WGSN Buyers’ Briefing: retail focus for Fall 2019
The trend forecasting site delivered a comprehensive retail-driven
summery of trends driving Fall/Winter 2019 sales for those walking the
floor of PROJECT Mens trade show this week to finalize their Winter buys.
Here is what will dominate compiled by color, pattern, materials and key items.
Overview
Dark and moody along with dusty, muted pastels are particularly
appealing to Gen Z customer. Greyscale colors are also resonating with the
younger consumer. A move towards trans-seasonality in both color and
textiles translates into pieces that can do well for both Fall and Spring.
Traditional fabrics return but with a remixed flair. The Palace x Polo
Ralph Lauren collaboration, Raf Simons for Calvin Klein, Virgil Abloh at
Vuitton and Japanese brand Needles have been identified as the major luxury
drivers shaping current mass market retail trends.
Color
Pink: Despite being a marketing cliche Millennial Pink continues to be a
favorite.
Purple: Entering the market as a contender for the pink throne, although
admittedly more difficult for all but luxury and youth-focused
retailers.
Hiking green: A symbol of the all-important wellness and active market,
expanding into head-to-toe green looks.
Warm grey: Part of a larger theme of traditional menswear’s sartorial
influences on the casual market.
Rich brown: A mid-century, retro shade, great for transition; nostalgic,
familiar, comforting and versatile.
Beige: A canvas to contrast pop colors and graphics.
Red: Intense and energetic or jewel-toned, turbo-charged shades bounce
off the neutrals in both tailoring and hoodies.
Off white: Non optic, a base with depth like the beige to support
contrasts.
Warm yellow: Between egg yolk and mustard, an unexpected warm shade for
Fall, doing well with younger consumers, possibly as a result of the
successful Palace x Polo Ralph Lauren/collaboration.
Vintage blue: The younger consumer’s reliance on denim, particularly
vintage or washed, inspires powdered blues and workwear shades.
Print and pattern
Check on check: Heritage plaids cut and pasted together; tattersalls
with tartans, glen plaids with windowpanes.
Natural camo: A catchall to describe everything from animal prints to
tie-dyes, landscape prints, easiest to style in monochromatic looks.
Slogans/text: Evocative of late 80s early 90s soccer hooliganwear, it is
ironic and meme-worthy; Slogans also appeal to the need for individualism
among younger consumers.
Contrast stripe: An oldie but subverted as prepwear returns, bold rugby
stripes sliced and spliced or embroidered upon in wild and contrasting
colors.
Homespun: All things DIY, sustainable and outdoorsy, patchwork, and an
emphasis on irregularity and celebrating imperfections.
Illustrated: Contemporary graphics, carefree graffiti, mindless
doodling, escapist prints. On the other side of the spectrum, hyper real
prints, photorealism, all-over scenics, the influence traced to Raf Simons
for Calvin Klein.
Fabric and detail
Fleece: May be THE trend of the season, making waves throughout the
entire market.
Cosy: oversize from simple zip-ups to Moto styles and
top coats.
Tactile: Flecked donegals, raised herringbones, bouclés, tweeds,
anything with a tactility falls into the sartorial skate trend; grown-up,
adult fabrics appeal to younger consumer.
Corduroy: Massive for several years, it appeals in new and interesting
ways, for example, oversized tailoring and worn like outerwear.
Brushed pile: Anything with a deep nap, pieced fleece is a great example
but also mohair, angora, and other long piles which work particularly well
in statement outerwear.
Velvet: Already elevated beyond occasionwear for a few seasons but now
strong in cut and sew, athleisure, trucker jackets, puffers, particularly
youth-friendly in shades of dirty neon.
Lustrous sheen: From coated nylon to recycled PVC which is trending on a
macro level as consumers gravitate to more sustainable options. Slick
heritage items in waxed cottons, oiled suedes, and performance fabrics are
great for statement outerwear with rack appeal.
Holographic: Indicative of where younger consumer’s head is at,
following on from successful high-tech transparent Nike footwear
innovations.
Blocking: No escaping 90s nostalgia, sailing, track jackets, and parkas
in dynamic blocked colors.
Sports taping: Bonding and piping, a detail once associated with
performance and garment interiors has become a featured embellishment
adding graphic appeal.
Fastenings: Hardware really communicates, a trend stemming from Prada’s
rubberized straps on joggers, and the Alyx seatbelt fastenings at Dior.
Also strong, bungees cords and draw pulls.
Cosy layers: An essential styling story, cardigans over sweaters, double
knit, treble knit, playing into the warm soft luxury that millennials are
looking for.
Prep revival: Collegiate trims, regalia, crests, letters all chopped up,
misplaced and collaged together, speaks to a street savvy consumer.
Key items: Jackets
Plaid appears in bombers, MA1s, Harringtons, CPAs, overshirts, utility
coats, and topcoats in stiff checked fabric. Boxy styles permit hoodies and
heavier cut-and-sew pieces to be worn underneath. Trucker, leather,
aviator, and pea coat styles are cut in a slouchier fit and workwear
influences abound from high visibility to denim, CPO shirts, and chore
jackets. The relaxed overcoat in soft proportions but with less drape and
more structure also accommodates layering. Soft tailoring worn with a
hoodie becomes more enticing for a younger market. Supreme created its
first tailored suit, a harbinger of more to come.
The anorak, a sportswear-driven authentic nylon performance item, in
simple windbreaker style or the more challenging pullover expedition
models. The puffer jacket, that protective weatherwear staple, spars with
the pieced fleece for the most important trend of the season, currently
owning 12 percent of the entire outerwear market, and growing. New shapes
and unexpected graphic placement of print or logo provide newness.
Key items: Pants
The cargo pant returns, a result of our fascination with pockets; seen
at Vuitton under Virgil Abloh pockets almost becomes bags, particularly
appealing to the younger consumer used to wearing fanny packs and drop
bags. Data demonstrates we have still not reached peak athlesiure but the
paneled jogger inspired by après-ski, incorporating angled panels in
luxurious fabrics such as leather provides new reason to buy. The
wide-legged pant in short, rigid canvas styles or the cosy draped variation
are both becoming mainstream for younger consumers, often pleated, in heavy
chino, worn in an ironic, non-formal way. 2018 was the year of the “dad
jean” which is still a key item for the younger consumer, high waisted,
featuring top-stitching in a variety of washes.
Key items: Tops
The second-skin rollneck, inspired by Calvin Klein’s 205W39NYC with its
wide range of color ways takes the market at all price points, great for
the prevalent layered styling and providing opportunity for those
unexpected yellows or purples to appear underneath T-shirts, hoodies or
jackets. The photo-print T, whether featuring mysterious opaque cultural
references allowing the wearer to feel part of an insiders’ club or
customer-friendly broad-appeal artistic prints, are popular, with placement
most commonly dead center, although slightly off-kilter placement is
popular too. The “shacket,” a shirt/jacket hybrid, is seen in worsted and
woolen pajama styles, and the ubiquitous hoodie updated with embroidery,
print, and clashing pattern.
Fashion editor Jackie Mallon is also an educator and author of Silk
for the Feed Dogs, a novel set in the international fashion
industry.
Images: FashionUnited