The mother-daughter duo that became a rage in the last month for their confident simplicity, have inspired many and triggered much participation from celebrities and consumers alike. While “mouse” colour may not literally be the trend as a colour, its symbolism of “real advertising” is what is surely trending. In a world of false advertising, westernization and stereotyped beauty, the duo’s sale videos referencing “mouse colour” and “laddoo colour” brings forth a warm, relatable conversation that grounds the otherwise pedestaled and cold concept of fashion.
Another striking aspect of this video going viral, is how we as humans have grown to empathise, appreciate and promote originality, which is precisely what Jasmeet Kaur’s “looking like a wow” statement brought forth. It reminds us all to bring a little whimsical originality to our lives. While many a celebrity hopped onto the trend bandwagon on social media (great way to keep them connected to their fans), the colour on its own is more a fad than a trend. But the sentiment of simplicity, the confidence exuberated without any qualms of not being a master at the language spoken in, the relatable quirks and more is sure to stay and be a defining meme marketing moment.
Anuradha Chandrashekar, Co-founder, ICH Creative Consulting
It is, however, essential to clarify at this point that ‘Mouse’ or ‘Laddoo’ colours are more about real-life references, rather than a fashion trend or an element of fashion forecast per se. If you just look at our normal day-to-day conversations, we often refer to relatable objects to give pin-pointed descriptions of what we intend to communicate. The same is all the more prevalent with respect to description of colours, especially in the Hindi heartland of the country. In addition to ‘Mouse’ and ‘Laddoo’, you would find commonly used words like ‘Gajri’ (like carrot) or ‘Phalsayi’ (a fruit first found in India) etc when people converse about colours.
This makes obvious the aforementioned fact that ‘mouse’ and ‘laddoo’ colours are more symbolic of real advertising and should not be misinterpreted as a fashion forecast trend. It needs to be understood that fashion trend forecasting is never the result of one particular viral trend or influencer. Fashion forecasting in fact warrants an extensive multi-pronged research that encapsulates all factors such as consumer sentiments, media, movies, celebrities, content, entertainment, broadway trends, socio-economic developments, geo-political scenarios, social media and influencers, to name a few.
For example when we work on our trend reports, we continuously gather the influences of the above elements through hundreds of curated sources over significant period of time, following which the same is analyzed by applying human read and zeitgeist. The results are pegged to predict the fashion curve, and thus arrive at the key trends pertaining to design, colour, pattern, fabric, motifs, silhouette etc. The original art & design, with respect to each factor, is illustrated with photographs to give the manufacturers and retailers an accurate forecast into what they should invest in. Besides, a fashion forecast helps only when it is timely, considering that the average lead time from conceptualization to creation to market is 5-6 months.
In the wake of the sheer number of elements incorporated for a fashion trend forecast, we can surely say that 'Mouse Colour' is of course a big viral meme trend, little to do with fashion forecast.
This article is authorised by Anuradha Chandrashekar, Co-founder ICH Creative Consulting.
