Should You Even Care About What's Trending?

Thoughts from someone who has spent the past couple of years using data to analyze and talk about fashion trends.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been using data to analyze and contextualize shifts across fashion trends, posting my insights online on Data, But Make it Fashion. A lot of my work revolves around understanding what’s rising in popularity in fashion, what’s dropping, and why. Or, in other words, what’s trending and why.

As a result, some of the most common comments I receive are along the lines of Who cares what’s trending! Wear whatever you want! Develop your own personal style!!!!

To which I say…yes! Absolutely! At the end of the day, when it comes to fashion, please wear whatever you want, and especially what makes you feel most comfortable, regardless of what the data says is trending.

As someone who wears pretty much the same thing every day (my friends will tell you my goal of wearing more bright colors this year is…not going well), I certainly don’t follow every single trend I analyze and share online. I mean, remember when I said that orange was the color of 2025? I can stand by that insight and firmly support it, while owning close to zero orange pieces in my closet.

All of which is to say, tracking what’s trending in fashion is not done with the end goal of making sure I Always Look Cool. Not at all. And, as I’ve spent more time building and publishing insights on Data, But Make it Fashion, my own understanding of what it means to put numbers behind style has expanded. So, bear with me for a second while we get into it.