Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Mon, Nov 2 1992 Date: Mon, 2 Nov 92 04:47:35 EST Message-ID: Lines: 113 11-02 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Nov. 2, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FASHION PATTERNED AFTER '70S: This week, U.S. designers preview their spring '93 collections in New York. And industry observers predict that the look will be loose layers, long lines, belled shapes and floaty fabrics. Haysun A. Hahn, creative director for Promostyl, an international trend-watching agency, describes it as "poetic, liquid. Fabric will drape the body, not confine or exploit it." BELL BOTTOMS RING: Even designer Donna Karan is going soft. "The spring look is languid and loose but not in a sloppy way," says Karan. "Movement and fluidity of fabric are important." Haysun A. Hahn promises bells will ring from both the avant-garde such as Betsey Johnson and the old guard such as Louis Dell'Olio for Anne Klein. SEARS FASHION ALMOST A JOKE: Sears fashion. It's hard to make a fashion statement when critics consider the efforts an oxymoron. "Sears doesn't have a fashion image. Even if you love Sears, you don't think they have a fashion image," says Alan Millstein, publisher of Fashion Network Report. "They haven't had a clue about where fashion trends are for a long time." (For more, see special Sears package below.) MILITARY JOBS TO BE LOST: The U.S. military:industrial complex may lose as many as 700,000 jobs during the next two years and double that by 1996, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports Monday. According to V. William Souveroff, executive director of the National Center for Career Change, that means a possible total loss of 1.4 million, or one of every four defense jobs. COUNTRIES BANNING `SEX': People heading to India, shouldn't pack Madonna's "Sex." Indian customs officials reportedly won't allow the book into the country. About 800,000 copies of "Sex" arrived in bookstores around the world last week. Japan allowed several dozen copies through customs, after censors inked over four photos that violated its censorship laws. INFECTIONS FROM HEMOPHILIA DOWN: The risk of becoming infected with HIV as a result of treatments for hemophilia has plunged over the last five years, reports the American Association of Blood Banks. Thousands of hemophiliacs contracted the AIDS virus from factors used to help their blood clot in the late 1970s. But a study that began in 1987 found no HIV infection among those who used a new clotting factor. HIGH-SPEED RAILS ROLLING: The time for high-speed rail seems to be right. A recent report from the Transportation Research Board pointed out that by the year 2005, the nation's roads and airports will be significantly more jammed than they are now. The report said that high-speed rail could be the answer. Bill Clinton has said that if elected president, he would support a substantial federal rail program. AIRLINES CONTINUE TO LOSE: World airlines will lose at least $2.5 billion this year, the third consecutive year of losses, the International Air Transport Association says. Losses from 1990-92 will exceed $9 billion, more than all the profits airlines made in the 1980s, the association says. BOOK OUTLINES CONSUMER TRENDS: Businesses would be delighted to know more about consumers, but more data doesn't always mean more information. "The Official Guide to the American Marketplace" gives both. It's organized around eight major factors driving consumer trends: Population, household composition, income, spending and wealth, labor force, education, health and attitudes. To order, call 607-273-0913. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON FASHION: SEARS USED TO BE KIND OF HIP: Sears wasn't always a fashion joke. In the '50s and '60s, the company took little fashion flak. Popular among mothers for a strong children's clothing selection, Sears also made a living in women's wear. Then more and more women went to work. And somehow, Sears missed the trend. STORES FEEL LEFT OUT: A story in Working Woman magazine about value-priced fashion mentions Lands' End, The Express, J. Crew and Liz Claiborne. No Sears. Competitors caught the wave: J.C. Penney honed its fashion image, bringing in brands such as Worthington. Kmart, with actress Jaclyn Smith as spokeswoman, chased a lower-priced fashion segment. Today, Kmart's advertising demonstrates the change of fashion. ADVICE FOR SEARS OFFERED: Some say Sears should follow its competition to fix the fashion gap. Touters of J.C. Penney and Kmart say a discount store can provide fashion. Upgrade fabrics to more cotton and wool, bring in brand names, spend big on a major advertising campaign and be prepared to wait. Both Kmart and J.C. Penney took years to upgrade their fashion images. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM