ad selling business – and there are a lot of people researching their fashion (or, it must be said, trying to figure what the hell zoo jeans are). Six billion fashion searches, in fact.
The value of data – and analysis of said data – is crucial as fashion speeds ever faster, and trend forecasting becomes less gut feel and more cold, hard, sellable facts.
