Two weeks in

The other day I got to go visit with Greta and Jeanie from the Style and Trend Department. Not only did I get a taste for how shoes.com tracks trends, but I learned a lot about the importance of staying innovative in the fashion footwear industry. Not only does this department research trends in footwear for upcoming seasons, but they also research fashion as a whole so that the shoe trends are relevant to the complete outfit. I had never really thought about how essential this part would be, but who would feel like wearing a gladiator this season if maxi dresses and other boho looks weren't in as well? It makes total sense.

I loved hearing how they go about tracking these trends, utilizing everything from Trend Books published in Europe, magazines and their own personal observations to figure out what people all over the world are wearing. One of my favorite quotes from Greta was that "fashion drives any creative business," meaning that the trends in fashion always translate into the trends in home design, art and architecture, among others. To map out the predicted trends for the staff, they make use of trend boards, like the one in the photo to the left, to forecast how these new styles will be integrated into the lives of their customers. I wanted to bring a trend board to take home with me, but was given something even better--a booklet of the upcoming trends for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. What is crazy is that they are starting to work on researching what will happen for Fall 2010 right now. These ladies are on top of it!

From constantly researching trends to booking models, the staff of the shoes.com trend department is constantly on their toes. "You really have to be ready for anything," Greta said. She recounted a time where she volunteered to give Fergie a pedicure before she debuted her new line of shoes! What a Renaissance woman.

The bottom line of it all is that by having this department centralized at headquarters, the company is better off because they can keep track on global style from a local platform. I loved spending the afternoon hearing all of the interesting stories Greta and Jeanie had to tell and look forward to talking to them in the future about fashion trends for my own personal benefit! :)