Strategy 2021

Big Ideas
Womenswear

The five need-to-know strategic ideas that will

shape the womenswear market in 2021

Metal Magazine
 Action Points
Winning strategies for 2021 womenswear will realise the
untapped potential of retail rental, truly embed sustainable
practices into all areas of the business, and address the
biggest evolutions within this market's consumer mindset.
1. Adapt to changing consumer lifestyles. As a greater shift
takes place towards working from home and freelancing,
address how best to service this emerging sector.
2. The age of inclusivity has arrived: Ensure success by
embracing and elevating a true reflection of your brand's
demographic in your collateral.
3. Consider the rise of rental: Sustainability is central to the
success of all brands and new rental revenue streams will
emerge as viable and lucrative routes.
4. Prepare for the evolving influencer economy: As
consumers wise up to the saturation of heavy-handed
sponsored content, greater focus should be given to a
purposeful blend of the genuine and generated.
5. Focus on better, not more: Embrace new technologies
and platforms to meet growing consumer demand for an
environmentally sustainable future.

Vogue Arabia
 The Home Hub
As 2021 approaches, it's clear that the workplace is in
a period of flux as more employees move towards
arrangements that offer an improved work-life
balance. With flexibility becoming key, the home is
now much more than just a domestic environment.
Increasingly, it’s women who are choosing either
freelance or entrepreneurship in order to have
complete control over their schedule, time, money and
life-work integration.
This change demonstrates a shift in how people are
living and, therefore, dressing. Recent studies reveal
36% of the American workforce, or 57.3 million
people, now work in a freelance capacity, representing
a dramatic increase of more than 30% over the prior
year. The study predicts that within a decade,
freelancers will become the majority of the US
workforce. With this in mind, comfort and
performance are the two key areas of growth for
womenswear.
Swiss loungewear brand Hanro recorded double digit-
growth in 2018 for elevated nightwear alone, which
it attributes to the category’s shifting function.
However, this home workforce requires product that
allows them to not only feel comfortable, but also
confident and smart.
Going hand in hand with the continued importance of
self-care is the rise in products that feature performance
qualities, such as crease resistance, moisture wicking
and stain repellanct. New collections from Lunya and
Coyuchi incorporate innovative materials such Meneya,
a technical fibre that uses infrared energy to stimulate
cell performance and increase circulation of the wearer.
These spa-like qualities extend beyond comfort to boost
health and beauty. Base Range
Focus on versatile products that work harder. A
growing appetite for two-mile wear, which is
comfortable but fashion-forward enough to venture out
in, will result in lounge and sleep collections receiving
commercial luxury treatment.
"Inherent functionality is
fusing with new
aesthetics to create a new
category altogether for
confidence in the home."
– Ashley Merrill, founder, Lunya @c__l__o
The Age of The fast-paced fashion industry often
Inclusivity
seems fixated on youth, but the tide is
turning, as a new anti-ageing
movement is taking hold.
Entering a 'Greynnaisance', Cotton On cast
66-year-old Jacky O’Shaughnessy in a
recent intimates campaign, while Maryam
Nassir Zadeh, Tome and Dries Van Noten
all selected models aged 40+ as part of
their catwalk line-ups. This shows a shift
from age homogeneity and demonstrates
how brands are not only recognising, but
also addressing the needs of mid-life
women (40-65). The celebration of 'girl
gaze' excites and inspires all women,
regardless of age.
With improvements in health care and a
greater awareness of the importance of
active lifestyles, a longevity boom is getting
underway as we enter the super-consumer
golden age.
40+ women today look, feel and live
differently than the generation before them.
“90% consider themselves to have a much
younger attitude than their own mother’s
generation at the same age”, says Rebecca
Rhodes, founder of 'ageless agency'
SuperHuman.
Mid-life women are asset-rich, often the first
Tome generation to attend university and
"When you show an older woman
in a campaign, not only does she
have the power to inspire a
younger person, but also the
power to inspire her generation.”
– Ari Seth Cohen, author and
photographer
hold executive jobs, and they’re inheriting
from the Baby Boomers before them. These
consumers are engaged with the desire to
look and feel better. US women aged 50+
comprise the largest demographic of
incomes over $100,000 and control 95% of
household purchasing decisions, with a
staggering 82% of them open to new
brands. Opportunity is ripe and overlooking
this demographic has consequences.
Almost half (49%) of those questioned in a
recent Marketing Week survey say they
would avoid brands who ignore them.
To ensure you are fulfilling the needs of
consumers and maximising potential profit,
consider the fluidity of this demographic
and the potential to develop brand loyalty
by catering to their differing life stages.
 The Rise of Rental
By 2021 sustainability will be far beyond a buzzword, Even in markets where secondhand or vintage has
instead becoming a purchasing prerequisite. traditionally been a turn off, brands such as Alibaba-
backed YCloset are flourishing. The Beijing-based start-
With consumer awareness and appetite for smart
up uses a model similar to Rent the Runway, but the
solutions growing, retail rental has emerged as a
concept has been adapted to young Chinese
viable option. Exploring a Millennial mindset, the
consumers’ shopping habits, as well as compact living
market is now well acquainted with the sharing
and a unique credit environment. As of August 2017, it
economy and consumers are seeking ever more
had one million users and was reportedly doubling its
personalised and authentic experiences, especially in
customer base every couple of months, with a value of YCloset
their wardrobes.
$500m.
Renting apparel is not a new concept, with the "high-
With smartphone integration, these sharing apps
priced items worn for a single occasion" approach
provide greater access to once exclusive or elusive
having long been available from sites such as Front
labels. This goes hand in hand with the clout of social
Row and Girl Meets Dress. However, it's the
media and the frequency of outfit wearing, in that
subscription services which offer loans on everyday
younger users share they don't want to "double post" a
items that are beginning to gain serious traction. A
look to Snapchat or Instagram. Rental allows for a new
slew of new platforms such as Hire Studio and Wear
way of consumption.
the Walk are demonstrating this fresh shift.
Given the growth of the shared economy and
Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, East London,
'generation rent', it's evident there is success to be had
launched the first streetwear hire pop-up store, The
in simplicity. Retail rental exemplifies the concept of
Drop, late 2018, offering youth-centric and streetwear
using what's already available and sharing it with
items for hire. This feeds into the conversation
others.
around evolved luxury and exploring a new revenue
stream outside of the occasionwear category. Truly successful strategies will consider how this shift
isn't focused solely on driving product ownership, but
also leverages a brand's sartorial capital to benefit the
environment.
Westfield
 The Influencer Economy
Despite the well-documented development of the
influencer economy, we’re now seeing significant
shifts in the relationships between brands and
influencers, and most importantly, how the
consumer is responding to them. The new Netflix
documentary The American Meme offers a glimpse
into the lives of social-media influencers, tracking
their paths to online celebrity. This, alongside recent
revelations around influencer bots, fake followers
and data privacy, all act to fuel fatigue around
glossy 'paid-for lifestyles'. Pressure for transparency
welcomes a new age; one where brands focus on
long-term relationships with genuine ambassadors
of their products, rather than one-off or fleeting
partnerships.
With 88% of consumers trusting online peer reviews
more than traditional advertising, and more than
40% of Millennials using ad blockers, consumers
now have a highly trained radar for #SponCon. Two
distinct tribes are emerging: the hyper real and the
hyper digital. But rather than one challenging the
other, it’s fostering true transparency – VR-created
influencers, where what you see is what you get, are
a breath of
fresh air in a crowded environment. Tech
programming has started to show that humans and
the VR community are no longer mutually exclusive.
Lil Miquela is now a familiar face to many after being
announced as guest editor for Dazed.com and
featuring as the face of Ugg’s A/W 18/19 marketing
campaign, where she starred in print and online
alongside model Adwoa Aboah – a purposeful blend
@balenciaga
of genuine and generated.
Balenciaga too recently collaborated with digital artist
Yilmaz Sen to generate 'pixellated it-girls' to showcase
product. Givenchy, Balmain and Louis Vuitton have
also experimented with this medium. Even
mainstream brands such as H&M’s youth label
Weekday have begun applying a similar approach to
their social campaigns.
Trends are moving towards a welcome celebration of
truth, imperfection, and honesty – even if they are
'designed in' or noticeably generated. When it comes
to influencers, the most successful brands will work
towards alignment and a good brand fit to focus on
the quality of engagement, rather than chasing those
with the most followers.
@lilmiquela
 The End of More
Armed with the knowledge that around 30% of all
clothes globally are never sold, the 'buy less, buy
better' philosophy has been quietly gaining
momentum as a counter option to the overflow of
fast fashion on the high street. However, it isn’t
always straightforward for brands to achieve. We
only have to look to the recent backlash when
Burberry burned $37.8 million of unwanted products
last year, sparking environmental concerns from
shareholders and a debate over the wastage by a
luxury brand. So how should brands respond to this
change and build a more sustainable story? In short,
by showing authenticity and creating products that
have built-in value, quality and longevity, creating a
new focus for affordable luxury.
Shoppers are looking for better quality on the high
street and are interested in niche 'slow-fashion'
brands that build transparency, ethics and
sustainability into their DNA. Platforms such as
Antibad have stepped into this space – the new
womenswear online retailer, touted as the “green Net-
a-Porter”, recently partnered with musician Ben
Howard to create a high-quality, ethical, upcycled
merch collection.
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Technology can help empower consumers and brands
to make smarter choices. Personal styling app Cladwell,
which has raised $3m in seed funding, helps users
discover their ideal wardrobe. Similar to the Clean Out
Bag by clothing brand Brass, the app encourages users
to re-evaluate excess clothing. It automatically assigns
a red dot to items that haven't been worn in a month,
and pulls the daily weather forecast and the user’s
planned activities to generate outfit ideas. The free Good On You App
Good On You app is another solution; it rates
mainstream brands based on publicly available
information.
Designing for longevity will be imperative and non-
negotiable in 2021, even if it means increasing prices to
incorporate the changes.
"Buy well,
choose less,
make it last."
Vivienne Westwood
Antibad