Stitch Fix (NASDAQ: SFIX), the world’s leading online personalized shopping experience, today released its inaugural Style Forecast that reveals key trends for 2022, including “Business Comfort” as the new workwear category, growth in versatile athleisure styles, bold colors and patterns and the resurgence of categories like jeans, heels and dresses. The report also highlights frustrations people have with traditional online shopping, like not knowing the fit before buying and spending hours scrolling to find what they want.
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The comprehensive Style Forecast integrates Stitch Fix sales and shopping insights from 4.2 million clients and thousands of Stitch Fix Stylists, combined with consumer surveys and industry data to provide a robust look into what’s trending in real life — not just the fashion runways. Stitch Fix has billions of style data points gathered by advanced algorithms and data science teams, from detailed style feedback that clients voluntarily leave, that provide a continual pulse on what people want to purchase, how often and why.
“From the very beginning, Stitch Fix has brought together advanced data science and a human touch to transform the way people find the clothes that help them look and feel their best. From this data, we also gather insights into broader style trends in the market and what’s motivating these trends — which has been particularly important over the last two years to navigate changing consumer preferences in an uncertain time,” said Elizabeth Spaulding, CEO, Stitch Fix. “We hope the Style Forecast offers fashion perspective beyond the runway trends to help people and our brand partners better understand what’s trending in everyday life as we head into the new year and embrace a ‘new normal’ together.”
Following are notable findings from the 2022 Stitch Fix Style Forecast. To read the full report, visit StitchFix.com/StyleForecast.
The COVID Closet Clearout:
- Two-thirds of consumers (67%) plan to replace one-third of their wardrobe, with 33% planning to replace at least half — and nearly 4 in 5 millennials (79%) are likely to refresh their wardrobe.1
- Style preferences have changed: 58% of Stitch Fix Women’s clients and 53% of Men’s said their look changed during the pandemic, and they expect those changes to continue in the near term.
Unexpected style influencers:
- Amanda Gorman is 2021’s most unexpected style icon, as Stitch Fix client requests for headbands surged 600% year over year after she donned a statement headband at the Inauguration — while Harry Styles is the most stylish celebrity of the year, as requests mentioning the fashion icon shot up 160% from 2020 after his “Love on Tour” shows kicked off.
- Meanwhile, Stitch Fix clients are also turning to TikTok influencers for style guidance: client request notes with “TikTok” increased 75% year over year, with some of the hottest looks including Y2K, Cottagecore and Dark Academia.
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The Color of the Year is Vibrant Magenta:
- Runner ups include purple, mint and mustard for women — and dusty lavender, dark green and coral for men.
- More than one-third (36%) of consumers say they’re excited for bright, saturated colors in 2022.1 Patterns — like colorblock, checks and graphics — are taking off as well, with 25% of consumers planning to wear them more often.1
Business Comfort (not casual) is the future of workwear:
- Nearly one-third (31%) of consumers say they would rather take a 10% pay cut than dress up for work every day.1 Nearly 4 in 5 Americans (77%) have sworn off at least some business clothes for good,1 with nearly half (45%) of people dying to ditch business suits and a third (31%) wanting to ditch dress pants. Over half (51%) of Boomers say they will never wear a business suit again.
- A new category that Stitch Fix has labeled “Business Comfort” has emerged, proving you can have style and comfort that’s more sophisticated than the former “casual” classification. This is seen in oversized stretch blazers, elastic-waist bottoms, sweater dresses and new “Knoven” tops (knit + woven material).
Denim & dresses return to the daily wardrobe:
- Jeans sales increased 30% year over year on Stitch Fix, and Women’s wide leg sales are up 70% while the growth rate of skinny jeans has declined in the same time period, following their “roasting” on TikTok in the winter and a fashion trend towards style and comfort.
- Everyday dresses are also thriving, and Stitch Fix has grown inventory 40% year over year to meet demand. Some of the top styles include maxi dresses, which have seen a 60% year-over-year sales growth; dresses in natural fabrics like linen, poplin and gauze; and bright, optimistic colors and prints.
All-purpose athleisure & performance-focused active:
- Athleisure remains Stitch Fix’s fastest-growing category, while performance-driven active sales are also growing (Women’s 300%+, Men’s 100%+ year over year) as people have picked up new sports like tennis, golf and hiking. Trending styles for the category are skorts and skirts, bike shorts, hiking shorts and performance polos.
Increasingly out & about:
- While workwear is all about comfort, more than half (55%) of consumers said they are excited to get dressed up to go out, with 44% actively planning to replace their going-out clothes — this is 61% among Gen Z.1
- Supporting this, Stitch Fix sales in the special occasion category increased 50% year over year indicating that people are, in fact, going out again. And fancy footwear is growing faster — the sales of booties and high heels each increased by about 70% year over year as tall boots sales grew 150% in the same period.
