Inside Penneys: Behind The Scenes With John McCormack

Tell us about your role, what does it involve?

I am the Fashion Trend Lead for Womenswear, so I work with my team to essentially predict the future of fashion! We look at a variety of sources, from trend forecasting agencies to the catwalks and current pop culture to establish the key ingredients for the season across colour, fabric and messages. We then package them into fashion stories and colour palettes for specific timings throughout the year for our design and buying teams to take forward and develop into commercial product for our customers.

How do you predict trends and know they’ll be a hit with our customers?

I suppose, the role has grown in so far that trends are sometimes just concepts, and that concept is just a glimmer in the distance - and our job is to expand on it and explore what could that look like for our customer. I look at trend arches, trying to figure out what might go across a couple of seasons and offer longevity – rather than just being a very specific moment in time. It only takes one spark to cause a ripple effect!

The process has definitely been sped up by social media. It used to take longer for a trend to move out into the population, but now a trend could happen within days. Pop culture really has a huge impact on what we wear, but you don't really know it until you're in the middle of it! From movies to memes, we’re always looking to spot what will influence everyday outfits, like for example the recent Barbie craze.

What are you predicting will be popular for 2024?

The big trend for 2024 is the continuation of quiet luxury, which is an easy ‘logoless’ dressing aesthetic that builds on the appeal of creating versatile wardrobes through essential classic pieces. With an underlying minimalist aesthetic, Succession was the poster child for it, and while it sits at the high-end of the market, it is very translatable into high street. It's all about a neutral palette but then being clever about injecting colour pops every so often. We're moving away from sharp breaks and cut-off points in trends, where at Penney/Primark we want to offer an evolution of styles and colours that can be built upon, creating the perfect capsule wardrobe for the whole season.