If I had been told in 1999 when I graduated from design school in Paris that 20 years later I would be a futurist, public speaker, writer and teacher, I never would have believed it. All I wanted was to be a fashion designer. But on the sinuous road of life, one opportunity led to another and today I am regularly asked: “how can I become a forecaster?”. I don’t have a straight forward answer for this. But it was my passion for research that helped evolve my career from designer to futurist.

This is a very personal mini-series about my path and it starts with talking about the importance of research in my life and why I teach what I know now.

Yes — fashion trends have always been circular. They move in ecosystems, return in cycles, and repeat the same colours, silhouettes and themes season after season. The inconvenient truth the industry refuses to act on is this: we are not inventing new trends. We are recycling them — while manufacturing as if we aren't.

September starts with a bang. Here's what has been inspiring us at the studio and fresh off the press.