Futurology

Fashion and design

Fashion is one area of trend forecasting. The industry typically works 18 months ahead of the current selling season. Large retailers look at the obvious impact of everything from the weather forecast to runway fashion for consumer tastes. Consumer behavior and statistics from companies such as Datamonitor for a long-range forecast are also important.

Artists and conceptual designers, by contrast, may feel that consumer trends are a barrier to creativity. Many of these ‘Startists’ start micro trends but do not follow trends themselves.

RESEARCH CENTERS

• Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies [1]
• Futures Studies Department, Corvinus University of Budapest
• Department of Futures Studies, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India^[30]
• Futures Research Committee of Hungarian Academy of Sciences^[31]
• Finland Futures Research Centre, Turku School of Economics and Business Administration
• Foresight and Futurology Unit, a BT Group think tank
• Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa
• Institute for Alternative Futures, Alexandria, Virginia
• Institute for the Future, Palo Alto, California
• Laboratory for Investigation in Prospective Strategy and Organization, CNAM Paris^[32]
• National Intelligence Council, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Washington DC, ^[33]
• Tellus Institute, Boston MA
• UK Horizon Scanning Centre, London^[34]
• World Future Society
• The Futures Academy, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
• Futuribles,^[35]
• SUBITO! Research&Futures, Europe/Norway^[36]
• Zukunftsinstitut, Europe/Germany ^[37]
• proGective, Europe/France ^[38]
• World Futures Studies Federation, world ^[39]
• Instiute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment, Europe/Germany ^[40]
• Future-Institute, Europe/Germany ^[41]