The age old saying ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ really has been taken lightly. Retail brands have played it safe in terms of design, aesthetics and colour. Creating simple and beautiful garments that are easy on the eye for the majority. Nothing wrong with that. However in 2018 there’s a real desire for something unconventional and unexpected.
Fashion really does have to keep up with the young. If there’s one thing we know about our youth right now, it’s that they are increasingly embracing imperfections. They are also way more open-minded, wanting to shatter the ‘system’. They are attracted to weird (wonderful) and eye-catching visuals that the generation before them wouldn’t take a second look at. Reasonable, since the previous generation grew up with tradition where as they are growing up with greater freedom.
A traditional brand like Converse is acting on this insight. Having turned their timeless white Chuck Taylors into unconventional pieces of art.
This has happened only after seeing that consumers were doing the unconventional for themselves.
The youth are increasingly attracted to that which is unconventional because of their free-spirited approach to life. They find beauty in the unusual and it influences their taste in fashion. It is this perception that is being brought to life in their appearance.
Funnily enough fashion retailers do not create the ‘unusual’. Offerings are very repetitive and safe for the most part. That’s why there is a greater love for smaller fashion brands that have greater freedom and take risks in their offerings.
This insight really has unlimited visual representations and can be played with a whole lot by fashion retailers and entrepreneurs. Giving the millennial consumer the platform to express their individualistic flair. A flair which may be weird and ‘unconventional’ but to them it’s beautiful.
Vans is a popular shoe amongst the young. Being unconventional in their approach to sneaker design and communication.
In 2018, the quirkier your offerings are the more attractive you will be to the millennial consumer.
