Looking back at Fashion Month: our predicted customer shopping trends for Spring/Summer 2021
After months of unprecedented challenges across the retail industry – from manufacturing, supply chains, logistics and brick-and-mortar stores – Fashion Month still went ahead this September but in a much different way to usual. Many S/S21 shows were shown to small selective audiences, while others were presented digitally. Brands were also careful to abide by social distancing rules and avoided flagrant displays of wealth that may have shown insensitivity during a very difficult economic time.
Let’s take a look at the key insights from Fashion Month and our predicted customer shopping trends for Spring/Summer 2021.
Social issues will remain at the heart of consumers’ buying decisions
London’s Fashion Week took a slightly different turn this year due to COVID-19. And, while there were barely any catwalk shows, the Guardian reported that there were plenty of discussions around important social issues in the presentations that did go ahead. Osman Yousefzada, for example, showcased clothes made from last yards of fabric in its fashion week presentation while footage of the Black Lives Matter protests and female factory worker protests of the 1970s played in the backdrop.
This is an important message for retailers and a reminder of how consumers – especially those from Gen Z - now engage better and spend their money with brands that reflect a social conscience. Brands should show they care about timely social topics and reflect an understanding of the issues of their wider community including sustainability and inequality.
The demand for upcycled collections will continue
Designers that use deadstock to create new collections are becoming increasingly sought after, and fashion week saw many labels meeting this need. Virgil Abloh created his latest Louis Vuitton collection with used fabric from the house’s archive, while designer Collina Strada collaborated with Browns on a line of clothes sourced from a second-hand market in Accra. Premium womenswear label Rixo also recently launched its first sustainable collection called "Rixo Recycle".
Fashion retailers should strive to respond to this trend by creating new lines from used dead or second-hand stock, and be transparent about the sustainable and ethical practices of the manufacturing process. Repair and mend services are also reported to be becoming increasingly popular in British department stores. Offering a service such as this encourages consumers to love their favourite items for longer and maintains brand loyalty.
Retailers will need to recapture the imagination of its customers
While loungewear and Zoom dressing may have been the unofficial uniform of lockdown, Vogue reports that consumers are now looking for something to look forward to and fashion will play a big part in that. Retailers will need to re-capture and inspire the imagination of consumers with Spring/Summer 2021 collections full of bright spectrums of colour, bold prints and froufrou frills that are meant to be showed off – even if only to a socially distanced few. Designers want to encourage consumers to get dressed up again and boost their mood with a really great outfit.
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