Unique Style Platform: A new trends service for the fashion industry

Six months ago I decided that just for once, instead of talking about what I’d like to do with my life, I should actually get on and do it. I’d spent many months thinking the only way I was ever going to be truly happy at work was to start my own business, but for one reason or another (fear, money, time, etc etc) I put it off.

But as Paul Smith once said ” you can’t do it, unless you do it,” so I decided to stop fantasizing and start doing – and this week, after months of hard work and input from a dedicated team of loyal colleagues, my brand new trends company
Unique Style Platform launched.

USP is a multi-platform trends service that plans to change the way companies think about trend forecasting. Along with a team of highly skilled experts – all of whom I have worked with in some capacity before – we aim to capture the best elements of instant online trend information, combined with the essential physical design tools –  trend books, fabric and colour swatches etc – required to create product.

Working with brands to help them innovate and create their own unique identity, we provide inspiring seasonal forecasts, in depth catwalk overviews, materials directions and seasonal colour palettes, as well as workshops to kick start the creative process.

We will also offer subject specific reports which will offer insights into particular issues affecting the fashion industry. Generation Lifestyle: Why Baby Boomers Matter, The Future of Visual Commerce and Key Visual Merchandising Trends, are just a few of the subjects we are covering.

Key to our unique approach is the idea of “Freemium Content,” which embraces the concept of giving content away for free in order to engage users – who will then pay for premium analysis. Our free daily blog will allow us to share the ideas and inspiration that will later form the basis of our paid for seasonal trend forecasts and Insight reports.

We set up USP to support the way creatives find inspiration, enable them to trust their intuition and help them innovate – as I truly believe the only way that brands can succeed is to have a point of view –  the one size fits all approach to trends simply doesn’t work any more.

If you are in the fashion or lifestyle industry, or interested in the future, do take a look and let me know what you think.