In the future, what's uncool will become cool again
"The fashion magazines are suggesting that women wear fashions that are 'age appropriate.' For me, that would be a shroud." - Joan Rivers
Don't you wish that more things came with expiration dates? Corporate vice presidencies, for one. You'd just replace a VP after, say, 24 months, and you wouldn't have to keep sniffing, wondering if they're starting to go funky.
(By the way, an expiration date on promotions wouldn't mean you'd have to toss that person away, just the promotion. People would just take turns being in charge and that would take out the ego backspin. After all, we're all "interim"; it's that kind of planet.)
And while we're planning for the future, let's get clear on what really happens when we choose which business predictions to use. Forecasts are like dogs in the pound -- you pick the one that looks friendliest, then hope it doesn't chew up the couch.
What got me thinking about trends and obsolescence was talking with Chris Webb, the guy who's in charge of picking colors for all the
Some of you wise guys are thinking, "I wonder how long GM will be around," but I'm pleased to hear from Webb that its products are becoming fashionable.
Webb tells me: "For a long time people shied away from GM, but now they are coming to us. I recently did presentations for Hallmark and for Liz Claiborne." And let's give the GM folks some credit, the new designs and ads for GM are pretty cool. And so are the colors.
Okay, let's back up and say that most car colors are dull -- white, black, silver, and gray account for nearly 60 percent of cars purchased. So the action comes in appealing to the minority who want something brighter. That's mostly shades of red and blue, of course, but occasionally something new pops out.
Webb's department, for example, introduced that intriguing dark orange on the '03 Cadillac CTS. (You might remember those terrific commercials where a silver Cadillac was at a stop sign, then changed color as it sped up, as if the metal were going orange-hot.)
Always curious about the origin of ideas, I asked Webb the source of the orange car. He didn't hesitate: The idea originated from a presentation by Martha Stewart's company, showing how orange tones were showing up in home decor, even making their way into wallpaper books. This meant, Webb deduced, that a segment of the population would be comfortable with such a car . . . they'd be "at home" in it, so to speak.
As for other color choices, Webb tells me that his group attends presentations by a Parisian trend consultant and paint suppliers, as well as attending color shows and reading fashion magazines.
But he also utilizes a library of old auto magazines, knowing that old is new again. In fashion, you can regain your virginity just by disappearing for a while.
But back to the future: Webb is predicting a "return to the '50s," with its confidence showing in bold styles and colors. For 2010, he's going with bright blues and oranges.
Here in the present, Webb tells me that he drives a Saab convertible that's -- black! What does that say about him? He tells me, "Black is the car lover's color, because it's the hardest to keep clean." He adds, "Black never goes out of style, and it can make a bold statement."
Well, Webb had better hope that not everyone opts for a color that doesn't go out of style.
I once read the advice for forecasting that the safest bet is to predict that current trends will continue.
But in fashion, it's the opposite. You must predict that whatever is most hot will become . . . well, not cool . . . just not hot, which is the opposite of cool. And what's uncool will become cool again. Everything is "interim;" it's that kind of planet.
Dale Dauten is a syndicated columnist. He can be reached at dale@dauten.com. 
