On the face of it, such a statement would seem a tad incongruous. How exactly would artificers of the technological be able to forecast what sentiments may take the industry of fashion?
By using what they titled 'sentiment analysis' apparently, to produce what they call the 'IBM Social Sentiment Index.'
This is undertaken by analyzing social media, in the form of blogs, forums, news sources and other forms, to develop a picture of the trends that are emerging. According to their data, between 2009 and 2012, steampunk underwent an 11-fold increase in chatter, a remarkably large jump.
They further point out that since 2010 more than two dozen US department stores and specialty retailers have become steampunk savvy.
They also predict that during the next two years steampunk will shift from low production, high cost “craft” manufacturing to mass production. While this may make it more affordable to the masses, I am certain that many will fear that it is somewhat contrary to the artisanship that the steampunk aesthetic is built around.
Other interesting points of analysis that they released are;
· 33 percent of online fashion chatter around steampunk can be found on gaming sites
· 2010 saw a year on year increase in chatter of 296 percent. This increase can be attributed to steampunk-inspired NYC ComicCon events in October of 2010
· Twitter is the #1 social network for steampunk chatter; hosts six times the number of discussions as Facebook
· 63 percent of fashion discussions around steampunk are initiated by individuals less than 30 years old
· 55 percent of social sentiment chatter for steampunk fashion derived by blogs
An example of how it has managed to penetrate into more mainstream circles is the Prada 2012 Fall/Winter collection for men.
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