My usual reading helped me to finish fashion product planning in a week.

I recently finished a few projects regarding making a plan for the coming season and writing for 2022S/S footwear trend analysis. These projects came suddenly and on a very tight schedule—especially the product planning one. I had to propose in a week! 

Then I found that some of my usual reading habits helped me complete a proposal presentation quickly and successfully convinced the members to go smoothly to the next design stage. So no matter whether you are a designer, marketer, analyst, or anyone who wants to get ideas without pain, here are some reading suggestions you can take. 

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Reading different types of books will extend your space for storing unexpected ideas.     

Sir Isaac Newton said that “If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants”. I am not a creative person and constantly struggling with creating ideas. But I find that many interesting ideas come out of nowhere. They usually come from observations or experiences in life. And reading is a way to help open that door of inspiration because you can grab ideas from others’ experience, observation and imagination. 

For example, the term metaverse has become a hit recently, and it originally comes from the science-fiction novel called “Snow Crash” written by author Neal Stephenson in 1992. Then you can see now everyone is talking about it, and also Facebook has changed its name into “Meta”! 

So I would recommend that fashion workers read books on history, art, trends, psychology, financial forecasts, world politics, etc. Also, science fiction can trigger some imagination of the future, or spiritual books can understand the current lifestyle trend. These can be very helpful in understanding where the market is going and can back up your ideas with facts.

To see high-end fashion for gathering ideas for creativity and business strategy.

It is the most important thing when you work in the fashion industry. Shamefully I didn’t pay too much attention to it when I was young because I thought I would never be able to afford those high-end fashions, and I felt that it was not a fantastic way to follow them. However, after working for a long time, I now realise many insights behind it. 

You can learn from a collection how a brand plans the entire season, the brand’s atmosphere, the overall look, the lifestyle, etc. A series is usually a combination of creativity, observation, demands from the customers, and market research. Observing their acts will help shortcut the energy, time, and source you would spend.

A happy time to scroll through social media to get the trends happening right now.

As I am trying to reduce the time on social media, I don’t feel pleased with this idea, honestly. However, it is essential to generate hit ideas, and you cannot get rid of social media when you are working in the fashion industry. Therefore, I split two Instagram accounts. One is for my connection with friends, and another focuses on topics that relate to my work. 

I found it helpful because I know when I should put the mobile down. After all, you will be just concentrating on catching trends. You can see most of the posts talking about the same thing simultaneously and observing what kind of response they get and which type of followers they have. It helps me quickly access the world I want to target, but I can still see things objectively without influencing my private life. 

Catch up with what is happening in the world by the news.

It is okay just knowing about what goes viral on TikTok, and it is also helpful for understanding a micro trend to meet the immediate needs for a single moment. However, if you want to make a proper plan for your brand long-term, you should catch up with the world.

For example, the COP26 conference just closed with a compromise on climate change in Glasgow. You may not care about it, but it will influence a lot in this industry, from the side of the upstream textile industry to consumer behaviour. You may start to pay more for your carbon emission or increase costs from production to shipment.

Knowing better around the world can help you prepare to respond to the market needs in the future and improve your thinking comprehensively.

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They are part of the reading I think could help build an overview to improve product planning skills. There are endless sources to read, and I sometimes panic when I see a new thing. However, an essential skill for being a product planning professional is that it is always better to see things comprehensively with knowledge in the fashion area and happening in the world.