Work

Curiosity | Connecting the Dots | Cultural Research

Abbey specializes in bespoke trend forecasts to give her clients a curated collection of insights, inspiration and actionable ideas to propel a brand forward. Her work is driven through curiosity first in order to remain open to discovering new ways of seeing our world. She then connects these seemingly random ideas together in order to create where culture is headed.

Below is a sampling of Abbey’s work, including trend forecasts in fashion and home, marketing forecasts, color projects, and creative content.

Millennial Pink

Millennial Pink - A Color That Defined A Generation

In 2011 Abbey and her team at Cotton Incorporated created a trend called Role Play due to gender roles changing in society along with gay marriage soon becoming legal in the US. A color called “Absence,” was included in the color palette for this trend and would later become known as the cult color, Millennial Pink. Role Play was also created due to various research trips where Abbey and her team found gender neutral fashion labels in Stockholm, Tokyo and Wellington that they knew would be important for genderless fashion going forward. Abbey presented Role Play to hundreds of international retailers around the world from Target, Levis, Nordstrom and more. She was one of the few key trend forecasters that would predict Millennial Pink not just as a color, but as a social movement to come.

Shocking Pink

Shocking Pink to Valentino Pink

Shocking Pink was a bright fuchsia originally created by the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli for her iconic brand. Abbey predicted this color to be revitalized for 2021 as the next ‘it’ color in fashion. This prediction was a year ahead of Valentino’s Fall 2022 show where he worked with Pantone to create the now famous “Pink PP” color. This color became famous everywhere from the runway to red carpets and more. It replaced Millennial Pink and became its own cult color, 10 years later. In 2018 Abbey also predicted the rise and comeback of the Schiaparelli brand, entering a new phase in fashion history. In 2019 this prediction began to take shape as the new creative director, Daniel Roseberry, started his position at the brand. The rest is history!

Custom Forecasts

Abbey’s custom forecasts start with an exploration in what is driving a trend through cultural ideas. This helps a client understand how to market their products and understand the why behind a trend concept. She then filters each forecast into design takeaways from color, fabric, graphic, packaging, etc to create tangible elements for a client to work from.

Cotton Incorporated

Fashion and Denim Forecasts

For nearly 10 years Abbey worked as a trend forecaster at Cotton Incorporated. Each forecast consisted of extensive research that included traveling to over 50 plus countries multiple times, attending art exhibits, fashion shows, new restaurants and more to create compelling forecasts each season. She became head of the denim forecast and lead that for 5 years where she established collaborations with industry professionals around the world, creating new ideas in denim fabric (such as digital and laser printing). Each season, Abbey presented all of her forecasts to hundreds of retailers around the world, affecting fashion and denim for years to come. Abbey is now a trend consultant to the Cotton Incorporated team, providing additional culture, fashion and denim trend forecasts every season.

Experiential Marketing

Innovative Marketing Experiences

GMR Marketing hired Abbey to help them stay ahead of the curve when creating their client’s experiential marketing campaigns for events like the Olympics, SXSW and the NFL. Abbey created a custom forecast that included two macro and two micro trends and a section of new influencers and brands. One of the macro trends was called Hyper Reality, which focused on how our current environment is changing due to social media and climate change. She included strategic ideas on how to incorporate her cultural and visual research, including color and material into creating otherworldy experiences for future activations.

Editorial

TABLE Magazine

Abbey is a contributor to TABLE Magazine, writing about color, trends and home design as well as culinary ideas under her brand The Taste Curators. For the Palate Palette article she also led the art direction for the photoshoot, which is based around The Taste Curators’ Palate Palette cookbook series.

Doneger

Interior Forecasts

As a Senior Trend Analyst at Doneger, Abbey lead the Interiors and Menswear forecasts for each season that included research in sociocultural ideas, color, material, texture, silhouette (men’s forecast) and applications. Coming on board at Doneger, she helped to change how the forecasts were created, but rooting all trends in cultural research first before beginning each season. While at Doneger she was a leader in working on a special branding project for Belk and was a headlining presentation at the Surtex trade show for her F/W 2018 Interiors/Home forecast. She presented her forecasts to mainstream retailers like Target, Pier 1 Imports and TJ Max.

Inspiration & Trend Safaris

New York City & Brooklyn Tours

The eye has to travel. Diana Vreeland knew what she was talking about. Travel is essential in finding the new and keeping one’s mind open to new possibilities. Abbey has been a New Yorker for 19 years and knows the secrets in food, fashion and design. Come and walk around the city with Abbey and she will show you up and coming neighborhoods while visiting new boutiques, restaurants, art exhibits, etc. to get you or your company inspired for your next project. She also offers custom reports for companies, acting as the eyes and ears of the city whether it’s in fashion or marketing campaigns, tailored specifically to her clients needs.

Contact me to set up a safari or custom report!

Creative Content

Creative Content for Giadzy - Giada De Laurentiis’ Lifestyle Website

As a contributing lifestyle and design contributor for Giadzy, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis’ lifestyle website, Abbey writes about color, patterns, design and creative ideas. Additional articles include pieces for trend agencies such as Doneger and Cotton Inc. My expertise is in cultural trends, color, interior, fashion, design and lifestyle concepts.

Brilliant Bicycle

Creating A Color Palette

The start-up brand Brilliant Bicycle approached Abbey to create a fun and vibrant color palette to launch their new bicycle collection. They started with a mint green bike as it was the color of their logo and continued to create a cohesive palette that was on trend, yet playful to match the brand identity. She added a pop of color to each bike, so every color way had two shades and made for an elevated color story.