Future Human Visionaries

Welcome to Visionaries, a podcast dedicated to futurological thinkers brought to you by Future Human and the V&A. We seek out people who are reimagining innovation in their field, and ask them to apply their intelligence to emerging trends. Cher Potter is a senior editor at the fashion forecasting company WGSN. She analyses sociopolitical and cultural trends and their potential impact on the fashion industry – in essence, predicting probable futures. How do trend forecasters identify the cultural shifts that shape consumer attitudes? Potter explains how the trend analysts make sense of a complex web of consumer behaviours, and how the narratives they craft manifest themselves in fashion products on the high street. But will trend forecasting services like WGSN see their influence wane as customers and manufacturers source more information online? Presented by Jack Gwilym Roberts.