3 Leading Trends In The Fashion Industry

The industry is not as it was a few years back and it’s all due to the emergence of major trends that have shaped the fashion industry to what we view it as today.It’s important to be aware of these trends as they have wide ranging effects on the consumers and the brands from what and where to buy to how we connect and market.

Backed by facts and figures, theses trends can help you grow your business. Consumers of this day are different and to attract them, new strategies have to be put in place in order for you to succeed and profit.

Let’s take a look at these leading trends,

More Strategic Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is the use of well-known social media influencers to market your product or service. Speaking from a consumer’s point of view, I personally vouch for how influencer’s have changed the way we consume information and they really affect our buying decision.

Marketers also agree with this sentiment as 80% found the use of influencers to positively impact engagement and awareness. Google trends stands as proof of this up and coming trend.

Snapshot of Google Trends Analysis on Influencer Marketing

Getting behind this trend will prove beneficial as other marketers have recognised this as 63% have increased their budgets for Influencer marketing according to Bloglovin.

Revolve is a great example of this trend as it’s known to work with influencers across their social media platforms to drive brand awareness and not to mention a humungous fan-base. It helps the people to buy products that are “in context” as Google reported 64% women shopping apparel from their smartphones are influenced in purchasing products that are displayed in that way.

Raissa Gerona, Revolve’s Vice President of Brand Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, says that the buzz influencers generate converts directly into real-time sales and this has helped Revolve to grow its $440 million dollar revenue by 50% in 2017.

It’s hard to understand the ROI from influencer marketing but sites like Linqia are helping out with that.

Personalisation and Custom experiences

“The savviest retailers are taking advantage of advancements in machine learning, deep analytics and AI for a more targeted and personalized shopping experience. Customers now have longer digital footprints, including shopping histories, social media profiles and interests.” said by Emily Bezzant, head analyst at retail technology and analysis platform EDITED in an article by Retail Dive.

This gives retailers an insight to a customised selection of products for the consumers. Different brands are going about this in different ways. Tommy Hilfiger launched the first Facebook messenger fashion bot for his collection with Gigi Hadid to interact and deliver content to customers.

On a product level, brands are offering customised and monogrammed accessories or handbags to meet a consumer’s individual style preference. Burberry started a monogrammed poncho in 2014 and it went so well they did personalised scarves the following year and they are still offering this service

Athleisure Grows

This new trend of the casualization of fashion has been growing since wellness has become a lifestyle and it’s predicted to reach $83 billion in global sales by 2020. A lot of brands including Zara, Cole Haan and Kate Spade launched athleisure lines. Existing activewear brands like Adidas, Nike have collaborated with fashion brands and this will keep on happening.

Major Brands such as Nike and Lululemon have benefitted from this trend but it’s harder for smaller retailers to jump on this bandwagon. A lot of celebrity collaborations work well, mostly the ones where the celebrity lives an active lifestyle and it doesn’t seem like a gimmick to further drive sales.

Beyonce co-founder of Sportswear Line IvyPark/ Photo Courtesy of Telegraph

Rihanna at the Fenty X Puma Launch/ Photo courtesy of Getty/Kevin Mazur

“It’s definitely not just for the gym,” says Kelly Wong, Lane Crawford’s general merchandise manager. “We encompass the idea of the customer lounging in athleisure, doing sports in them or even extending its versatility to wear to work and go straight to the gym afterwards, hassle-free.”

I think and untapped area of the casualization of fashion is definitely sleep or loungewear being worn as outfits. Silk tops and pyjamas have already been spotted but I think this market gap can be filled if a brand can successfully produce and market this clothing type.

All in all building relationships with consumers and providing what they want will help make brands more successful and the data shows it.