At any one time, tens of thousands of designers are sketching out their latest ideas, selecting appropriate fabrics, and planning how their creations should debut on the catwalk.

And in the “global village” – where social, political, and cultural information whizzes around constantly and near instantaneously – keeping up with these developments is virtually impossible.

But those of us who want to follow, first-hand, global fashion trends as they happen have at least one tool at our disposal: EDITD.

EDITD is being used to inform an increasing number of retail professionals’ decisions, collects real-time data about what’s trending in the fashion world, what the biggest brands are up to, and how market prices are changing.

All of this information can then be accessed quickly and easily, saving retail professionals countless hours labouring over their own research (learn more about EDITD).

But, whereas EDITD’s software is only really pertinent to those currently working in retail, the company’s regular free reports are an invaluable resource for anyone – from bloggers to designers with limited resources – struggling to keep up with the industry.

The latest of these covers London and Milan Fashion Weeks and analyses every single garment shown during the event in order to pick out the themes, prints, fabrics, colours, and shapes that will define the new season.

This season the strong trends reported are velvet, high necklines, embellishments and stripes. The 70’s theme was dominant in both London and Milan and on that theme the big commercial hits are predicted to be flares, fringing and fun furs.

Speaking about how professionals can use EDITD's offerings, Katie Smith, senior retail analyst at EDITD, said:

"Retail professionals use EDITD’s analysis because it’s quantitative. They can track the performance of a trend over time and, alongside historical data, confirm that the products they're looking to launch are going to perform well in their market. EDITD data helps buyers, merchandisers, designers, ecommerce and strategy teams have the right products at the right price, and at the right time."

So, why not check out the latest reports and email us what you think?