The year 2000 in a Nutshell: including leading trends that affected it, the attempted forecast, actual findings, and why it happened or didn’t happen.

In the year 2000 there were several contributors to fashion apparel and accessories tends, things such as: political issues, economical conditions, trends, the re-used and recycled apparel and accessories, the change in color cycles, new and recycled textiles: fabric/fibers/finishes, designs and styles, major designers and competition, Technology/Mechanics, entertainers (celebrities), new movies and television, new house wears, macro environment, such as economy, politics, demography, and culture, and the handbag. These contributors all helped lead up to the products of 2000, the New Millennium.


The trends of 2000 basically followed the color cycle with the soft colors translating into the ‘Quiet’ trend which was very modern with skin and hair like textures. However Apparel trends were incredibly muted and soft for autumn where as more hard and edgy for winter. Whereas in the summer the trend had more of a clean, crisp, sharp and contemporary feeling. Some trends that stoop out were: country chic, ergonomic design. ghostly and mysterious looks, more of a feminine and sexy style, the use of uncluttered shapes, and the Bohemian lifestyle or Hippy appearance. Other fashion trends that were very popular were tight black leather as well as the low hip slung jean. Denim left its mark as it was worn with everything, even other denim. Vintage designer jean also made a comeback. Prints such as leopard and snakeskin could be found on almost everyone at the awards as well as furs. Predictions of fashion were made in the 1930's thinking fashion in 2000 would look something along the lines of a dress that can be adapted for morning afternoon and evening, transparent net: said to "catch" the males, big hair, skirts disappearing entirely, canter leaver heels, woman is wearing the "electric belt" that will adjust to climate changes, women would wear an electric flashlight in their hair to find an honest man, and men would not be fitted with any pockets instead would be fitted with a phone, a radio, and containers for coins, keys, and candy. Infact the majority of the predictions were incorrect but a few things like the big hair, and canter leaver heels did procress into the future, not as soon as the year 2000 but now as a present time, 2008.


Throughout the new millennium several eras of fashion were "reused and recycled". However designers still were able to put their own ‘spin’ on their lines while creating “a sense of confidence and optimism in the best of the collections that is infectious, resulting in a season that sparkles with the kind of color, embellishment, and upscale luxury we haven't seen for years.”(Mark Holgate) A few major trends/styles that were reused were the 80’s Logo, poke-a-dots, 80’s styling, 70’s style trouser suit for women, elegance, and the “Stable-ized Market” (horseback riding).


The textiles, fabrics, fibers, and finishes used in the year of 2000 were a sense of light weight fabrics, grainy effect, the use of metallic fabrics. Some main finishes of 2000 were: glaze, luminescent, blurred, baked and crisp, creased and distressed treatments, cracked and blistered effects translated onto leathers, nature-tech. The major fabrics used were, re-worked traditional tweeds, long-haired pony hide, vinyl and rubber for accessories, fake fur, coated linen, linen blends, cotton, cotton blends, ecological wool, wool blends, silk blends, velvet, denim, colors woven, indigo, and metallics. In 1998 the main fabric was hemp and it did not make the same populatiry affect in the year 2000.

Both Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter focused on colors inspired by nature, warm, natural colors and also focused on delicate colors which carried on the year 2002 with the continuance of neutral colors, a few bright colors being used for mostly accessories. The forecasted color trends predicted in 1998 was said to be "Inspired by the anticipated sights and sounds of the new millennium, the first season of the 21st century will bring new color harmonies into play," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. " In general, lighter colors are more naive and brights, while still expressing fun and whimsy, are more subtle in tone." The colors that transferred from 1998 to 2000 was predominantly cool colors to warm such as blues, greens and naturals.

The styling and designs for 2000 consisted of, winter focused on warmth, layering contrasting garment (mostly from the waist down), heavy gauge knits, longer length outerwear, streamline shape, drawstrings, detachable hoods, hidden pockets for wearable technology, slim cut suits, hand knit patchwork layered tops, wide cut pinstripe pant, wide-cut flat-fronted pants, rock & roll, urban, and vintage looks. The designs and styles carried over from 1998 were the sense of expressionism, a high-tech design, international style, and an organic looking style.

The major designers of 2000 fashion apparel and accessories were the famous Kenzo, Anna Sui, D&G, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Dior, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Ralph Lauren, Celine, Fendi, Calvin Klein, Gucci, this list is not the limit to great designers of 2000, there are many more who contributed to fashion in the new millennium.

Handbags, clutches, purses, backpacks, luggage, etc. were a huge accessory must have in 2000. Bags with animal skins were a key look this year along with high-shine patents. A hot look that went down the runway this season was plastic. The season's focus was on glamour and sophistication. Bags varied in all sizes from hand-held, to shoulder strapped, to wrist strapped all the way up to a big luggage bags. The Luxury bag: “The success of the Fendi Baguette bag, which was introduced in fall 1997 and helped set off the current craze for accessories, is a case in point. Although the bags come in 100 varieties in fabrics like cashmere and embroidered satin, each one is handmade. Once a style sells out, it is not repeated. Prices range from $450 to $6,000. Some Baguettes have a six-month waiting list, and the hottest one for fall was a tapestry design, at $2,350.” Bags did not changed too drastically from 1998 to 2000 the major difference was the affects of culture.


It was a big year for entertainers in the year 2000 with the Olympics, new movies and television. The celebrities led fans into new trends as seen at the VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards. Celebrities were taking trends to the next level. Artists such as Pink and Gwen Stephanie made dying your hair pink the fashionable thing to do while other artists choose to simply shave their head bald. Exposing yourself was also taken to the next level. Jennifer Lopez showed up in a green Versace that had a plunging V- neck (another trend that most celebrities wore) and exposed a lot of leg. However that was modest to Celebrity Little Kim who showed up on a Purple body suit with one breast exposed covered only by a nipple flower.


Music that was popular in the Year 2000 included artists such as N Sync with the number one selling album No Stings Attached selling almost 10 million copies, Eminem, Brittney Spears, and Creed came in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Napster was created by Shawn Fanning in 1999 and began the sharing of Mp3’s. Concerts of the year 2000 included Tina Turner’s farewell concert, NSync, Dave Mathews band, KISS with a farewell tour. It was also a slow year for country music however, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks came in 5th and 6th selling concerts. Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young placed 7th and 8th. Metallica and Britney Spears took 10th at the 40 million mark. Fans spent over 1.7 billion to see there favorite acts in concert just this year, however, there was an economic slow down increasing ticket prices.

Sports played an important role influencing people to root for their favorite teams as well as countries in 2000 as annual world cups, PGA tours, Olympics and other sports events took place. Tiger Woods made the sport of Golf exciting when "became the first golfer to win nine PGA titles in a year since Sam Snead won 11 in 1950; the second ever, after Ben Hogan in 1953, to win three professional majors in a single season; and, at 24-years-old, the youngest of five golfers to complete a career Grand Slam (Greene)." He also finished 12 under par at the U.S. Open. John Rocker who played baseball for the Atlanta Braves was fined $5,000 for poor pitching. He yielded 25 walks in 18 and 1/3 innings. Raven Linebacker, Ray Lewis was involved in a fight resulting in two deaths. He was fined $250,000 by the NFL and then later faced charges when he struck Donald Brashear in the head with a stick, resulting in a 1 year suspension in the NHL. The Yankees Beat the Mets in 5 games in the New York-New York World Series. "Derek Jeter won his fourth ring and became the first player to claim World Series and All-Star Game MVP awards in the same season (Greene)."The Lakers beat the Pacers in 6 games leading to Jackson's 7th NBA Championship ring. (Greene)


The Olympics took place in Sydney Australia in the year 2000. However due to a 15 hour time difference live coverage was lacking. The U.S team won 97 Gold metals, Marion Jones was celebrated as the fastest women in the world, winning 3 gold’s and 2 bronze metals. The Bulgarian team was caught in a doping scandal, Andreea Raducan of Romania was striped of the gold when she was caught using banned substances, Ian Thorpe from Australia came away with 4 medals and Steven Redgrave from Great Britain took home the 5th gold in 5 years of Olympics. Lance Armstrong came back after battling testicular cancer in 1999 to compete in the 8.44 mile, 7.9 % gradient climb of Mount Hautacam. Armstrong also brought back a bronze in the Sydney Olympics. Venus Williams "won 35 straight matches and six straight titles, including two Olympic gold medals and her first two Grand Slams, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open." She also became the first black women to win Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958. France beat Italy in the World Cup earning France a spot as one of the best teams of all time. (Greene).

As celebrities are idolized for their sense of fashion it is only natural that their fans will follow their trends. The belly shirt made popular by teen sensations, Britney Spears and Cristina Aguilera became a must have for the girls that were able to pull it off. Britney Spears also influenced the “Britney Pant” which was a low rise back zip stretch flare that was usually decorated with sequins, metallic sheens, or satin. Her style influenced dressed to be made of silks and satins, with ruffle detail, wrap and layered effects. She also influenced an appeal for trashiness. Fans could be found in studded Denim, cut-up t- shirts, hot pants, and sunglasses.

Other influential celebrities could be found on television. Sarah Jessica Parker and her fellow leading ladies could always be found wearing new stylish looks. The show has not only been due to the entertaining storylines but also the character's amazing wardrobes, which are having an impact across the globe. Carrie's (Sarah Jessica Parker) wardrobe is certainly one to watch, adore and die for. The petite, ballerina doll style, with delicate details of lace trimmings, capped sleeves and washed tulle, layered under skirts, ballet pumps could also be ideal for a more relaxed version, or for nights on the town, dress up with black tights under glittery gold heels.


As to why celebrities dress so well is due to their managers and make up crews. Celebrities are idolized because people want to relate to an image. Designers see a celebrity and see an opportunity to advertise their newest fashion lines. They are dressed by the industry and sometimes to the extreme. People write about them when they dress poorly and when they dress the best. They are constantly under the scrutiny of the public and have higher reviews when they follow the trends they are given. All maintain their own individual image but are also given creative direction.

For house wears the leading trends from 1998 showed a tendency for simplicity and modernism with a vintage flair with color trends based around neutral and muted colors such as dark blues and grays. This idea was mirrored also in architecture and home furnishings. Furniture was streamlined and functional rather than being frivolous.

These simplistic styles are interesting going into the year 2000 where the ability of home furnishings to flash and dazzle was desired. Fabrics with patterns and ornamentation became very popular. These decorative fabrics were used in conjunction with ornate furniture styles and embellishments such as sequins, beading and metallic. The literary world had a tangible affect on the home furnishings industry with the popularity amongst youngsters of the first Harry Potter book released in the U.S. in 1998. In the year 2000 a line of furniture was released modeled after the room furniture In Hogwarts School or Witchcraft and Wizardry described in the first Harry Potter book. This collection included a four-poster “Hogwarts” bed.


Also in 2000, the e-commerce business took off. More and more companies joined the rush to offer their wares online to the largest available market. however there were existing problems include things such as slow computer downloads and security issues which hindered e-commerce. The furniture industry was no exception, although encountered plenty of problems. Customers were buying furniture without testing it, affecting consumer satisfaction. Not to mention shipping industries were not prepared to efficiently ship expensive and fragile things all over the world. This resulted in broken items, re-shipping, and issues with insurance on shipped goods and of course, consumer satisfaction. From the styles and trends seen in 1998, there was a major turn around to get to 2000.

Macro environment, such as economy, politics, demography, and culture etc., directly affect micro environment such as consumption, investment, business, and other daily activities. In 1998 and 1999 people were worried that the computer world would come crashing down with the inevitable event of “Y2K”. This encouraged consumers to conserve money and resources and only purchase things they needed. However, once the landmark year of 2000 had actually passed and the world didn’t end, people began to feel able to spend freely. This encouraged the markets to provide more fashion forward products and items and styles that were enhancing to a leisurely life rather than one dictated purely by necessity. However, an increased usage of internet lead e-commercial business grew rapidly. The bust of technological companies undulated stock market.

The political issues in the United States in the year 2000 involved the presidential election; the running was between George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. The big controversy was with the ballots and the several recounts in Florida between the Electoral College and Popular Vote. The result the new President was George W. Bush. However, the Presidential election did not steady investor, but add inquietude to people.


The economical conditions in the United States during the year 2000 were weak resulting in the overall apparel and accessory businesses to struggle with declining sales. The result of the economic recession was consumers were looking for values and savings, going from designer labels to a more casual and less expensive look. The drastic shift in consumer behavior caused improvement for discount mass but the opposite affect for the specialty boutiques and department stores. Consumers had to cut off their expenditure to prepare for worse situations. The Average household at the time spent $38045 in 2000, but less than 10% on leisure consumptions. Global trade of 2000 grew strongly, although oil prices soar. The foreign trade of US had positive progresses with China, but negative with EU. Along with increased imports from other countries, competitions of domestic market increased dramatically. Population aging and diversity gain more attentions in 2000.

Technology changed people’s lifestyle that surfing internet, digital music, and wireless (cell phone) became hot trends. Wireless companies are raking in billions of dollars and expect the 80 million cell phone users to double within five years. Apple introduces an array of fruity colored iMacs, and later, the tiny eight-inch Power Mac G4 Cube and the year 2001 marked the arrival of the very first iPod. Attractive qualities for computers in 2000 had been described using words like: “petite size and glossy acrylic” “elegant look” “distinctive” and “sleek” which formed a connection between apparel trends of 2000 and technology trends. Computer companies are trying to meet consumer demands by providing machines which save space (are compact) and are just as visually attractive as they are powerful. The technology and mechanics consumer had one theme or theory that I have found in a couple places in my research ties technology in with fashion.

More news breaking technology was the movement toward environment friendly cars, Hybrids, are becoming available because of the increased gas price scare, for example, the Toyota Prius was introduced in 2000. The popular car color in 2000 was silver creating a strong connection to colors in fashion apparel with the use of metallics. A socionmics analyst correlates the popularity of this color and the social optimism surrounding the stock market. Consumers in 2000 favored decorative styles, luxury, and excess. Some see this as a reaction to computer culture which is very cold, technical and drab. Cold and sleek is out, people are breaking free and embracing color and decoration. Not only for apparel, but also for computers themselves it seems.

Intellectual property rights rose tensions from public. With all this information provided forecasters a background that 2000 was an uncertain year. Prediction for the future was like a Science-fiction story but fearless. With technology, everything is possible. Technology advanced rapidly gave people confidence but anxiety at the same time. Therefore, a reminiscent mood and a desire of relaxation would occur soon in future. Unfortunately, 9-11 terrorism attack of 2001 shocked American deeply and inflicted heavy losses on the U.S. physically and emotionally. People tired of aggression, but long for a leisure and steady living environment badly. To fill these needs, designer created a soft vintage style for 2002’s collections; body trainers brought Yoga from India to relax the U.S; government promoted education to enhance employment that eventually stabilized society; movie industry created super hero’s to comfort and encourage American etc.

The conclusion of why this happened and did not happen was because when a nation is going down, people will look for old-good-comfort; when a nation is going up, people will look for new-innovated-creation. It’s similar when kids feel sad, they would run home to look for comforts for mom; when kids feel happy, they would celebrate for distinguish with peers. Of course, exceptions are always there.

Summary of the 2000

2000 was a year be surrounded by a lof of computer related issues. Stock market was very undulate and GDP grew slowly gives poeple a noncommittal forecast for future.

Year 2000 can be easily summarized. It was a bust. The stock market did poorly in January, which tends to indicate a bad year overall. But it wasn't until April before anyone realized it, and things got worse right to the bitter end.

It wasn't just stock prices that were under attack. So were computers and Microsoft.

The year marked the coming of age for more advanced computer viruses and routine hacker attacks on large sites.

Microsoft was in the news as the company most likely to be investigated. At the beginning of the year Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates hinted that if you hurt Microsoft, the entire economy would suffer. Everyone laughed until it happened. Since then everyone conveniently forgot about his comment. I suspect the old catch phrase "What's good for General Motors is good for the country" can be restated with Microsoft in place of automaker.

The year also saw the end of the annoying dot-com millionaire kids who had thought they were geniuses. In Silicon Valley, the talk is now about how so many of these folks are up to their necks in personal debt, having leveraged their paper fortunes.

It was the year of Napster, if you didn't notice. The music-swapping site introduced the world to copyright theft. And people loved it!

The year also saw its share of false starts for broadband computing services. A lot of people didn't care and those who demanded high-speed access found themselves waiting for service, only then to discover that the service wasn't that reliable. All the while the top companies pushing broadband, namely NorthPoint Communications of San Francisco and Covad Communication of Santa Clara, Calif., had nothing but financial trouble.

Because it has to be installed on an individual basis, broadband was slow to market. A proposed nationwide rollout of an asymmetric digital subscriber line standard called G.lite promised to eliminate that obstacle. This hoped-for standard was supposed to deliver up to 1.5-megabits-per-second with an off-the-shelf digital subscriber line (DSL) modem that you'd buy at CompUSA. It was highly promoted throughout 1999 and by the time 2000 came and went, G.lite turned out to be yet another overhyped technology with flaws. Meanwhile, one of the high-flying DSL companies, Copper Mountain Networks, which banked on G.lite DSL, found itself plummeting from a cool $125 per share, to $4.00 per share. Ooops.

And if you want to ridicule stocks that cratered, you can have a field day with this market. The charts are astonishing. It's like watching a fat kid do a belly flop. Many issues just shot straight into the tank. Take Stamps.com please! From a healthy $59 per share, it's now $2 and change. It has an interesting idea whereby you can print stamps on your local printer: A good idea that nobody seemed to care about. Losing $144 million in nine months on revenue of a paltry $9.9 million makes you shudder.

The year 2000 was also the year of the earnings warning. These warnings began in earnest with Apple Computer in September and continued, hammering the stock prices of any company that issued warning. The stocks didn't just trade down for a few days, they plummeted like nothing we've seen for decades. Apple was trading at $50 one minute, then $25 the next. Worse, most of these companies continued to slide. Apple is now at a miserable $14, down from a 52-week high of $75.

Even more amazing are companies that have deteriorated into pathetic penny stocks. EToys is selling for about 18 cents today, down from a 52-week high of $32. Some of its stock was traded at 3 cents recently. What a disaster. The worst is yet to come, I'm afraid, as eToys announced its slowed growth just in time to make shoppers leery of using the service. Does anyone want to risk buying from a company that is begging for mercy? Bad move.

No tech sector was spared. The most venerable companies were under pressure as dire predictions for a slowing business crept into the public consciousness. For the first time in nearly a decade, the enthusiasm of the PC business waned with talk of a post-PC era. In fact there was no compelling reason to buy newer PCs and people decided to keep their machines a little longer.

While computers were forgotten, the Internet was not, but talk of the new economy began to fizzle by December. The new business magazines were shrinking in size as the dot-com money spent on gratuitous advertising quickly dried up.

All this makes for a fairly depressing Christmas, at least in Silicon Valley. The ripple effect has not spread throughout the entire country, but it will shortly. Retailers feel that this Christmas is going to be seriously below expectations.

So is there any hope for the future? Of course, and next week I'll go into my prediction mode and discuss emerging


Read more: from forbes.com

Top 10 World News Events of 2000

Global politics impacts international trade relationship heavily, which directly affect a nation's economic condition. Forecasters should always pay attentions to the world's politics.
Following are the top 10 world news events of the year 2000 selected by Xinhua. The events are arranged in chronological order:

1. Vladimir Putin Elected Russian President
2. Soaring Oil Prices Panic World Market (2000's aver. $1.4 vs 2008 $ 4, hum!)
3. Detente Emerges on the Korean Peninsula After North-South Summit
4. First Draft of Human Genome Completed
5. Violence Plagues Middle East Peace Process
6. Russian Nuclear Submarine "Kursk" Sinks
7. Millennium Summit of Global Leaders Convened
8. US Permanently Normalizes Trade Relations With China (US increased a large amount of imports from China, since then)
9. US Presidential Election Becomes Extended Battle
10. EU Integration a Step Further

Read more: from english.peopledaily.com.cn

Oil price source: mass.gov

2000’s population profile

Key isuues: Diversity / Population aging / Education/ computer and Internet usage
The Census Bureau highlighted the following facts about U.S population dynamics:
* 75.1% of respondents said they were White or Caucasian and no other race;
* 21.36% (60 Million Americans) are of German descent; German-Americans
* 12.3% are of Black or African-American descent;
* Hispanics — who may belong to any race — accounted for 12.5% of the U.S. population, up from 9% in 1990;
* 3.6% of respondents are Asian;
* 2.4% of respondents are multiracial (2 or more races). The 2000 Census was the first time survey options for multiracial Americans were provided.
* Between 1990 and 2000, the population aged 45 to 54 grew by 49% and those aged 85 and older grew 38%;
* Women outnumber men two to one amongst those aged 85 and older;
* Almost one in five adults had some type of disability in 1997 and the likelihood of having a disability increased with age;
* Families (as opposed to men or women living alone) still dominate American households, but less so than they did thirty years ago;
* Since 1993, both families and nonfamilies have seen median household incomes rise, with "households headed by a woman without a spouse present" growing the fastest;
* People in married-couple families have the lowest poverty rates;
* The poor of any age are more likely than others to lack health insurance coverage;
* The number of elementary and high school students in 2000 fell just short of the all-time high of 49 million reached in 1970;
* Improvements in educational attainment cross racial and ethnic lines; and
* The majority (52%) of U.S. households have access to computers; 41% have Internet access.


from: www.census.gov

The Context: Political, 2000

In the United States presidential election, 2000 the running was between George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. It was said that Bush would win the popular vote by a small margin come election day, but that Gore could win the Electoral College. However this was not the case. This was the 16th time ever in history that a candidate won the Electoral College vote without winning the majority of the nation's popular vote. There was a declare for a revote in Palm Beach County, Florida where officials switched tests mid-count to decide the validity of the ballots resulting in the new President George W. Bush.

“In 2000, the United States presidential election was one of the closest and most controversial presidential elections in history. After a month of recounts and court challenges, George W. Bush was declared the winner overVice President Al Goreby 537 votes in the state of Florida."

To continue the article, click on the link below:
http://www.conservapedia.com/United_States_presidential_election%2C_2000

And for further reading go to:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=65000590

Fashion Forecast: More Briefs, Suits

http://www.slate.com/id/1006548/

-Dick Cheney's Wednesday heart attack.

-Bush and Gore Recount

The Context: Economic Conditions in Fashion Apparel and Accessories, 2000

In early 2000 the U.S. economy continued to weaken resulting in the overall apparel and accessory businesses to struggle with declining sales. During the time of the slow-moving economic situation the U.S. accessory companies had a challenge with the increase in Imports. During this time the apparel industry hired about 53,000 workers with a payroll being more than one billion dollars. However by the year 2001 the number went down from $2.04 billion (2000) to $1.92 billion shipments. “New fashion trends in the early 2000s were expected to counteract this decline, despite generally poor showings throughout much of the apparel industry”. The result of the economic recession was consumers were looking for values and savings, going from designer labels to a more casual and less expensive look. The drastic shift in consumer behavior caused improvement for discount mass but the opposite affect for the specialty boutiques and department stores.

To read more on Economic Conditions in Fashion Apparel and Accessories, 2000 click the following link:

NAICS CODE(S) 315999 (Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing)

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Apparel/Apparel-Belts.html

NAICS CODE(S) 315999 (Other Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing)
315212 (Women's and Girls' Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors)
315299 (All Other Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing)
315238 (Women's and Girls' Cut and Sew Other Outerwear Manufacturing)
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Apparel/Women-s-Misses-Juniors-Outerwear.html

I think what we are seeing in retailing are certain sectors doing better than others. In general, the department stores have not been performing well," said Dorothy Lakner, retail analyst, CIBC World Markets. The big chains have not been doing well. Specialty retailers, again, not all of them have done well but some have done extraordinarily well. Tiffany is certainly a great example.

http://money.cnn.com/2000/08/16/investing/propicks/index.htm

A slowing economy, high oil prices and 'fashion malaise' make shoppers frugal:

http://money.cnn.com/2000/08/15/companies/retail/index.htm

Congress' Tax-Cutting Folly

-There is no good economic or social motive for the two $792 billion tax cuts just passed by the Republican Senate and House of Representatives.

-The record of economic forecasting is an abysmal one, not because the forecasters are stupid or biased but because the economy is just too complex to predict with any accuracy.

http://www.slate.com/id/1003322/

The Context: Cultural Indicators in Fashion Apparel and Accessories, 2000

Most of the cultural indicators of fashion apparel is found in the entertainment world through celebraties, movies, and T.V. There are a few other indicators such as the inspired styles from art work, latino spirit, african looks, and designer's lifestyles.

To read further:

Latino Spirit http://www.wgsn-edu.com/members/trends/track/womens/latinospirit/main.html



Tommy Hilfiger Solos at the Met
http://www.slate.com/id/1004131/



Lucky's Charms
http://www.slate.com/id/1005362/



How To Look at a City
http://www.slate.com/id/1005401/

The top 10 stories of 2000 from WWD

Key ideas: Internet stock market collapsed / consumer cut expenditure / soaring oil prices / Tom Ford’s succeed / trade issues.
This article showed how fashion connects with economy, technology, and politics.
LAW AND ORDERS
It was a great year if you were a lawyer, not so hot if you were a dot-com investor.
Many of 2000's most riveting stories could have come straight out of a TV courtroom drama, with bitter -- downright nasty -- accusations being hurled, quite publicly.
The travails of the stock market, especially the flameout of Internet issues, sent investors running for shelter, while a few fashion executives were arrested for stock fraud or creative accounting.
American consumers, meanwhile, began to temper their spendthrift ways. Pelted by soaring oil prices, bored by uninspiring fashions and distracted by post-election uncertainty, they slowed spending considerably, even as Asian markets rebounded.
The love affair with the corporate group strategy continued, as the powerhouses kept up their blistering pace of gobbling brands and new conglomerate-wannabes were born.
On the runways, fashion was fixated on Tom Ford's first collection for Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano's controversial Hobo Chic couture and the ascension of Imitation of Christ.
Of course, there were many significant developments in the first year of the new millennium -- not the least of which was that no Y2K bug ever materialized -- including breakthroughs like Burlington Industries' nanotechnology and landmarks in trade, passage of Africa-CBI and China gaining permanent normal trade relations status (its first step toward joining the WTO).
Here, WWD offers the top 10 stories of 2000.

From wwd.com

Business trends of 2000 (e-commercial business)

Key ideas: direction of e-commercial business's development.

2000's Top 10 Trends (e-commercial business)
NOTE: Mitchell Levy has put more details about the predictions into a book called "Happy About Knowing What to Expect in 2006". Read more about the book, or buy it in pdf or paperback formats.
NOTE: The italics represent the accuracy of the predictions as of 12/31/00

• #01 - B-to-B Growth Continues its Dramatic Pace: B-to-B growth will continue at its dramatic 1999 pace, leading to more liquidity in the B-to-B exchanges and inter-organizational virtual enterprises. Part of this growth will stem from the B-to-B practitioners borrowing successful techniques already proven in the B-to-C marketplace. (Correct)
• #02 - M&A Activity Escalates: Private, public, traditional and newly created corporate venture capital funds will increase the pace of mergers and acquisitions. We will continue to see the "dot.com's" snapping up physical real estate. In addition to technology and market share as reasons for acquisition, companies will be acquired for their employee base (technical and managerial). (Correct)
• #03 - Privacy Concerns Increase: Privacy concerns will increase in the U.S. as the public becomes more aware of how their Web site activity can be tracked, profiled, and merged with data collected from multiple off-line sources to reveal very "personal" information about themselves. (Correct - with a vengence)
• #04 - Dynamic Pricing Reaches Most Industries: Dynamic pricing will extend into numerous industries via the name-your-own-price model (such as Priceline) and the Auction (such as Ebay) model. (Didn't significantly materialize)
• #05 - ASP's Capabilities Expand: ASP's (Application Service Providers) will continue to increase the quantity and quality of their customers and the robustness of their service offerings. The ASP model, as it becomes more pervasive, will lead to a dramatic change in how the software industry produces and distributes software. (Correct)
• #06 - Wireless Applications Become More Common: Wireless Internet access will have rapid adoption in the U.S., possibly catching up to Europe. Wireless technology will be incorporated into standard business operations, will be used to deliver in-store competitive pricing, and remote e-mail anywhere, contributing to a steep rise in online usage. (First part, silly prediction, second part happened)
• #07 - Free Extends into B-to-B Space: "Free" continues as a B-to-C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce model and extends into the B-to-B (business-to-business) world. (Didn't significantly materialize)
• #08 - Customer-Centric Corporate Restructuring: For the Global 2000 companies that adapt and integrate the Internet into their businesses, a customer-centric view will start reshaping their culture and infrastructure. (Only partially correct)
• #09 - Executive Inability to Morph: The majority of Global 2000 corporations will recognize that e-commerce is a reality they must embrace, but the majority of top executives will be unable to "morph" their corporations into holistic Internet-enabled entities. (Correct - few exceptions)
• #10 - Expanded ECM Deployment: Brick-and-mortar companies will continue to deploy e-commerce efforts that integrate with their core business. After Y2K preparation and cleanup, e-commerce will hit the business world like a tidal wave. Year 2000 will see a significant increase in the number of traditional companies that extend their brands onto the Web and meld on and off-line marketing activities. (Correct)
  #Bonus Trend - Electronic Wallet Acceptance: Major in-roads will be made in the acceptance of electronic wallets. Driven by the success (and partial frustration) of the 1999 Christmas shopping season, consumers will be looking for an easier, quicker shopping experience. (Didn't happen)

From Ecnow.com

2000's top 10 events!

This article talk about top 10 electronics-related events. Moreover, the world have been enter the advanced information times.

Highline stories:

• 8. The wireless shortage. The incredible boom in sales of wireless handsets spurred the start of a new kind of shortage that the industry had never seen before: a paucity of a select group of components used in cell phones, including capacitors, RF devices and flash memory. Growth in wireless handset business in 2000 was actually limited by scarce availability of these parts, not by demand.


• 7. Dot-coms become dot-gones. In 1999 and early 2000, a large, insurgent group of start-up dot-coms promised to reshape the electronics supply chain and threatened to overturn the distribution establishment. However, the dot-com craze crashed on Wall Street and the industry seemed to come to the realization that clicks are nothing without bricks. By the end of 2000, the ranks of the dot-coms had thinned due to consolidation and the traditional distribution players were once again holding the reins of the business-to-business movement.


• 6. Wall Street punished success. The irrational exuberance of 1999 and early 2000, where dot-coms that had never made a penny achieved billions of dollars in market capitalization, was replaced by irrational pessimism. This pessimism caused the stocks of major microelectronics and capital-equipment firms to plunge, despite the fact that 2000 was shaping up to be the best year in the history of chip industry. Only time will tell if Wall Street knows something that the entire industry doesn't.


• 2. Communications takes over. Semiconductor industry observers long have predicted that communications would overtake computing as the growth driver for the industry. In 2000, these predictions finally came true. Communications applications now are driving every aspect of the chip industry, from fab strategies to EDA, product development, marketing and investor relations. Capacitors, flash and DSPs replaced graphics chips, DRAM and microprocessors as the hot -- and scarce -- products. The future leaders of the semiconductor market are those companies that are focused on the communications market.

From findarticles.com

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