Age: 29, Los Angeles
The Analyzer
Fernando has been an Outlaw Trendsetter for eight years, and has sat on several Gen Y panels for us at conferences. He is incredibly skilled at observing trends happening around him, inhabiting the trendsetter world as an insider but also able to view it from a higher-level advantage. Here are selections from a 2008 interview with Fernando:
 
Job “I’m currently studying at FIDM, in a fashion/entrepreneurship program that focuses on apparel manufacturing. I also work full-time as a show co-ordinator for a trade show company. We put on trade shows for high-end lifestyle goods on the west coast.”
Hobbies “Scouting shops, looking for rare finds. I spend a lot of time looking for fabrics and trims and threads – might not sound like fun but I love it! I also love to hunt for vintage furniture items.”
Favorite Brands “I love Target. I especially love a brand they have there called Method. Their soaps and household products are very earth-friendly and gentle. I also really like their sense of design – the bottles have a clean aesthetic and they integrate well into your house.”
Past experiences “I studied film at USC and then entered into a series of unrelated jobs: first I was a paralegal, then I was a bookkeeper, then I got into graphic design, then I started working in the fashion industry. From there came my decision to go back to school for fashion.”
On color trends “I think the palette is becoming more muted, it’s more like earthbound colors – things that aren’t dyed with chemicals. Not those hyper bright colors that we were seeing last year. I think it’s connected to people wanting to be more green. Even the whites don’t look crisp white. There’s more cream in their tone.”
On indie culture “I’ve noticed a lot of big-name bands wanting to play with smaller indie names, and associating themselves with indie festivals and small venues. They’re coming down to our level. They’re also turning away from big labels in order to start their own, or work with these new promotional companies who get them closer to their fans. The non-indie world is operating with a different consciousness.”