Get ready for cowboy boots. The color purple. And proportion play.

From year to year, fashion sensibilities change in subtle ways. But across the industry, there are experts who pay close attention to pop culture, consumer behavior, and how designer runway looks are trickling down to the mass market. This alchemy influences the looks we see around us.

“It’s a fascinating cultural process,” says Jenny Herr, head of trends at Stitch Fix. “Our eyes adjust to these trends, and things that don’t fit within these aesthetics begin to look odd.”

Herr has seen this dynamic play out again and again, and it’s her job to correctly identify the kinds of clothes Stitch Fix’s more than three million customers are looking for. She helped create Stitch Fix’s annual trend report, which pulls from many sources, including fashion forecasting companies like WGSN and color forecasting companies like Pantone. She also has access to lots of granular data about Stitch Fix’s own customers, who tend to be professionals in their 20s to 40s. But she must also use her gut. “It’s a mix of art and science,” says Herr. “Part of it comes down to trends in the culture that are hard to quantify.”

In 2025, Herr says that some of the most exciting moments in fashion from the previous year—most notably the cowboy aesthetic—will make its way into everyday........

© Fast Company