You've heard of weather forecasters and you probably wish you had a crystal ball to see into the future. But have you heard of a trend forecaster?

Twenty-year-old Chan DelValle does because she is pursuing a degree in 'Fashion Futures: Trend Forecasting and Prediction' at the University of East London, which teaches students how to predict what will be the next hot thing on the catwalk.

Apparently the person is known as a "cool hunter" and according to Ms DelValle, this is 'a person who predicts a colour theme or story of what's going to be in season in the next two or three years'.

She said: "Basically I want to be the person who tells a design house what's going to be in, what your season collection is going to be about, and how they are going to expand in the fashion world."

Asked which designers inspired her, Ms DelValle said: "At school you have to learn and find background information about a certain designer and I actually took a liking to Coco Chanel. I appreciate the journey the fashion house went through and how their marketing schemes are centred around planning.

"I am very inspired by her and Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director for the design house."

The fashion world is known as a highly competitive industry and Ms DelValle said: "I'm willing to sweat blood and tears to fight for a job within the industry.

"I'm very hardworking and I'm very competitve. I have a passion and love for fashion so the steps that I'm going to take include trying to get internships, networking with people in the fashion industry and sucking up all the knowledge in university so that I can do the best I can with my degree."

Ms DelValle, who is from St. George's, attended the Bermuda High School for Girls from year nine to year 11, where she did her GCSEs before studying for A Levels at The Belair School in Mandeville, Jamaica.

"At BHS I wanted to be a journalist and then at Belair I wanted to be a psychologist.

"I had to take a year off to really figure out what I really wanted to do at the end of my A Levels to try to decide which university and what career I wanted to pursue because all throughout my teenage life I didn't know what I had a passion and love for," she said.

Then while working at the Island's Calypso stores Ms DelValle realised what her passion really was.

"Working at Calypso and United Colors of Benetton helped to start my career in fashion and that helped me decide to pursue my passion. I love what I'm doing now," she added.

She decided to study fashion marketing at the American InterContinental University in London, before going onto the University of East London.

"At American InterContinental University I was able to learn different aspects of the fashion industry and although I was interested in fashion, I was unsure of what specific aspect of fashion I wanted to get into," Ms DelValle said.

She added: "Gradually, from learning for a year in the fashion-marketing programme, I decided that I loved learning how trends develop, what trends are inspired by, what seasons and what colour stories are influenced by and that made me want to be a trend forecaster.

"Fashion-marketing was more based on the business aspect which I did not like at all and also the school didn't provide a fashion environment that allowed us to creatively develop in the way that I wanted to.

"But doing a specific class that described trend forecasting and the colours and fabrics and textures that are involved is what made me change my mind to trend forecasting."

On the fashion scene in Bermuda, Ms DelValle said: "I believe that the fashion market in Bermuda is very conservative and very much the same.

"It sells the same look and I believe it lacks a creative aspect that would allow Bermuda to broaden as a country with fashion influence. The fashion stores don't bring in clothes that help Bermudians express themselves in the way that they want to."

She added: "Bermudians are very conservative with their look and are not very open-minded. I think they play safe.

"I hope for more diversity in the fashion industry here. I believe that we should have more open minds about different cultures and different ways of expressing ourselves through clothing."

Ms DelValle wants to use her degree to help Bermuda's fashion market by working with companies such as Hornburg Calypso to expand their fashion knowledge and to help predict what are the next big looks and what to bring in next.

"I think that studying a career in trend forecasting could allow me to make Bermudians more knowledgeable," she added.

When asked what advice she had for young Bermudians who wish to pursue a career in fashion, she said: "I think that they should be true to themselves. Bermudians think that because they know how to dress well then they should pursue a career in fashion.

"But after studying a career in the fashion industry you see that it is very competitive and realise that it's not about what you wear or about how you dress; it's a concept, a mind-thinking thing.

"Fashion is what you can bring to not only clothing but to a culture, to a set of people. Young Bermudians should start off by getting good grades and should take courses beforehand that would prepare them for fashion schools and institutes and also they should be persistent, learn how to network, be outgoing, be confident and be strong minded."

The self-proclaimed fashionista, who described her own personal style as 'chic eclectic', said she does not have a preference for designer clothes, accessories or labels. Instead she takes a more original and economic approach to fashion by shopping at many vintage European boutiques.

"I'm not into designer labels. Being in London and being in Europe, I have taken a liking to European vintage clothing – going to different markets, picking up different types of clothing, wearing upcoming new designers such as graduate students, styles that are out of this world.

"I like very different pieces. I like to be different but still be in style as well. I will wear the new fashion trend and mix it up with a personal twist, like add something to set myself apart from the crowd. But my outfit would still be different and leave people saying 'wow'."

The fashion student, who lives by Chanel's mantra that "fashion passes but style remains", shared her predictions for seasons to come.

"I believe that the older generational styles, such as the 70s and the 80s, are coming back in. Fashion repeats itself, for example, shoulder pads are coming back in style and bright skirts and colours from the 80s.

"Designers get a lot of inspiration from different eras. Some designers take their inspiration from architecture, but I tend to see that right now the trend continues with stuff coming from the 80s."

Sporting a bright yellow top and thick fuscia heels, seemingly a canvas for her predictions, Ms DelValle explained that fashion trend forecasting requires the skill set of being able to think outside the box, being creative in conceptualising ideas and being able to gather inspirations from different cultures.

"You need to have an eye for colour, for fabric and for textures. You have to be open minded and very diverse in the way that you think."