Charlene Parsons has been working in the fashion industry since she was fresh out of college. Her background consists of modeling for Burdin’s (which was the original Macy’s) and continued onto teaching in her field. Parson’s is such an icon. Imagine Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada, Parson is the real-life embodiment of the character. As I was growing up, she influenced me to have an eye for design, trends and matching my clothes together. She works at the Miami International University of Art and Design and has been on the board of this school for over 45 years. She teaches classes focused on fashion trends, teaching her students how to predict the trends that the major stores will buy and sell in the coming year.
She has a lot of knowledge on this topic, so it is a perfect chance to get the inside scoop for the upcoming fall and future spring season!
Her Campus (HC): What class do you teach that is specific towards trends and how does it relate to predicting this upcoming season?
Charlene Parsons (CP): I specifically teach Fashion Merchandising and Trends in Fashion. These classes teach the upcoming trends, past trends and how the industry will react to these trends. (React) as we see clothes coming into stores this fall, those are the ‘trends’ of this season and they are already here.
HC: How do we see these trends on the runway, and how do we know what to expect from these fashion week shows?
CP: Right now in the major fashion capitals like Milan, New York City, London and Paris, we have fashion weeks that are either past or upcoming. In New York, just last week we had fashion week and we could see the current picks this season as well as spring too. In the other fashion capitals, they are going to display more spring trends since it is later in the season, we see those shows.
HC: Let’s start with shoes. What is the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to shoes this fall in particular?
CP: Boots, a lot of boots. Over the knees and ankle boots, but those are always in style in the fall. Most fall seasons we see new versions of boots. Last year and this year we have seen straps on boots and big buckles on boots. It adds in some statement detailing. When you see those chunky boots with big buckles on them or boots with zippers.
HC: What are some women’s clothing trends in stores and on the runway recently? Such as fall style, coats, sweaters or anything new we have not seen?
CP: Denim but mainly layered denim, where you see jeans with a denim jacket. Just a lot of denim. Two-tone denim as well, where you have one sit of the jacket white and the other is blue denim. Skirts, colorful skirts and long skirts also. There is a lot of plaids out right now too, we’ve seen floral mixed with plaid. A lot of patterns that we wouldn’t normally want to collide are now being matched together. Sweaters are a staple, but a lot of cable knit sweaters, really oversized ones, that is a big one this fall. Big wrap-around coats also, like kimono-style trench coats that hang low down to your feet. Faux fur has been a really big trend last season and continues into this fall also, we see so many large fur coats, not real fur but a bunch of faux furs.
HC: What about colors? Are we seeing any new trends when it comes to colors this fall?
CP: A bunch of colors, bright colors. Yellows and purples. They are called jewel tones. We normally don’t see that style until spring but were seeing a lot of brighter colors. Greens also, but not the normal army green, it’s more of pastel but just richer. Adding in the floral and plaid print this fall as being huge, so the colors are much brighter.
HC: So we know a lot about women’s fashion, but what are some trends coming in for menswear?
CP: This season’s menswear is very feminine; it is almost hard to tell who is wearing these pieces. I looked at the runway pictures and I can’t tell if it’s a woman or man because most of these pieces are so feminine. It is very gender-neutral, ladylike and elegant. It has been an upcoming trend and we have seen in on red carpets before, never this much.
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