Undeniably, this season has thrown the fashion world into unfamiliar territory. As an effect, consumer confidence is low but the luxury sector’s performance is on a high. The pound continues weakening while high street insists on lowering prices. A cold Spring and a warmer than usual Autumn has been the stuff of buyers’ and merchandisers’ nightmares.
The above circumstances created a perfect storm for the fashion market, with it suffering its deepest decline this month since 2009 at -1.9 per cent sweeping away £700 million from the market. Retailers, however, have not helped themselves by investing heavily in trend led products and ignoring the back to basics mentality that shoppers resort to in this volatile environment.
Latest data from Kantar Worldpanel’s Fashion Panel shows that product mix may be dragging the market down more than expected. Desperate to entice and engage shoppers, many high street brands made very bold buying decisions investing in trendy product offerings hoping to stand out from one another and appeal to millennial shoppers. By doing so, however, all of them now look like similar versions of themselves; compounding these decisions with the current retail climate and these retailers are all struggling in the same boat.
Analysing quarter year data on denim shows women’s jeans saw downslide at -6.8 per cent in the total denim market. Retailers followed fashion crowd’s lead by heavily promoting new cuts and styles of denim on high street. Wide leg, cropped flares, stepped and frayed hems are just some of the styles high street stores are championing this season, but this push of new styles onto consumers hasn’t translated into sales.
