Who Decides What Is Fashionable?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's the week of the Met Gala in New York and it's Fashion Week Minnesota, a week full of local runway shows. So the timing led to this Good Question: Who decides what is fashionable?

From the runways of New York to the sidewalks of Minneapolis, fashion is expressed in many ways.

Not only does fashion make you look a certain way, it can make you feel a certain way too.

Keiona Cook is a Minneapolis designer working hard to make her Friday runway debut during Fashion Week Minnesota.

"When I design garments, I design garments to make you feel like the most beautiful person in the world," she said.

But garments' colors, shapes and textures vary year to year, then circle back again, leading us to this question: Who do you think decides what is fashionable?

Cook explains where her peers get their cues.

"When it comes to the fashion industry, it's the people that have been around for a long time," she said. "If you can get somebody famous to wear something of yours, instantly it's fashionable."

Another reason things become "fashionable" year to year is because a color institute called Pantone releases new colors each year. This year's yellow and grey colors are representing strength and hope. Designers use the hues as inspiration.

Cook, who's using all west African prints to embrace today's style, also has a feel for tomorrow. Her prediction for the next big trend: "Trench coats."

Fashion Week Minnesota has fashion events Wednesday through Saturday. Click here for tickets.