And, the number one goggled fashion trend of the Year 2014 is ‘Normcore'

The word Normcore (blend of ‘Normal’ & ‘Hardcore’), first coined by a New York based forecasting agency K-Hole, as part of the forecasting report “Youth Mode: A Report Freedom”, is declared as the number one googled fashion trend of the year 2014.The result was unveiled by the popular search engine  on its annual ‘ A Year in Search’ report . According to Vogue, the word means a collective, neutral blandness – eschewing obvious markers of luxury, fashion and distinctive style and instead opting for a lower key, cool look with a dash of athleticism and a whiny of the ‘90s.

As per Wikipedia, the word means a unisex fashion trend characterized by unpretentious, average-looking clothing. Embraced by various retail brands like GAP, Jack and Jones, Superdry; Normcore followers do not wish to distinguish themselves from others by their clothing. The fashion industry also stated that this does not mean that they are unfashionable people who wear ugly clothes or whatever comes to hand, but they deliberately chose clothes that are undistinguished to create that blandness. Normcore pieces include daily wear items such as white sneakers,denim button downs, T-shirts, jeans, chinos, hoodies and white socks, worn by both the genders, with an element of non-exclusivity. The trend is a result of oversaturation of Fashion and the ever changing cycle of fashion trends.

However, K-HOLE has a very different take on Normcore. While speaking to NYmag, Emily Segal , one of the founders of K-HOLE insists that Normcore isn’t about one specific aesthetic. “It’s not about being simple or forfeiting individuality to become a bland, uniform mass,” she explains. Rather, it’s about welcoming the possibility of being recognizable, of looking like other people—and “seeing that as an opportunity for connection, instead of as evidence that your identity has dissolved.” The agency also describes Normcore as a theory rather than a look.

And then there are other school of thought who calls it ‘anti-fashion’ or ‘anti-trends’. Irrespective of whatever it is, we can’t deny the fact that it has become a part of mainstream fashion sub-culture study.

Listed below are the other top 20 most googled 2014 fashion trends.

1. Normcore
2. Health goth
3. Athleisure
4. Wearables
5. Crop tops
6. Designer collaboration
7. Over-the-knee boots
8. Full skirts
9. Culottes
10. Mules
11. Street style
12. Capes
13. Mesh
14. Tartan
15. Fashion sneakers
16. Mod style
17. Suede
18. Iridescence
19. Embroidered denim
20.Velvet

(Image Credit:Style.com & Pinterest)