Happy stylish new year? Sequins add sparkle to lockdown loungewear as hopes soar
Sweatpants, leggings, slippers, Zoom shirts, wellies and padded jackets… 2020’s vogue traits highlighted the best way our lives moved from workplace to lounge and from bar to backyard. But how will a new 12 months – yet one more hopeful, with a post-vaccine future on the horizon – have an effect on vogue?
As the world opens up once more, vogue consultants assume that folks will purchase items which straddle a life-style beneath lockdown and the new regular, reasonably than utterly overhauling their wardrobes. Morgane Le Caer, information editor at vogue search platform Lyst, thinks this has already began to occur, with loungewear nonetheless fashionable, alongside velvet, sequined skirts and embellished sneakers – the form of gadgets that ought to be proven off past the laptop computer display screen. “While demand for relaxed, comfortable pieces is not going to change anytime soon,” she says, “choosing to dress up with mood-boosting pieces in tough times is a signal of optimism and positivity.”
Buyers agree that that is a time where adaptability and flexibility are key qualities for shoppers. Asos was on the coronary heart of the house exercise pattern in 2020, promoting 188,000 pairs of their 4505 leggings within the spring, and three million pairs of Nike trainers. Elsewhere, puffer jacket gross sales had been up 80% on the location. Vanessa Spence, its design director, says a sports-influenced informal look will stay necessary to its Gen Z prospects. “Loungewear blends into everyday life, offering people an outfit that will take them from sofa to supermarket,” she says. “We think there’s a real opportunity for this category to grow even further.”
For Spence, gadgets that may be dressed up or down will win the beginning of 2021. “Comfort and versatility are now key requirements,” she says. “It’s easy to dress jogging bottoms up with an oversized blazer, heels and a gold chain to go out… or keep the look cosy with the matching hoodie and a pair of slippers. It’s about finding those key pieces and working them multiple ways.”
At the luxurious finish of the trade, Natalie Kingham, international vogue officer at matchesfashion.com, experiences each “a new relaxed uniform, interspersed with sportswear-inflected pieces” and “a growing sense of optimism” the place “everyday pieces from Molly Goddard jeans to Elder Statesman knitwear were uplifted with bright bursts of colour and prints”. Kingham believes this cheerier temper will develop: “We will continue to celebrate how fashion can lift the spirits and spread joy.”
The amalgam of consolation clothes and dressing up to the nines was additionally seen on the current spring 2021 collections. A leotard and good trousers and unfastened co-ords had been seen at Bottega Veneta; dressed-up denim at Alexander McQueen; and biking shorts and blazers at Saint Laurent. Cycling shorts look to be a hit-in-waiting – they’ve already been road-tested by Emily in Paris star Lily Collins. Le Caer additionally namechecks new manufacturers, together with Paris Georgia from New Zealand, Bulgarian Chopova Lowena and South African label Thebe Magugu as ones to watch.
Spence says that the impact of a 12 months beneath lockdown meant that the expansion of burgeoning traits was accelerated. “We had predicted this trend pre-Covid with the rise of streetwear,” she says. Le Caer says the acceleration has additionally been noticeable in how shoppers purchase, as nicely as what they purchase. “We’ve seen about five years of e-commerce growth in five months,” she says.
While e-tailers like matchesfashion.com have benefited, Kingham says the enterprise has had to look once more at the way it communicates with prospects throughout a pandemic. “Normally a beautiful shoot on a beach with models interacting with each other can bring a new collection to life, but we knew this would not mirror the world we were living in,” she says. The retailer launched #checkingin as a hashtag on their Instagram account, which featured “women and men who are part of our community, getting glimpses into how they were coping, their tips and recommendations”. Kingham says prospects responded nicely.
Le Caer says a model’s values are actually a part of what attracts shoppers: “While shopping habits have understandably shifted, we know shoppers remain attracted to powerful labels and that they are increasingly interested in brands’ sustainability and diversity credentials.”
