We know that trends repeat themselves. They come, go and come all the way back around. But how or why they actually come back is a bit mysterious. The age factor has been mentioned before—as designers rise to prominence, they're of a certain age that allows them to look to their past for inspiration. But another aspect of the fashion cycle is the fact that designers literally have people on staff specially to visit vintage archives and collections and find inspo.
Fashion archives are having a moment and they're playing a part in how old trends come back to the spotlight. The Vintage Showroom in England has 50,000 pieces of vintage clothing and regularly rents out pieces to fashion houses to be used as fabric research. Of course, our boy David Casavant is also part of this world, regularly loaning out pieces to celebrities for appearances, but he also works with some American designers searching for some creative juice. Some designers even go so far to hire experts who are good at tracking down hard-to-find images or books specifically for their mood boards. It's all in an effort to make each collection different from other brands. In order to do that, the inspiration needs to be unique and rare. That means designers keep their sources secret to keep any advantage from leaking out.
I want to be the person in charge of going through and tracking down the perfect inspiration pieces. That honestly seems like a pretty sick gig if you can get the pieces your boss is asking you for. It would be like walking and thumbing through real-life Tumblr blogs and Pinterest boards. Which would be fun until everything you brought back ended up being scandalously dressed Tumblr chicks. At which point your boss would scold you in front of all your co-workers and fire your ass.
