About

Each company has its unique history, product range, brand identity, and target group. As a result, decision-makers and creatives in these organizations look for personalized information and inspiration that meets their specific needs.

At DMI, we meet these diverse demands through a wide range of resources. Our offerings range from digital files and printed materials with fabric samples to live events, streaming services, large-scale gatherings, and customized in-house consulting.

History

The German Fashion Institute has its origins in the 1920s. Nearly a century later, DMI continues to serve as a vital network for the fashion and creative industries. Using advanced technology, we focus on our original mission: to detect, evaluate, and analyze global trend developments on a level that individual companies in the fashion and lifestyle sectors cannot achieve independently.

Today, DMI has evolved beyond being exclusively “German,” “fashion,” or an “institute.” In collaboration with key trend institutions in leading industrial nations, we keep companies worldwide informed about the latest developments across all relevant markets.

Our trend expertise extends beyond the fashion industry to encompass various lifestyle and consumer goods sectors where aesthetics and product colour are essential, such as cosmetics, plastics, stationery, and automotive industries.

Philosophy

We believe that design is more than skin deep; it is successful only when it authentically reflects the changes taking place below the surface.

At DMI, we focus on understanding the “why” behind trends, while many trend providers typically concentrate only on the “what”. By making transparent where trends originate, we empower our clients to think independently and interpret these trends in a way that matches with their products and brands.

Traditional trend providers often overwhelm clients with images and information. However, the real challenge for creatives today lies not in the shortage of resources but in the limited time available to sort through and assess them. Modern trend analysis is about filtering out groundbreaking visuals from the wide range of options and extracting relevant insights from the flood of data.

Target

We believe effective trend forecasting requires a blend of big data to understand current trends and human intuition to predict future ones. That’s why we combine all globally available market data and trend indicators at DMI.

Using these insights, we collaborate with analysts worldwide to develop the most accurate forecasts. In contrast, many other trend providers count entirely on the opinions of their authors or base their predictions on limited analyses.
DMI is at the forefront of the digital transformation. Nonetheless, we recognize that products thrive on personal connections and tactile experiences.

Our in-person DMI events—where creatives and decision-makers come together to share insights, exchange ideas, and network—remain irreplaceable. Additionally, we offer our trend presentations online, allowing you to stream them conveniently on your device whenever and wherever you choose.

When you order trend colours from DMI, you receive both physical colour cards and tactile fabric samples to explore, along with digitized colour values available in DMI SPACE and DMIx CLOUD for seamless integration into your digital design and product development processes.

Our answer to the question of “analog or digital?” is simply: “both!”