What is the fashion cycle?

The fashion cycle is the amount of time it takes a fashion trend to emerge, peak and fall out of style. Many factors such as culture, religion, war and society determine how long a specific trend spends in the fashion cycle. The average fashion cycle is one year.

The fashion cycle begins when a particular look emerges and is highly sought after, usually after a popular celebrity is photographed wearing it. Emulation, the second phase, begins as the style is adopted by magazine covers and the mass media. Market saturation, the proliferation of low-cost fashion knockoffs in the market, marks the end of the fashion cycle.