King Louis IX to the birth of couture: The history of fashion forecasting

In 1999, the American toy company Mattel released a Trend Forecaster Barbie, as a limited-edition collectors’ item.

- Anesha George

She was dressed in a faux-leather swing coat, matching mini-skirt, “sassy little camisole” and ankle-strap platform shoes.

If there were some who thought this derivative, unimaginative or silly, well, they could join the ranks of trend debaters dating to Ancient Rome.

By the 1st century BCE, leaders such as the philosopher and military commander Pliny the Elder were so tired of the fuss over silk, for instance, that he wrote it was having a corrupting influence on Rome.

These vestments, “while they cover a woman, at the same moment reveal her naked charms,” he said.

His censure had little effect. But through history, royals, aristocrats and celebrities have often dictated fashion trends, from the “royal blue” popularised during the reign of King Louis IX of France (r. 1226-1270) to the Princess Diana haircut (c. 1990s).

Many have done more than inspire imitation. France's King Louis XIV, for instance, is credited with birthing modern fashion as an industry, and establishing Paris as the heart of it. During his 72-year reign, from 1643 to 1715 (he ascended the throne at age four), he boosted domestic textile and jewellery production, in a bid to reduce the country's reliance on expensive imports.