Li Edelkoort

45 years ago Edelkoort began her career as a trend forecaster. At this time people believed her job was in fact 'witchcraft' and so she became accustomed to the frequent sniggering and negative comments. However, in today's times she is now seen as fashion's number 1 forecaster, not only in fashion, but in all aspects of consumer interests (food, lifestyle patterns, hobbies etc). Her job interests me so much as her predictions are routinely correct.

Her methods include no use of data analysis, since she states it's 'too late' to use any. Instead, through travelling the world and conducting interviews / research she collates ideas which are noticeably "circling" and then proceeds to use her intuition to predict which will magnify and become big and exciting trends.

In 2015 she predicted the death of the fashion industry as we currently know it, criticising it as a "ridiculous and pathetic parody" - possibly with the increase of disposable fashion due to cheap prices, as well as more and more online shopping, which only adds to the crisis which the fashion industry already holds in regards to wasteful production and disposal of clothing.

Li claims she can work 25 years ahead, which is something I find hard to fathom as year by year so much is always changing within the world. However, backing up her statement she actually predicted in 2000, that come 2025 there will be a "fusion of everything contrasting", such as work and leisure wear, androgynous styles combining men and women, plus "very extreme sport". As this is already evident in early 2020 I can see it being completely spot on.

Life in the 2020's in the eyes of Edelkoort is as follows:

- Muted Colours = natural dyes such as those made from onions and avocado will become mainstream; “more subdued and melancholic”. More sustainable fabrics will become popular.

- Libraries = Li believes they will become the "epicentre" of small towns/villages and will be run by the community in return for access to exhibitions, lectures, concerts which they will host. She believes they will even begin borrowing clothing, and evolve into social places as a response to today's time of the "dangerous" state of disconnection.

- 'Non-fashion' Fashion = 'proven, functional' workwear will be apparent, creating a more sensible / pragmatic style.

- Romantic Dresses = there will still be much of a need for these dresses due to the volume and encouragement of looking feminine and beautiful.

- Flight Shaming = people will be flying "a tenth as much as we do today" and train travelling will take off instead. She believes this will happen due to “big innovative companies, like Google, Tesla and Apple” will invest in green technology, while other companies will rethink their business plans in a radical way which I assume shall be in accordance with current climate and governmental issues.

- The Age of collaboration = she believes there will be 'co-creation' in fashion design, as people will become more creative. Additionally, she noticed the hype around decluttering shows found on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime, and believes people will follow the 'revelation' of owning less stuff = an increase in happiness.

I'm excited to see how these predictions develop and become a reality within the next few years, as I can certainly see them happening.

Mia

xo

This post is based on The Guradian's 8/01/20 article by Hannah Marriott: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/jan/08/fashion-top-trend-setter-li-edelkoort-futurologist-perfect-clothes-2020s