Big brother is watching you — more specifically, what you’re buying. Thanks to fashion-centric big data firm Edited, which digitally tracks around 450 million pieces of clothing from 90,000 brands sold online, we now have quantifiable evidence that bomber jackets, sheer fabrics, off-the-shoulder tops and slip dresses were this season’s biggest hits — and might just reappear on the runways.
By continually monitoring when merchants added looks to their sites, slashed prices and sold out of styles, Edited was able to paint a picture of not only what brands are peddling, but which fashion trends the global fashion set is picking up.
For instance, the trusty bomber jacket, preferred top layer of the Hadid sisters, fared better than its laid-back denim and leather biker cousins when it came to online sales. Only 22 percent of spring bombers made it to the price chopping block, while 30 percent of denim and biker toppers were placed on sale. It follows that market-savvy retailers are propagating the trend — stateside, 20 percent of the bombers now available online have been stocked within the past two weeks.
A slip dress on the Céline Spring 2016 runway; Image: Imaxtree
Additionally, tulle skirts, seemingly a niche item, resisted discounting this spring. While skin-baring fabrics may not have gotten their usual due at this year’s VMAs (although Ashley Graham and Kim Kardashian showed their staunch support), tulles and sheers are poised to be Spring 2017’s breakout materials. “Sheers will offer an ultrafeminine antidote to gender-neutral dressing and the sports aesthetic,” Katie Smith, Edited’s senior fashion and retail market analyst, told WWD, citing pre-collections from Erdem, Moschino and Gucci.
Any warm weather trend analysis would be remiss to forget the bare shoulder trend, which saw a staggering 9,000 styles hit the U.S. online market these past few months. The clavicle-complementing Bardot styles outperformed peekaboo shoulders (but you didn’t need an analytics firm to tell you that). Smith also expects slip dresses, another ubiquitous item that slayed the luxury market in particular, to stick around.
Last but not least, living up to their basic-but-not-basic label, white shirts of all kinds are currently “dominating” the online scene. In the past month, fifty-three retailers featured porcelain toppers in their newsletters. Personally, we’re feeling the oversized, half-tucked button-down with jeans look.
While even a quick glance around a subway car reaffirms the selling power of these styles, there’s no taking the X factor out of Fashion Month. Here’s hoping designers resist the urge to play it safe, throw us collections completely out of left field and send the fashion trend vane spinning.
[ via WWD ]
