Future and trend research - "Stella McCartney" project
Conceptual methods of future and trend research
Course 224358 Future and trend research
Lecturer Dr Anja C. Hofmann
Course and assignment
The module deals with the application of conceptual methods of future and trend research to gain well-founded insights for different industries and brand sectors. The aim is to identify and analyse future trends in different markets in order to apply these findings to individual brands.
Students are given the task of selecting a fashion brand, identifying relevant short and long-term trends, developing a target group persona and then developing future scenarios for their lifestyle and external influencing factors.
Brand portrait and trends
The selected fashion brand had to fulfil at least two of the terms innovation, luxury or sustainability . The team therefore decided in favour of the Stella McCartney brand. The positioning, values and product portfolio of the brand were analysed in a brand portrait. This revealed Stella McCartney as a sustainable luxury brand with a clear political stance and a strong focus on textile and material innovations. Past collections of the brand were then analysed and two short-term and two long-term trends were identified and classified in a trend application matrix.
Target group and persona
In the second phase, the brand's target group was analysed in terms of demographics, psychographics, lifestyle and fashion preferences.
Based on this data and inspired by the example of a real customer, the persona "Michelle Bernard" was developed. The aim was to create a realistic, individual personality with characteristic features, not an idealised average customer.
Forecast for 2040
In the final step, current forecasts were researched and the previously developed persona was transferred to the year 2040. This included relevant changes in her personal life as well as possible developments in external factors such as mobility, digitalisation, working methods and consumer behaviour. Finally, three future scenarios were formulated for Michelle Bernard: a negative, a probable and a positive scenario.
Student team, as well as image and text material: Hannah Bartl, Alexa Lache, Hilal Kaymaz
Image sources:
Title slide:
Portrait of Stella McCartney:
https://www.gala.de/stars/starportraets/stella-mccartney-20515872.html
Runway in the background:
https://www.theeagleonline.com/multimedia/a882e6a8-a847-450c-a622-13d9ec5f7f54
Runway Looks Stella McCartney from ShowStudio:
https://www.showstudio.com/collections/spring--summer-2026/stella-mccartney-ss-26
Persona slide:
instagram: @acid.grl_
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRtqyNvDNkG/?igsh=MW9jd3plNzRrMmhsbQ==
2040 Slide:
Balcony photo from Pinterest: https://de.pinterest.com/pin/767511961539969537/
instagram: @esther.nacimiento_pro
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDodC5uILGc/?igsh=MXU3eGNvMmx3d3Y3MA==
instagram: @acid.grl_
https://www.instagram.com/p/DOboYtQjOVq/?igsh=OW50eWU4b2Z0ZG1n
instagram: @acid.grl_ modified with ChatGPT:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSzYgKIjB9g/?igsh=MTBiZzAxam8wNGtzaA==