We venture to examine the two major categories of Mad Hatter costume designers.
The first category of Mad Hatter costume designers is that of those who come up with novel designs – which are meant to be pushed into the market to introduce new fashion trends. These are trend-setters, as opposed being trend-followers. Their designs are not influenced by what the market wants. Rather, they endeavor to influence the market through their designs. That is not as hard as it sounds: all it takes is to come up with a novel design, get a celebrity to endorse it, and soon or later, people start fancying it and it becomes a ‘fashion trend.’
The second category of Mad Hatter costume designers is that of those who come up with market-driven designs. These are designers who opt to play it safe. They first study the market to have a clear understanding what the market already needs, and then come up with designs that are in conformity with that.