Quantitative Strategic Plan

Part I:

1. Research and collect data on color and fabric print:
* 1978,1980,1982: Emily
* 1984,1986,1988: Yumi
* 1990,1992,1994: Adrienne
* 1996,1998,2000: Tyler
* 2002,2004,2006: Shainna
* 2008,2009: Look up as a team

2. Continue to find the Beat or Momentum of 2008.
-Categories for 2008 will be divided accordingly:
* Emily: Art, Consumer lifestyles, politics, and economy.
* Yumi: International trade, food, media, regional, world news.
* Adrienne: Architecture, Interior design, fashion flops, Cotton Inc.
* Tyler: Color, Technology (Ipods, Computers, etc.), Sports, Makeup.
* Shainna: Trends, designers, textiles, AATCC, celebrity influence.

3. Test the hidden currents from the synthesis for accuracy/update missing data (trend setters).

4. Understand who Butler Bag is
* Competitors (researched based on price points): Shainna
* Product (of Butler Bag and competitors): Adrienne
* Color lines (of Butler Bag and competitors): Emily
* Fabrics (of Butler Bag and competitors): Tyler
* Price Points (of Butler Bag and Competitors): Yumi
* Sales (Current and Past): Research as a team, email Susan.

Part II:

1. Identify the Target Market
* Make a survey as a team that will: test prototype, color, and prices.
* Record the results of the survey and interpret/evaluate.

2. Review initial line and develop a prototype (sketch).

3. Identify direct competition.

Part III:

1. Develop the forecast.
* This includes the line of bags, color forecast, material used, finishes, price point, target market, and competitive analysis.

Color 2002-2006

2002: In 2002, the color palette began with bolder colors and transformed in Autumn/Winter with very neutral tones. Black became important in this season to tie in with neutrals and tonal dark's. Also, warm and cool blends merged to develop a classic statement. Marble white was used a highlighter of color as well as blackened tones which enhanced dark green, greys and blues. Warm oranges and amber tones also enhanced the color mix.

2003:
This color story describes the palette in 2003. The tones were paler and also had a more whitened palette, opposed to the previous year which incorporated darker tones. In 2003, the colors were also neutral. The important colors were blue, green, coral, and neutral yellow.

2004: In this year, the colors expanded with golden tones and silvery highlights. The yellow was of a golden tone whereas the blues were metallic and dark. Bold rouge and aqua green stand out in this year as major color changes, as well as light-reflective blush.

2005: In this year, softened coral cast tones of orange and blush stood out as most prevalent. Rich purple was also noticed and used in interior textiles as well as on the runway. Rich greens also dominated the scene, where silvery shades still kept its purpose as a strong part of the palette.


2006: Yellow greens emerged in this year as well as neutral greys. Softened nudes and rich orange shades also dominated this year. Moreover, pink and purple were saturated and were used in high contrast tones. Pink and red fused with orange to create coral, copper and peach tones.

Rockin the Fashion Beat Barbies Survey

A link to our synthesis along with a survey to review our work on the years 1980-1982 is below. We appreciate any feedback on our synthesis and we value your opinions. Thank you for being a part of this project and helping the advancement of our learning.

-Rockin the Fashion Beat Barbies

Synthesis Poster
Feedback form

World news in 1982

Falkland Islands war end- Argentina VS England. England was already dominated Falkland Island in Argentina since 1833, but Argentina vocaled that they took over the place from Spain on 1816.

EL Chichon Volcano's great eruption-killed 2000 people who lived near.

Suspicious individual proceeded Queen Elizabeth's bedroom in Buckingham Palace.

The 12th world cup played in Spain-Italy captured the victory.

Sony's CD players big hit in Japan.

Mild cigar and law tar tobacco big hit in japan.

First AIDS case is discovered in LA in the USA. - Until then, the disease wasn't certify even though many similar cases were reported in Africa.

CNN headline news, Network CNN 2 was started.

Princes Grace died , England.

Permanent artificial heart implanted in human for the first time at University of Utah Medical Center in USA.

Sign up for the Joint communique between China & USA-This communication mansion the amount of confinement of the weapon to sell to Taiwan.

sport's fashion became popular in Japan -affected by the movie "Chariot of fire".

Pro-wrestling and aerobics were prevalent in Japan.

The number of jobless labor approached 10 million in the US.

Genocidal in Guatemala by a president, Rios Monto.

Sources:Knox News.com http://web.knoxnews.com/web/worldsfair/1982.html
Fashion J
http://www.fashion-j.com/H/1982.html
JanJan
http://www.news.janjan.jp/world/0708/0708100581/1.php


I found some interesting things. In 1982, the sport fashion was popular in both of America and Japan. Japanese trend was influenced by American fashion trend by the movie and music. Japanese fashion was already started to follow American fashion in 1982. Also, I can see that people started to care about the bad effect by cigarette. Finally, the number of jobless labor apporached a big number in 1982. The one of the reasons why can be that many industries lost thier position by expanding import as I found in previous research of internatioanl trade.
I can say that 1982 was not very happy year since the low rate of employment and the genocidal. However, developing technology was fine things, for example sucess of implantation artificial heart to human body and diffusion of CD players. The technology on the medical field and music devices have been definately developed greatly since 1982.

Celebrity Style influences in 1982

Celebrities, musicians, and fashion designers were known as the main innovators and trend setters in the 1980's. The consumers looked to the media to develop clothing styles and thought of celebrities as style icons. As I read an article in the People magazine archive I discovered that trickle down theory can be easily applied to the style and trends of fashion movement in year of 1982. The most influential woman in this time frame was Princess Diana, who was not only admired for her generosity and character but her sense of style as well. She started the fashionable cloak along with low cut gowns that were sleek and stylish.

Moreover, Brooke Sheilds was an influential, fashionable girl who made in impact between her Calvin Klein jeans commercials and movie roles. She was a memeber of the fashion community as well, being a model. She made headways for the CK commericals that were showcasted as well as chiffon dresses, which she appeared in for various award shows.

Steve Martin wore fedoras and plaid with silk shirts and appealed to a variety of men and women. He was known for his comedic genius and was also recognized as a best dressed person in the 1982 issue of People.

Last and but not least, Girogio Armani made headways with his enduring fashion styles and designs. He designed beautiful, timeless suits for men that can be remembered for years and have been recognized by comsumers and the media.

Economy 1980-1982

Here are some indication of the state of the economy during 1982:

Population: 231,664,458
Life Expectancy: 74.5
Dow Jones High: 1070
Low: 776
Federal Spending: 745.76 billion
Federal Debt: 1137.3 billion
Inflation: 6%
Consumer Price Index: 96.5
Unemployment: 7.6%

The economy is not looking very good for this year, but it is considerably better than the statistics of 1980. Inflation has gone down almost 50%, but unemployment has stayed about the same. The consumer confidence index shows that in October 1982 it was down to 54.1. 1980 show a low of 50.1, so things have gotten better in two years, but people are still not comfortable.

The recession seems to have lasted from 1980-1982. The GDP of the early 80s fluctuated up and down creating uncertainty. There was a a lot difficultly keeping it steady which was one reason the economy led to a recession. By the second quarter of 1980 the GDP actually drops about 5 billion, with another drop the next quarter of 9 billion. This pattern repeats itself all through 1981 and 1982. Investment purchases also went way down in 1982. A graph I saw showed a drop of about 100 billion dollars in investment purchases. In 1983 and 1984 they rose again though.

The cause of this recession is hard to find on the internet. There are a lot of biases politically and it has been blamed on Jimmy Carter as well as Ronald Regan. According to my research the recession started going south in 1979, before Regan became president. There were lots of tax cuts and reworking of the budget with Regan. You could say it was his fault because the worst happened while he was president, or was that because of Carter's leftovers? Regan did pull us out of the recession though.

When researching the economy for 1982 I got a lot of headlines saying the recession of 1980-1982. There are a lot facts about how this was a bad time for inflation, unemployment, lack of consumer spending, and investment. This makes me think that maybe it got better in the next two years. These two years almost mirror what is going on with the economy in 2008 in the present as well. Can we predict this recession will get better by 2010?

Source: Economic Indicators,
Consumer Confidence Index,
US Recession of 1980-1982

Handbags in 1982

After researching a few websites, I noticed a few similarities in the accessories and handbags that were popular in 1982. The trend was casual for day and handbags such as small leather ones with long straps ( shown to the left) were trendy among middle aged women.
This photograph depicts one of the stylish colors that was popular in the time period(red) and also shows a classic casual look.




Along with the red bridle leather shoulder strap bag, Dooney and Bourke also designed similar handbag designs in 1982. The picture below shows a more nuetral color, and also has the duck branding for Dooney and Bourke. Similar to the red purse, It is also constructed from leather and has a long adjustable strap for the woman on the go. I believe designers of 1982 incorporated the extendable strap for women who wanted to be trendy but were also on the go, more specifically, the working woman. Since the 1980's were all about power dress, the handbag shown definitely accents that particular style.

Handbags were also fun in th 1980's! One of the handbags I found, is gold and was worn for nights on the town ad for the party seen. It is similar to a modern day clutch or coin purse in size.
While reading archives in the new york times, I found an article that described a new style of handbag that was popular in Europe. These were highly fashionable and started in Paris and was worn for evening wear. The handbags were made of fur or feathers and was part of the couture collections for fall and winters seasons in 1982. Although, this was a more luxurious style of bag, it is easy for one to connect this garish style with the momentum of the 1980's.

1982 Sports

Sports in 1982 was filled with records being broken stars being made:

A in-season walk out occured, the very first in National Football League history. The glaciated talks had become so fruitless that independent negotiator Sam Kagel stopped them for a week. The obstinate rivals were allowed to stew in their juices - to ponder mounting financial losses, growing fan alienation and apathy, and increasing complications in salvaging the 1982 season.
The cold war experienced an immediate thaw once the talks resumed in New York over the weekend. Acting as the icebreaker was the owners' proposal of a $1.28 billion, four-year package, which would guarantee a minimum wage on a player's salary each year and provide for annual raises.

Wayne Gretzky broke the record of most goals by a single player in a season whan he scored his 77th goal, serpassing the 1970 high of 71 goals.

As a freshman Michale Jordan hit game-winning jump shots and secured North Carolina a 63-62 victory over Georgetown in the NCAA Championship.

The 1982 World Series had its share of exceptional performances. In game one, Molitor became the first player to get five hits in a Series game, as Milwaukee won 10-0. Yount had four hits in that same game, then repeated the feat four games later. Game three was a showcase for McGee, who not only cracked two homers, but made a circus catch at the center-field wall.

Super BowlSan Francisco d. Cincinnati (26-21)
World SeriesSt. Louis Cardinals d. Milwaukee Brewers (4-3)
NBA ChampionshipLA Lakers d. Philadelphia 76ers (4-2)
Stanley CupNY Islanders d. Vancouver (4-0)
WimbledonWomen: Martina Navratilova d. C. Evert Lloyd (6-1 3-6 6-2)Men: Jimmy Connors d. J. McEnroe (3-6 6-3 6-7 7-6 6-4)
Kentucky Derby ChampionGato Del Sol
NCAA Basketball ChampionshipNorth Carolina d. Georgetown (63-62)
NCAA Football ChampionsPenn St. (11-1-0)
World CupItaly d. W. Germany (3-1)

International trade

An analysis of U.S. industries sensitive to foreign trade, 1982-87 ( expanding trade wasn't better off for some workers)
International trade and finance in 1982 international trade 1982-1987 Import >Export trade.

Expanding trade affected some workers in some industries. Mechanical, apparel, leather industries and miscellaneous manufacturers lost their jobs by the expanding import. Especially, Apparel industry had big blow from import. A lot of textile products were imported from the countries which has better skill and cheaper labor.
Source: internet: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1993/02/art2abs.htm

Also, Import>Export affected economic! International debt crisis 1982-1983.
Purchasing goods from foreign country cause loan since the US started to buy a lot of import good than the amount of export goods. To solve this situation, opening up their import to other countries was necessary.

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=114&sid=233692d8-c03c-4506-beb1-896bd57bfa3a%40sessionmgr108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=8400004401

Actually, loosing American labors' positions has been still a big problem. Textile industries now depend on Asia, such as China and Korea. Since China has huge labor population with much cheaper labor , many kinds of good are made in China. To survive for American textile industry, cooperating with other countries' industries is very important. Since the import has been expanded more and more, American economic still has a big debt by import. There are several reasons why companies and countries are willing to import than producing in own countries. First of all, they can get better benefit with little investment when they produce their products in developing countries, such as China. Second, the countries don't have enough resources, so they need to import from other countries . America imports huge amount of oil from Middle east since there is not enough resources in the US. The countries which has better resources are favorable on the trade. Japanese economy has much more debt than the US by the import since the country have only few resources. Importing resources is very important for developed countries to keep their economy and technology developed, but at the same time, it causes debt. I believe that it's almost impossible to ride of importing resources, and making unique products is important. For example,keep finding new technology which other countries don't have and make products with the technology, so that they can sell those products to foreign countries.

regional EBI(Effective buying income) in 1982 (compared with 2008)

Effective buying income is disaposal income which is considered as a bulk mesearment market of pottential indicating the ability to buy, and is essential for selecting, comparing, and grouping market.
Total United States EBI 2.169.679.437
United states EBI per capita 2,169.679.437/233,298.3 =9.300022491

Regional EBI per capita(EBI/population)
New England 124.236.107/12.496.6

Middle Atlantic 369.668.716/36.810.1


East North Central 392.230.409/41.929.9

West North Central 158.582.184/17.507.0

South Atlantic 333.627.057/38.611.9

East South Central 113.072.413/15.079.4

West South Central 126.568.994/25.202.1


Mountain 106.229.919/12.253.4

This is the EBI per capita in each state. ↓
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pzkrkQKyFSdVZODuw5QrsWg&hl=en

Middle atlantic and Pacific, such New Jersey New York, California, and Washington have higher EBI. People spend more money for buying products than people in other states.

Pacific Shore 1982 SURF Fashion Show

Progress Assessment -Instructor -

Dear Team,

You have shown incredible improvements and I am very pleased to see the depth of your research.

You are thinking outside the box and you are collecting a very interesting mix of data. Your blog also speaks of your level of creativity given the present organization and the layout.

I very much look forward to your synthesis on 10/17th!

Keep up your good work!

M.

Consumer Lifestyle

Men and Women:

A study done in the October issue of Consumer Reoports magazine in 1982 figured out what price range of trench coats the american consumer were most likely to buy. The purchases ranged anywhere from a $105.00 trenchcoat from JC Penney to a $675.00 coat from Burberry.

*This information can be found in the Holland Library Consumer Reports magazine
October 1982 issue.


Here are some salaries of men and women's jobs in the US during 1982:

• Dentist: $38,000-61,000
• Experienced Salesperson: $27,000
• Inexperiences Salesperson: $15,000
• Firefighter: $20,180
• Nurse: $20,000
• Truckdriver: $22,000-$30,000
• Airline Pilot: $48,000
• Teacher: $16,980
• Policeman: $15,000-$22,008

* These salaries can be found in the Good Housekeeping magazine, the March edition of 1982, pg. 220.

Women:
To understand the women as a consumer, it is important to know which women were highly admired in this year. A poll done in Good Housekeeping magazine says that Mother Theresea, Nansy Reagan, and Princess Diana of Wales are the top three. Princess Diana and her fashions are in fact referred to in many different issues of Good Housekeeping. To the right is an example of the fashions coming from Princess Diana that influenced womens buying patterns.


Men: Like understanding the woman as a consumer, to understand the man it is also necessary to see who the most admired men of the year were. Among the top ten were Ronald Reagan, Alan Alda, and Pope John Paul II. In the many issues of Men's Wear Magazine from 1982 you will find that sportswear is becoming much more popular for men. Dress shirts are still being purchased, however sport shirts are becoming popular as well. Another aspect of men's dress that is beginning to appear in 1982 is the use of stripes. Men are starting to buy shirts with stripes.

* Below is a graph showing the monthly retail sales right before the year 1982. The sales have spiked each year since 1979 right around Nov-Jan.

makeup in 1982

The 1982 style of makeup is all about experimenting with color. Lip color is shown as big and bold. Most of the makeup advertisements in Vogue are regarding lip color and lipstick. Lipstick is very popular in colors such as red, coral, and pink. The bright lipstick style has been adopted by almost all women at this time. It is not only shown in adds through Vogue, but also in magazine such as Good Housekeeping (which targets the everyday woman).



There are many different colors of eyeshadows being experimented with. Anywhere from bright brights to pastel to earth tones. Color pallets are highly advertised such as the eyeshadow shown in the picture to the right which was taken out of the Vogue from May of 1982.

It is stated in the Consumer's Research Magazine in May of 1982, that at this time, over $8 billion dollars are being spent on cosmetics a year. People have more of a disposable income which is causing the more expressive and bold make up styles of 1982. The bold makeup is also related to the more expensive dress. The more confident people become in their dress, the more people express themselves with their makeup.

Below is a commercial advertising lipstick in 1982.



Synthesis: Disposable income can lead to more makeup and fashion purchases which will allow for more experimentation and confidence. This can cause woman to choose from a wider variety of colors and mainly go for bolder colors.

Designers to remember from 1982

Since designers were considered high status innovators of the 1980's period. Many of them can be recognized as major fashion designers of 1982. One of the most remembered designer of this period woukd be Azzedine Alaia, a designer that transformed the body with the use of suede, viscose, and lycra. His dress shown to the right was constructed from wool and nylon.

Claude Montana can be recognized for using leather beginning in the late seventies and early eighties. He was a young parisian ready-to-wear designer who was innovative and made leather fit the body well.

Stephen jones, unlike many of the designers of the time used the ronmantic period and movement to signify his fashion and decipher innovative designes for his clients.

Giorgio Armani, still a stimeless male designer was huge in the eighties. He is recognized for his large success in men's suiting and mens wear as welll as crumpled fabrics which was introduced in the early eighties.

Ralph Lauren blew up in 82 and began designing new styles not only in women and mens wear but in luggage, home textiles, leather, shoes, sportswear, and eyewear.

Manolo Blahnik and Adidas were two major names in shoe design in the eighties and were mainstream designers for women and men. Adidas was also worn by an aray of celebrities, including the rap group RunDMC.

Parisian fashion was one of the major movements of this time period and influenced designers like, Claude Montana. This moevement was significant because it allowed consumers to purchase Paris influenced clothing. This style was chic and looked high end and was considered luxurious, which was perfect for the consumers of 1982, as they had a tendency to partake in luxurious spending and were more diposable with their income. Fashion was huge in the eighties and the designers of the time were the innovators and the hierarchy who controlled the market through design and uniquenss of the apparel constructed.



Sources:
Refashioning the Rag trade by Michael Webber and Sally Weller
Fashion the twentieth century by Francois Baudot

Cotton Incorporated advances of 1982

A system created by Cotton Inc, in 1982 has since become an industry standard. It is called the EFS system and its contribution to cotton growing industry is that it is software that contributes to the increased production of cotton bales. The way it helps is by accompanying mills in managing High Volume Instrument (HVI) Data including inventories, acquisitions, warehousing, mix selection, product performance monitoring and electronic data interchange. The system assists the mills in learning more about the cotton they were working with and picking the cleanest, smoothest most suitable cotton for hassle-free production. It was introduced in 1982 producing 300,000 bales using HVI and by 1996 it was increased to more than 19.5 million bales. With the growing demand for cotton products in the 1980’s this system was a necessity in all textile production factories. It improved the quality and efficiency in producing cotton in the mills and there have been advances from this system to fit in any industry segment in the textile field.

Source: Cotton Inc

Records also show soil quality has greatly improved over the years bringing to the industry better quality cotton fibers that contribution to the quality of cotton production. 1982 was the start of these trends including the savings of tons of crop soil. Erosion has decreased with a total 41% decrease from 1982 to 1997. Wind erosion has also gone down 43% in that same time period. This creates a great savings of soil that croplands need to be profitable. The management methods to conserving cropland have had a big impact on this decrease and there has been an improvement in organic soil matter as well. The organic soil is vital to the physical, chemical and biological health of croplands. There are more nutrients in the soil along with better water retention. One factor in this is the decrease of fuel consumption by 3.5 gallons an acre. Specific to the apparel and textile industry, this improves the quality of our cotton although it affects many other crops as well.

Source: Cotton Inc

food in 1982

Major food in 1982 Per capita consumption
meat, poultry, and fish
Red meat 119.8
Poultry 42.2
Fish 12.4
Total 174.4

Eggs 33.9
Dairy Products 554.6

Fats and oils
Animal 11.4
Vegetable 46.8
Total 58.3

Peanuts 6.0
Flour and cereal products 147.7
Tree nuts 2.3

Selected fruits
Fresh 107.4
canned 19.5
Frozen 2.8
Dried 2.6
Selected juices 59.0

Selected vegetables
Fresh 148.6
For canning 95.1
For Freezing 54.3
Dehydrated and chips 12.4
Pulses 17.1


Caloric sweeteners 120.4
Coffee 7.4

Basically, the numbers of the per capita consumption of 1982 were increased from previous year, 1981, and those numbers are increased in next year, 1983. The numbers of per capita consumption had been increased though 19870-95 by an economic research service report. Especially, Freezing veritable and flour and cereal products increased a lot. I think that the fact that people have tended to concern about their health more affected this number. Also, those frozen vegetable and flour and cereal products had been fit people's life style more and more. however, the number of per capita consumption of coffee has been decreased. The bad effect, such as addiction, has been told by doctors and scientists, and some people have actually been trying to save the amount of coffee they drink. By the table, the major food hasn't been changed a lot, but the number of people buy has been changed by their life style and health concern.

Source: Food Consumption,Prices, and Expenditures, 1970-95. Judith Jones Ptnam, Jane E. Allshouse. United States Department of Agriculture. pg 35.

Fashion Flops of 1982

When searching for the worst dressed and fashion flops of 1982 celebrities are what come up on the search list. They are the ones who try and be innovators and bring a new look to the nation that hopefully the masses will follow. Those who tried to branch out and bring life to a party were criticized for these looks in 1982. Liz Taylor was attacked for wearing over sized pajamas out, bird feathers, tiaras, and cowboy hats. Mr. T was criticized for his everyday dress as well. This consisted of his combat boots, chest-baring vests, sweatpants and the abundance of jewelry that covered his body. They even added up how much the 100 necklaces, 7 earrings, 14 ankle chains, and 10 rings weighed coming to a total of 20 pounds. Head scarves, lace-up boots, and see-through skirts were also frowned upon. Some celebrities even got appraised at wearing $5,000 evening gowns that looked like they came from a low-budget horror film.

Other flops include many of Cher’s outrageous costumes which were skin tight leopard pants, long, dangling earrings, purple or black hair, and huge, vintage sunglasses. Tight pants for men were also discouraged along with more army attire such as nylon army boots, olive drab hats, and paratrooper warm ups. Another celebrity was railed for wearing a ankle-length sable coat over a snakeskin jumpsuit.

Some of these images of celebrities have not left others views of how they dress. Some, such as Mr. T, still dress this way today. They must not have let making the worst dressed list affect them. Cher is still known for her outrageous outfits and bold style, and is considered one of the most beautiful people to some. The way these celebrities dress is how we get to know them and how they express their individuality. Mr. T and Cher will always be remembered for their crazy styles and we will never cease to be amazed at how they pull them off.

Source: Archive of People Magazine 1980-83