Trend Analysis Report: Comic Pop 1

Comic Pop

Joseline Ortiz

Diana Palma

Woodbury University

Trend Analysis

Wendy Bendoni

30 April 2013

Trend Analysis Report: Comic Pop 2

Table of Contents

Customer Profile………………………………………………………………………3-5

o Targeted Customer Profile

o Consumer Behavior

Trend…………………………………………………………………………………6-16

o Introduction……….…………………………………………………………………….......6-7

o Trend Analytic Tracking………………………….…………………………………………...8

o Trend Concept Boards…………………………………….……………………………….9-10

o Color Section……………………………………………………….………………………...11

o Fabric Section……………………………………………………………….……………..…12

o Runway/Street Style………..……………………………………………………….………..13

o Art Movement: Pop Art……………………………………………………………………....14

o Technical Drawings……………………………………………………………….…………15

o Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...16

Trend Analysis Report: Comic Pop 3

The target customer is a Generation Y female that is a student or young professional.

She is confident, social, collaborative, and open to change. Since she is a Millennial, she may

have grown up with school shootings, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Iraq war. She is

weighed down with high amounts of student debts and loans. Their search for careers and jobs

were greatly impacted by the Great Recession, but were more positive about the situation than

their elders.

Generation Y is the “always connected” generation because they are connected to

multiple social networks and have the latest gadgets. More than 8 in 10 say they sleep with

their cell phones next to them on their beds, and almost two thirds admit to texting while

driving. 75% of millennial’s said yes to having a profile on a social network, opposed to

Generation X, who 50% said yes to have a social profile. Millenial’s are more ethical and

diverse than previous generations. 61% of millenial’s are Caucasian, 19% are Hispanic, 13%

African American, 4% Asian, and 2% other. Generation Y is more likely to be educated than

other previous generations. More than half have a college education and women surpass the

rate of education over the men in this same generation.

Compared to previous generations, the millenial’s have the highest rank in

technological use. In their internet behaviors, 75% have created a social profile, 62% have

wireless internet, 20% have posted a video of themselves online, and 14% use twitter. As for

cell phone usage, 88% uses it to text, 80% have texted in the past 24 hours, and 64% have

texted while driving. 74% of millenial’s voted that new technology actually makes their lives a

lot easier, 54% said it brings their family and friends closer, and 52% voted to that technology

helps people make use of their time more efficiently.

The Great Recession impacted Generation Y the most of all generation with their

careers and education. 41% are working full time, 24% part time, 13% are student without

Customer Profile

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jobs, and 22% are unemployed. 44% plan to graduate college with a degree, 31% don’t plan on

graduating from a college, 19% are already college graduates, and 6% don’t know their plans

as far as education goes.

Even though this generation is technology filled, it hasn’t stopped them from buying in

storefronts and has made it more accessible for them to shop online. 40% of Gen Y prefer to

shop in local storefronts and in a little more expensive fronts and are loyal shoppers to their

preferred stores; they like to engage with the retailers. 33% of Gen Y’s shopping was from high

end stores, because of these stores like Nordstrom and Saks 5th Avenue started catering to this

generation. 48% of their shopping habits are influenced by recommendations they see online

or by their friends. 53% of millennial’s like to explore different brands they see online, than

compared to other generations.

Generation Y differed from the other generations in many way. Technology was a huge

factor in why that is, but all the other factors are what has shaped our target customer and

why she would be ready for this trend.

Trend Analysis Report: Comic Pop 5

Trend Analysis Report: Comic Pop 6

Lately, it seems like you can’t go to the movie theater without seeing the newest action-

packed superhero movie. Leading up to The Avengers, we saw Ironman and its sequel, Thor,

and Captain America: The First Avenger. The newest remake of Spiderman came out this past

summer as well as the end of the Dark Knight trilogy, Dark Knight Rises. As 2014 rolls around

the corner, even more superhero movies are going to make a splash in theaters across America.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Transformers 4, X-Men:

Days Of Future Past, Hercules: The Thracian Wars, and Green Lantern 2 are just a few of the

most relevant superhero movies that are set to be released in Spring/Summer of 2014.

Along with those action packed films will come a wave of action packed fashion. But of

course, not everyone will be running around wearing spandex pants, tight leather jump suits,

or colorful capes, so we have predicted that for the S/S 2014 season the trend will be

superhero inspired with a retro twist. Since back in the 1940’s people indulged themselves in

superhero storylines by reading comic books, we have decided to incorporate that in to our

trend. It is essentially a throwback to the original super hero era.

Historically, we’ve seen a trend with national issues having an effect on comics, and

subsequently, the heroes we know and love. The first boom of comics is known as the Golden

Age. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and Captain America were created

in this time period. A prominent issue in the world was World War II. Because of the war,

comics took on significant war themes. Comic books gained popularity at the time because they

were cheap, portable methods of entertainment. They were a way people could get away from

the world. We needed superheroes, and we got them.

Currently, we are experiencing the “Modern Age” of comics. Characters have become

more psychologically complex and many darker storylines have been included. We’ve seen a

heavy increase in “anti-heroes” such as Wolverine, a darker version of Daredevil, and Elektra.

Trend Introduction

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Many people claim that this different era of comics and superhero’s is occurring only because

of the increased ability of special effects. However, arguments circulate that the actual reason

behind this comic boom is the need for superheroes. In a time where most major, developed

countries have nuclear weapons, where the economy is so bad the stock market is literally

expected to crash almost weekly, where acts of terror are so common, where people are so, so

scared, we need heroes. Heroes make us feel safe. Heroes help us sleep at night. We’re not

making superhero movies because they’re fun. If we were, every hero would have a film.

We’re making movies that will help us get through these tough times. We need superheroes

now more than ever.

Just as heroes make people feel good, clothes make a woman feel empowered. The right

outfit can change a woman’s attitude in a good way. By using the Golden Age of comic book

superheroes as the inspiration for our S/S 2014 trend and incorporating it to fit today’s

Modern Age of comics, we predict a Comic Pop era. Our own era of superhero style paying

homage to the beginning of comics essentially reinventing it to fit the modern woman we see

walking down the street.

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streetoday.

Trend Analytic Tracking

According to Editd.com and Tweetreach.com the retro trend received 39% positive feedback, was the highest talked about theme and approximately reached 2,132,071 accounts on twitter. This information was what influenced us to go with the retro trend because not only is there buzz about it already, but since the spring/summer season of 2014 is going to be jam packed with new super hero films, a lot more buzz will be generated by the time those films release. People always get hyped up for superhero action packed films, so what better way to express that excitement than in a retro comic style!

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Concept Boards

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For the first concept board we have a simple plain pale yellow t-shirt, black and white pok-a-

doted shorts, paired with matching school bus yellow jacket and light orange flats. The

accessories are black circle shaped stud earring, magenta belt, glasses, and ring, with a

pistachio, white, and black clutch. The board focuses on colors from the color family of purple

and yellow since they are complimentary to each other, and has a hint of the green color

family. This board was inspired by the graphics used in super hero comic books, such as the

dots on the comic pages and bold fonts.

The second concept board focuses on black and white stripes, a deep blue, and red. This

was inspired by the super hero Spider Man and his costume. The board has a red leather jacket

with a black outlined detail and striped sleeves, paired with blue jeans, and a grey tank top. It

is accessorized with hexagon shaped studded earing, black and white striped cat eye glasses,

leather bracelet, black and white triangle shaped necklace, blue and black envelope clutch,

and black pointed pumped heels.

The third concept board was inspired by a color that is seen in almost every super hero

known, which is red. Super heroes like Flash, Super Man, Daredevil, Elektra, and many more

wear red or have red in their costume. Colors in the red family were used, as well as colors in

the green family were used because it is complimentary green and red are complementary to

each other. For this we have a pistachio leather jacket, with a deep orange halter top, paired

with high wasted orange and pink shorts. For accessories, it is paired with cat eye glasses, a red

lip shaped cross over clutch, red flower earrings, gold bangles, and pistachio pointed pumped

heels.

The concept boards are all inspired by comic books and super hero trends, with a retro

style to it. Each board resembles a part of the Retro Conqueror trend by the silhouettes, fabrics,

and colors used in the concept boards.

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Color Selection The colors we chose to represent the Comic Pop theme were those you would normally fins on the logo of a well-known superhero. Based on original comic books, the superheroes are usually wearing bold bright colors. In wearing those, they exude a confident and strong personality while still being approachable and friendly. The first color story includes Aqua man, Pop Art Pink, and Lightning. The second includes Mystique, Venom, and Flash. The last color story includes Fiery, Red Dare, and Slime. Incorporating these colors during the s/s 2014 season will make the garments stand out because it is a shift from spring pastels that are usually seen. Like mentioned before, the Comic Pop trend is to not be interpreted exactly as a superhero costume, it is using the small, in this color, details found in a costume to highlight and accentuate the garments.

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Fabric Selection

Retro fabrics should instantly take you back through the decades of fashion and bring back memories of the many events that occurred. The Comic Pop trend includes plenty of leather and bright colors, just like any super hero costume. Without the extravagant capes and spandex of course. The fabric materials that are most relevant in a retro style trend are chambray, cotton jersey, and poplin. The prints on these fabrics are bright and have striking patterns. By incorporating leather and sticking thrifty feel patterns, it ties together the nostalgia of comic book superheroes with a retro twist.

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Runway/Street Style

Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall post-modern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc. It generally implies a vintage of at least fifteen or twenty years. The runway and street style photographs represent that “vintage” style while keeping it tied to the Comic Pop theme due to the color selection.

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The pop art movement started in the mid 1950’s and became popular in comic novels. Pop art usually has vivid colors that and complimentary and contrast to each other. Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Robert Rauschenberg were some of the most influential pop artist during the pop art era. Roy Lichtenstein was most well known for his comic book style pop art. Andy Warhol was known for his Marilyn Monroe portraits and his Campbell’s Soup painting, and Robert Rauschenberg was known for his nontraditional items made into an art form. Roy Lichtenstein influenced many comic books with his style, which led to the inspiration of this trend because of his bright colors and graphic style of his designs. Andy Warhol influenced the pop art movement with his bright colors like yellow, magenta, and red for his pieces, which are some of the colors featured in this trend. Robert Rauschenberg was able to make different possibilities with his painting because he used unrealistic settings, which influenced this trend by allowing colors that don’t necessarily complement each other, like blue and red, to come together. Pop art uses many colors like red, yellow, blue, green, and others in a lot of the art forms. The vibrant colors in pop art influenced the color themes for the Comic Pop trend. The most influential pop art artist have made their own style of painting that influence this trend in different ways. The vibrant colors and different techniques inspired the color themes for the Comic Pop trend and inspired some of the patterns and the way the color stories are put together.

Art Movement: Pop Art

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Technical Drawings

The silhouette of many retro garments during this era consisted of an hourglass shape. The garments created an illusion of a smaller waist by cinching in. For example the skirt has a small waist opening and flows out to essentially giving the body an hourglass shape. The pleats on the skirt add fullness from the waist or hips and allow freedom of movement. The sleeveless t-shirt dress is also cinched at the waist carrying out the hourglass shape. Now anything belted, cinched, or nipped at the waist over a dramatically full skirt will echo the Dior look, a style that is surprisingly slimming.

Since many super heroes real identity were average Joe’s working in an office, it is appropriate to see a collared button shirt in this trend. The shirt resembles the heroes on their day to day wear. This shirt has a collar, buttons going down, and cuffs at the end of the sleeves. It also has top stitching details on both front and back of the shirt. The buttons would be clip on buttons, which would resemble how efficiently the comic book characters have to change to different costumes so fast. The blazer is also another form of resemblance to the characters day to day life style and wear. The blazer has a collar, two buttons, two pockets, 3 buttons near the wrist, and hem lines that go inward on the back. The blazer and collar shirts were inspired by the super heroes attire during their “normal” lives and day time when they are working, which is hence this formal attire.

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Comic Pop essential is paying homage to the retro style of decades before but is now

reinvented. Since in the Spring/Summer 2014 season is going to be all about action packed

superhero films, what better way to bring back the classics than with a comic themed

inspiration? Retro was a very well received theme during both Paris and Milan’s fashion week,

so it will carry through to a strong trend. By using 1940s and 1950s comic book inspirations

we have reinvented the overly generic vintage/retro theme that has reoccurred time after time.

The comic book inspirations shine through in the fabric colors and patterns. By adding the

bright intense superhero themed colors, the garments are able to have fun, playful, fresh vibe

that is perfect for spring and summer. Now, people can express their love for the new

superhero movies or just the style by sporting the Comic Pop trend in 2014!

Conclusion