The Fabric of Our Lives

      
     This by far may have been one of the most interesting study tour for me. We have yet to hear from a fashion forecaster and it was very informative and helped me decide more of what I would like to do. Being a merchandiser there are so many different job opportunities that we are unaware of, so it is nice to explore and learn about them all. I have learned about fashion forecasting in classes at kent, and am aware of what it is but it was nice to hear someone working in the field to actually explain it. 
     Cotton Inc. as a company is so well known from the catchy commercial that we all see on TV. What I at least did not know is that the company is a trend forecasting company, and is a non profit company as well. Being non-profit company they make their money from a percentage of the price of a bail of cotton that anyone buys. I am very much interested in going green fabric and ways of recycling and Cotton Inc. does a ton of this type of work. They require that all of their clients that they give trend presentations to have to have at least 60% of their product to be cotton. Another method of recycling they practice is donating old jeans being that they are 100% cotton most likely, and making it into home insulation for low income housing. 
     The actual act of traveling to other countries and taking pictures to make into inspiration is very intriguing. At some point in my life I would love to travel to as many places as I can, even though Abbey said that you are alone and in a country that you don't speak the language, but it is an experience. I am also very captivated by photography as well, and give them props they take all of their own photos. Not only does actual fashion bring inspiration for fashion forecasting, but politics, phycology, cultures, anything you see that is interesting to you. The presentation that we got to see was very inspiring, I have used a powerpoint type service called prezi that was almost similar to the set up of her  video but definitely didn't have the graphics that they had.
     I truly loved everything about this company and what they stand for. I would love to consider an internship with them maybe this summer or next. Abbey mentioned that the interns do very hands on projects as well as getting paid. I hope to tell their story to people that have no idea that Cotton Inc. is a trend forecasting company.