Trickle Up

The Trickle Up or Bubble Up pattern is the newest of the fashion movement theories. In this theory the innovation is initiated from the street, so to speak, and adopted from lower income groups. The innovation eventually flows to upper- income; thus the movement is from the bottom up. 

An example of this, is when Chanel believed that fashion ideas originally came from the streets and then were adopted by couture designers. Many of her ideas were motivated by her perception of the needs for functional and comfortable dress. For example the t-shirt was originally worn by laborers as a practical undergarment, but has now been adopted as something normal and casual in the fashion world. 

Trickle Across

The Trickle Across theory is when fashion moves horizontally between groups on similar social levels. In the trickle across model, there is little lag time between adoption from one group to the other. Evidence for this theory occurs when a designer shows a look at the same time at prices ranging from high end to lower ready-to-wear.

Trickle Down 

The Trickle Down theory is when a trend is designed and shown in high end fashion shows by top designers such as Yves Saint Laurent or Balmain. So this makes the trend very expensive for other people to be able to wear. So the trend or style is then taken and/ or interpreted by high street shops such as New Look or Topshop and is made cheaper so people with a lot less money will be able to afford it. An examples of this is when Chanel introduced the grey overcoat on the runway, and then sometime later Topshop came out with the same product.