Colors and fabrics influenced by Latino culture, glitz and glamour, fantasy and the hi-tech and natural worlds, create an eclectic and compelling range of trends and palettes in Cotton Incorporated’s latest offering of its Apparel Selling Ideas for Fall/Winter 2001/2002.

"Fashion is moving away from minimalism towards more pattern, richness and decoration," says Suzanne Achtemeier, senior director, fashion marketing. "There is a freshness created by utilizing new materials, innovative finishes and different layering and bonding techniques. In addition, there is a huge movement toward lots of color. Greens have become more sophisticated, and reds, and variations of red, continue to expand. Neutrals are starting to dissolve, and are moving into more green and yellow bases."

Next week’s Tuesday’s Trend Talk will give a detailed report of the five color and fabric groups recommended by Cotton Incorporated.

Transforming Tomorrow

Dean Keith Simonton, a psychologist at the University of California at Davis, has studied the lives of scientists, artists, philosophers, and composers in order to determine the influence of social factors on their creativity. His research found in the APA Monitor, August 1995, has lead to the discovery that mentors play a critical role in the development of creative talent. The artists he studied were exposed to role models at an early age. In adulthood, these creative talents thrived most when they were around colleagues and competitors who could "feed off each other."  Simonton points to the absence of mentors as the primary reason for low creative output during the Dark Ages.

Kevin Dunbar, a psychologist at McGill University in Montreal, extends this finding by pointing out that the more creative scientific laboratories thrive in the presence of colleagues with dissimilar backgrounds and specialties. Dunbar argues that this diversity of researchers allows reasoning from analogous situations. Analogous situations suggest novel approaches, whereas the laboratories staffed with researchers who have similar backgrounds and specialties lack the insights provided by many.

Are you exposing your children to role models with talents that you suspect they have, or where their passions seem to lie?  When you are looking for extreme creative output at work do you compose a team of similar or dissimilar people? Diverse perspectives will raise the bar on ideas and stretch all to grow in new dimensions.

Published: October 18, 2000

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Kathy Lamancusa is a trend strategis, professional speaker and author who tracks the forces that impact our lives. Over 1.6 million copies of Kathy's books are in print, and she has appeared on numerous television and radio shows including Oprah! She is a public speaker who can offer organizations entertaining and enlightening peeks into what is coming and what is shaping change so that they can better reach their own customer bases.