MAPPING FASHION PROMOTION: SHARED SITUATION AWARENESS

Shared situation awareness is an exercise commonly practiced in the Fashion Promotion industry by Fashion Trends Forecasters. Trend Forecasters are one of (if not the most) important people in the fashion industry. These are the people who analyse the nooks and cranny's of the environment we live in to predict the future of fashion almost 5 seasons ahead. Fashion does not feed fashion meaning people have to look outside of fashion to be inspired and to spot new trends for example music, social media, exhibitions, politics, films which in turn feed consumers. Shared situation awareness the ability to recognise a situation fluidly as a team and to observe, process and anticipate what might happen in the future. Shared situation awareness involves three core steps;
- Observing raw data
- Spotting patterns and trends to form hypothesis as to how a future situation might unfold
- Testing the hypothesis 

FORD

Ford's define fast fashion, they are designs which are going to be very popular within the industry. Fords are something that will be sold quickly however it is fast fashion, meaning it appears very quickly and disappears quickly from the market.

TRAFALGAR

Trafalgar can refer to somewhat slow fashion. It is where an idea will evolve over a period of time, which will become very developed and will be right and exactly what the audience will need at the right time. Trafalgar's are touched on time and time again, a theme or a technique which is constantly revisited and tweaked within the designer. 

BUBBLE UP AND TRICKLE DOWN

Bubble up refers to when trends enter from the street and work there way up within the fashion industry. Trickle down is conceptual dresses, where the clothing is very difficult to understand and interpret, but has been observed and has made its way into the high street. H&M is incredibly good at this, as they have looked at what is new and couture within the industry, and they make their own look out of it, the look becomes very simplified and enters the high street, fast fashion market.