When we talk about the most influential thinkers in design, fashion, and culture, one name always stands out — Lidewij Edelkoort. The Dutch trend forecaster, educator, and visionary has spent decades redefining how we understand trends. Her insights go far beyond fashion touching on society, sustainability, and the future of creativity itself.
A Global Voice in Design and Fashion Forecasting
Since the 1980s, Edelkoort’s work has guided some of the world’s leading brands, including Gucci, Cacharel, Estée Lauder, and Nike. Through her Paris-based agency, Trend Union, she publishes annual trend books that are used by design houses, marketing teams, and creative industries worldwide. Her approach is not about predicting fleeting fads, it’s about understanding human behavior, emotion, and societal shifts.
More Than Fashion: A Social and Cultural Visionary
Edelkoort’s forecasts explore topics that go far beyond aesthetics. She addresses how globalization, sustainability, gender identity, and craftsmanship shape design. Her work connects art, technology, and humanity, anticipating not only what we wear but how we live.
The “Anti-Fashion” Revolution
In her influential essay “Anti_Fashion Manifesto” (2015), Edelkoort criticized mass production and fast fashion. She predicted a shift toward slow design, ethical consumption, and local craftsmanship, all of which have since become central to today’s design and sustainability movements.
Proud South: A New Creative Axis
With her groundbreaking project “Proud South,” Edelkoort draws attention to the creative power of the Global South, from Africa and Latin America to India and Southeast Asia. She highlights how the global center of creativity is steadily moving southward, led by designers who fuse tradition, resilience, and innovation. Proud South challenges the Western-centric narrative of design, promoting authenticity and cultural diversity as the true future of creativity.
Educator, Mentor, and Cultural Futurist
As the former head of the Design Academy Eindhoven and founder of Parsons Paris, Edelkoort has inspired generations of designers to trust intuition over data. Her influence has transformed design education worldwide, emphasizing emotional awareness and cultural context.
Intuition, empathy and imagination
Lidewij Edelkoort’s influence is global, visionary, and timeless. She continues to guide industries and individuals toward a more human, sustainable, and emotionally intelligent approach to creativity. In an age dominated by algorithms and AI, Edelkoort reminds the world that the future of design lies not in trends but in intuition, empathy, and imagination.
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Ik ben altijd bezig met de extreem lange termijn
I am always focused on the extremely long term
