00 — Introduction: In Plain Sight
Exploring the context of contemporary casualwear and the key items that seem to have quietly grown to be what everyone wants to wear, but not necessarily talk about – until now.
Back to Basics:
The Hoodie Reflex
Basics are identified through an examination of socio-economic, cultural, and fashion trends along with the brand strategies that shape today's contemporary casual fashion.
Published
16 October 2024
By
Marian Park
Image Credits
Fig. 1. A typical product–focused moodboard of a ‘basics’ collection, capsule, or range within a highly commercial, apparel lens. A more conceptual, macro moodboard would include pictures of interior design, aspirational wellness imagery, beauty close-ups, and streetstyle/ candid photos of frequently referenced muses such as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Princess Diana, along with top models and celebrities from the 90s to the mid-2000s. There is usually an obvious issue of diversity and size inclusion at the initial moodboard stage, which typically extends into the product ranges and into the execution of marketing. This collage was made in 2020.
Background
This piece started as something called ‘The Basics’, which aimed to create a framework, or product architecture around quasi–minimalist basics at the height of Normcore in 2020, as a business opportunity. It was abundantly clear that the margins were high, and there was money to be made, but at the same time there were palpable risks for significant losses too. A brand needs to be tied with a lifestyle to succeed, and it was a time of uncertain market projection with COVID in full swing. The homebody lifestyle attached to a pandemic was not one to bet on. Case in point: The New York Times’ article called Sweatpants Forever showcased the +662% year-on-year growth and success of Scott Sternberg’s brand, Entireworld in August 2020, only for Sternberg to shut down the business less than a year later.
While the original ‘The Basics’ was neglected, the work made for a great archival insight to what the state of streetwear and contemporary casual fashion was and projected to be. From Bobby Hundreds’ essay, ‘Streetwear is Dead’, to the over-saturation of branded merch and tie-dye sweatpants, the state of cut-and-sew basics were tapped to have a downfall through its ties with mass-market trends. The womenswear market was abuzz with the idea of a ‘Roaring ‘20s’ and the return of the heel, only for the market to revert back to what we now understand as streetwear, casualwear and athleisure basics.
This exploration of cut-and-sew basics resonates heavily today, especially since a key point of interest this past A/W 23/24 was Gen-Z’s hunt for the perfect hoodie. Consumers asked out into their social–media abyss ‘Is your hoodie hoodie-ing?’ and shared ‘Hoodies that hood’ in their season of hibernation.
Hoodies were aconversation.
Hoodies becamelore.
The debate, sharing, and reviewing of hoodies for their shape, weight, comfort, and details became a public peer-to-peer design sync. A free focus group session on the state of casualwear, right at our fingertips.
It became clear that streetwear was not dead, like many had claimed a few years ago. It merely underwent a new branding to suit a new generation. Streetwear now encapsulated a point of essential, which comes with an unspoken understanding of a youthful comfy[1] cool. What Entireworld’s Sternberg didn’t bet on was the unfolding cost of living crisis and a collective anxiety about the future post-COVID. He didn’t anticipate that their millennial-focused brand messaging around perennial ‘everything-dressing’ would resonate with Gen Z, and that their preference to don a hoodie to cocoon themselves through tough times, lie flat, bed rot, face the world, and more – would become a reflex.
Interestingly, this very commercial, casual appeal of the humble hoodie is neither quite Streetwear with a capital S nor Quiet Luxury, the minimalist trend du jour. The product itself is not a trend headline, but a product highlight. It feels as if it emerged as a viral item out of seasonal habit and practical wearability (with no specificity on brand). It pops up on your #ForYou feed as if you were chosen to know all about it. A distaste for mass-saturation and an emerging search for the independently styled self is shifting the sentiment of hype to an ‘IYKYK’, after all.
The hoodie itself has a complex significance2.
Unlike the t-shirt or a standard sweatshirt, the hoodie is burdened with a myriad of cultural meanings and contextual significance from its history – especially in youth culture. Branding or the wearer’s profile shape-shifts the item from context to context. The hoodie is connected to a nameless analog trend, or an invisible one, in the sense that it’s core–less: the result of being a sum of fashion, dress, and cultural history. Specific elements of the item, such as the fit or material, are what make the essence of this ‘no makeup make-up’ or ‘non-fashion, fashion’ trend and relevant to today's idea of contemporary dress.
The ideal hoodie has several key characteristics, according to online discourse: The neck must not be too tight, appearing almost worn-in. The perfect hood is circular – almost geometrically accurate – comfortably crowning the head to fit a hat or the over-the-ear headphones underneath as well. The fit should be a mix between boxy and relaxed, with a ‘potato sack body’ nipping exactly at the waist. And finally, the material? A quality heavyweight cotton.
The very construction details and fashion product design that consumers often overlook in a world of fast fashion and fast trends are becoming important. These details are becoming a trend themselves – right in plain sight.
Fig. 2. By reviewing Seventh Store's V2 Hoodie Instagram post, we can understand the concept and product attributes that reflect the market's appetite for the perfect hoodie, as well as the creative thinking behind it. The pictured V2 Zip-Up Hoodie retails for $280 USD and is 50% cotton, 50% polyester.
Since 2020, the all-encompassing algorithm has created a sense of need or urgency in fashion consumption. The speed of micro-trends has meant that certain trends, or items have become basics or essentials as an analog alternative to digital trends, and as a way to ground the fleeting trend stories that gamified fashion – with a plethora of Shein hauls to accommodate. This elusive category expanded beyond the cut-and-sew basics that the industry is familiar with, and grew to include items like the basic slip skirt or blazer.
Everything became an essential, iconic, classic, must-have-for-capsule-wardrobe basic to suit a curated lifestyle for the aesthetic-savvy.
It worked in our rat race of staying on top of the latest trend, first. Basics fashion, under the guise of quiet luxury and minimalism, kept us afloat. It became a way to represent rebellion through non-participation, or to signal that being trendless was the ultimate display of taste.
Together with this resurgence of the hoodie in the wider market across various consumer segments, the pieces were coming together: a somewhat distinct range of basics that draw in elements of streetwear, minimalism, sartorial menswear, performative wellness via athleisure, luxury, and more, were the drivers that ultimately led to the hoodie discourse. It was less about the capsule wardrobe edits by stylists or digital curators, and more about the coming together of hero cut-and-sew pieces that pair with larger trending items.
And they were all being tagged under the singular umbrella of 'basics'. It became apparent to identify these key items for the items themselves and deliver a concept around them.
The New York Times Magazine, August 6,2020
Entireworld, circa 2020
@jigglyjulia, the instigator of the hoodie discourse on TikTok: “There are two types of hoodies. The ‘airport hoodie’ and ‘the fit’ hoodie - the hoodie that you wear when you want to look cool.”
[1] Though "comfy" is an abbreviated term that emerged centuries ago, its use - and especially that of "uncomfy” - has become part of Gen-Z slang to describe their anxiety, awkward social interactions, and clothing. A casual, almost childish approach to slang seemingly rejects adulthood or warrants their youthful status and emotions, spreading quickly within online pop culture (think: delulu, borked, yeet, sksksk). The Atlantic defined this as 'kidspeak' in 2019, explaining how 'smol' is "not merely a way of spelling small, but a more specific term referring to diminutive cuteness”. 'Uncomfy' functions similarly, gaining popularity through YouTube Day in the Life vlogs around 2019-2020 as Gen–Z graduated high school in the pandemic. Notably, the use of ‘uncomfy’ in describing clothing has provided insight into flaws in product design, especially for hoodie basics.
Champion Hoodie, displayed at MOMA’s exhibit, 'Items: Is Fashion Modern?', Oct 2017-Jan 2018.
[2] The hoodie carries a depth of cultural, political, and socio-economic associations that extend far beyond its form. From its roots in streetwear and youth culture to its politicization following the murder of Trayvon Martin, the hoodie embodies multifaceted meanings. However, in the context of basics fashion, and the purpose of this piece, it has evolved from being a source of contextual cues, into a simplified, superficial one.
[2] The hoodie carries a depth of cultural, political, and socio-economic associations that extend far beyond its form. From its roots in streetwear and youth culture to its politicization following the murder of Trayvon Martin, the hoodie embodies multifaceted meanings. However, in the context of basics fashion, and the purpose of this piece, it has evolved from being a source of contextual cues, into a simplified, superficial one.
American Apparel ad, 2017
Exactitudes: Nr. 124. The Invisible Men, Evry, 2009
ESSENTIALS by Fear of God, launched in 2019
TALA, an activewear brand by British influencer Grace Beverley, raised £5 million for international expansion earlier this year.
Basics: Standalone Inventory
Fig. 3. Basics as an insular brand concept or universe. This wireframe/infographic demonstrates the key categories and products that make up a basics-focused brand. Typically, a basics-focused brand will offer items that work across all genders and kidswear. A basics brand universe will also target home and lifestyle goods, extending this streamlined approach to product design into bedding, decorative objects, and artwork, for example.
Basics: Incorporated into Trend Concepts
Image Credits
Fig. 4. Thinking like a multi-trend business with an attention to merchandising, we place our macro trends of the 2020s in compartmentalized quadrants across basics product pillars to demonstrate their connection.
The basics pillars are edited into the below:
- Cut & Sew Basics: Seasonless jersey basics that can work across main fashion apparel, loungewear, and sportswear
- Fashion Driven Basics: 'Left of center' basics that became popularized due to fashion trends. For example, the bralette is a key underwear silhouette that became an apparel basic as it was worn as a top with high-waisted bottoms or under sheer dresses.
- Sartorial Casual Basics: Brings together elements of tailoring and menswear influences such as the resort shirt and silhouettes in denim.
- Lifestyle Basics: Captures consumer-led trends such as athleisure and work-from-home wear that commercialized leggings as pants and bike shorts.
Against the basics pillars are organized quadrants of key trends for the 2020’s:
- Sportswear Based: Trends that primarily build upon sportswear aesthetics and key items. Items are versatile and seasonless.
- Body-con Sensuality: Trends that highlight the body, emphasizing a sensuality that is less about sexuality or sexiness, but rather an attitude around fit and a redefined femininity.
- High–Low Styling: While certain trends are worn head-to-toe, more often trends are being paired with or watered down with basics for more wearability. For example, Way Out Western is less about a literal translation of a Western look, but rather about pairing items with simpler denim or long-sleeve body-con tops to keep looks wearable and modern.
- Contemporary Minimalism: Practical and utilitarian, Contemporary Minimalism nods to the zeitgeist of modern everyday dressing.
Today, micro-trends are starting to slow down or feel completely out of touch with what the market really wants (was the Mob Wife Aesthetic the one to end them all?). The 2025 and 2030 trend forecasts feel a bit over-the-top. Positive predictions still claim a somewhat roaring 20s, while more pragmatic ones feel almost too bleak. Emerging 2030 projections based on data and cultural learnings from our present 'recovery' pandemic period feel too far-reaching. Lightning-fast algorithmic feeds mean the condensing of trend periods could mean that 2030 might just be a repeat of 2015, or maybe even 2025. Cultural theories such as Premium Mediocre, conflicting consumer sentiments, and long-standing lifestyle-driven aesthetics such as athleisure and minimalism all come together to refresh our general understanding of basics, and, in a sense, define contemporary fashion today.
Basics products themselves represent the crux of wearability and modernity, periodically shifting between fashion trends and the generational rite of passage through youth culture.
Furthermore, the production, marketing, and sale of basics have been a consistent theme within the industry since the 1980s, reaching the mass market in the 1990s. Retailers such as The Gap, along with designers like Donna Karan and Calvin Klein—who created empires with diffusion lines and collections that included sportswear, loungewear, and intimates—engineered basics to be a fluid, shape-shifting entity adapting to changing tastes and markets. We re-examine this stronghold concept with more recent updates in streetwear and personal style to illustrate a clear picture of contemporary casual fashion, and to further frame basics in order to bet on them for the upcoming seasons.
The exploration of these observations is the basis of this report, Back to Basics: The Hoodie Reflex.
Gap, 1993
Re-introducing Basics as a concept from four vantage points:
- As an un-trended product identity.
- A way to understand contemporary stylised dress.
- A lens to identify the generational differences between Millennials, Gen-Z and the emerging Alpha generation.
- A way to build a brand or trend universe upon.
Note: While basics are a universal concept and therefore unisex, this report focuses on womenswear.
A — Un-Trended and Post-Trended Product Identity
Basics represent ultimate wearability and casual contemporary dress across all markets and are typically an easy win for fashion businesses.
It’s pared-back logo-less simplicity which could be viewed as cost-cutting, is instead the very thing that makes the item a luxurious idea – and perhaps even (often misleadingly) a sustainable one.
While a luxury brand's basics items with luxury prices spark outrage online, a luxury consumer is not shopping the basics range at The Gap – they are seeking it in their arena, and so the arena must comply. At the same time, since there are no ruffles or printed graphics to hide behind, basics items can be heavily scrutinized as design flaws in fit, fabric, and longevity are made obvious after the first wash, or even the first wear.
From luxury to street, when looking at the key pieces that make up a basics range, there isn't much newness in the items themselves at launch or per season. Instead, the concept is scaled to suit a specific market or consumer, with words such as 'premium' or 'elevated' attached to products as a way to upsell items with organic cotton, heavyweight terry, or ethical manufacturing, for example. Streetwear's entry into mass market and luxury fashion (outside of youth culture) around 2016, waves of 'IT' items (like the bike short), and street style's shift to high-low styling expanded the range of a basics collection, and paved the way for basics-focused brands and direct-to-consumer retail startups to thrive as accessible, relatable, casual comforts. Elements of 'new' are updated each season, and changes are subtle across garment construction, surface details, materials, and color. The items are formulaic. A familiar, simple design is reinvigorated in the latest seasonal colors or a new singular point of interest, such as a raglan sleeve or a ribbed neck binding. What warrants a higher price tag is simply how it's made, brand affiliation, and granular design points of difference.
Wesler Top in Cotton, by The Row, $350 USD, Made in U.S.A
Product copy reads: The Row Essentials short-sleeved classic t-shirt in ultra-soft, fluid cotton with signature French seam along the back.
Product copy reads: The Row Essentials short-sleeved classic t-shirt in ultra-soft, fluid cotton with signature French seam along the back.
The Row’s first t-shirt sample, photographed in the book ‘Influence’ by Mary–Kate and Ashley Olsen, published in 2008
The Row first launched in 2006 with a single t-shirt that represented the way the Olsens wanted to 'create basics to be paired with an existing luxury wardrobe' as they noticed a 'basic luxury was missing,' as told to WWD. Its point of luxury is a center back French seam and quality materials. At launch, The Row's t-shirt retailed for $150 USD. Today, The Row cotton t-shirts range from $350 to $620 USD, with additional styles made in blends with silk, viscose, wool, linen, and cashmere that go up to $1,450 USD.
The Row first launched in 2006 with a single t-shirt that represented the way the Olsens wanted to 'create basics to be paired with an existing luxury wardrobe' as they noticed a 'basic luxury was missing,' as told to WWD. Its point of luxury is a center back French seam and quality materials. At launch, The Row's t-shirt retailed for $150 USD. Today, The Row cotton t-shirts range from $350 to $620 USD, with additional styles made in blends with silk, viscose, wool, linen, and cashmere that go up to $1,450 USD.
A brief, contemporary history
Just as an emerging fatigue for streetwear was discussed and declared dead across headlines around 2018, the impact of the pandemic revived faltering sweatsuit sales to an unexpected surge. A back-to-basics reset swept the world as we were confined indoors, work-from-home cameras were on, and we prioritized a stylish comfort that could carry us from couch to street.
Businesses capitalized on this by adding emotion to basics:‘uplift yourself with a bouclé fleece set’,‘experience premium from gym to couch with knitted activewear’– we were stuck indoors and coddled by the prospect of being cocooned in layers of cotton through relentless ads from basics brands.
Sought-after plush reverse weaves were almost studied, with hoodie and sweatpant aficionados learning the distinct differences in Gildan, Hanes, and Champion materials and all of their weights on Reddit and Discord. An understanding of Normcore[3], streetwear hype, and its fuccboi speak trickled into commercial consumer behavior and mainstream vernacular. Consumers sought out specific styles (including the very specific New Balance 990v4) and joined the discourse that was perhaps previously seen as a menswear-only streetwear lane, or even unfashionable. It was streetwear stripped of clout and logos – it was simply sportswear – or dare we say, basics[4].
This return to streetwear items, without the trend tag, exemplifies the cyclic nature of 'It' items, especially when their origins as products encompass wearability, practicality, and utility. It's as if the very components that made streetwear as we know it had to live through the traditional trend cycle in order to return to its native status as a utilitarian basic or essential.
Let's take a look at the bomber jacket:
Image Credits
Fig. 5. 'IQ Meme' interpreted as a 'Basics IQ Meme' to illustrate the trend journey of the iconic bomber jacket, from cultural trend item (via streetwear), to its downfall, and its subsequent revival as a modern wardrobe essential re-imagined by innovative designers or 'untouchable' trend leaders.
Perhaps we can theorize that once an item surpasses post-commercialization, or crosses a 'trend resurrection' chasm, it becomes verified as a classic. This is because it has withstood the exhaustion of the initial trend hazing stage, and therefore becomes verified within a new context of sartorial design, luxury, culture, or aspiration. Further, in this context, the 'trend chasm' is significant because many trends or items fail to bridge this gap. For example, the skinny jean has not been able to cross this chasm and be revived – yet.
Perhaps we can theorize that once an item surpasses post-commercialization, or crosses a 'trend resurrection' chasm, it becomes verified as a classic. This is because it has withstood the exhaustion of the initial trend hazing stage, and therefore becomes verified within a new context of sartorial design, luxury, culture, or aspiration. Further, in this context, the 'trend chasm' is significant because many trends or items fail to bridge this gap. For example, the skinny jean has not been able to cross this chasm and be revived – yet.
To successfully cross the 'trend chasm', a trend or item must:
- Prove its value beyond novelty
- Develop a track record of reliability
- Be simultaneously accessible or approachable to mainstream users, while also being accepted by trend leaders
In 2020, sportswear came into the commercial product mix in a stronger dose, with enthusiastic fashionistas mixing their at-home-wear with onscreen-worthy separates.
Think printed resort shirt with pull-on shorts; oversized statement shirts with top-of-the-line leggings or bike shorts; a maxi slip skirt paired with a sweatshirt; an elongated sports bra with high-waisted sweat shorts.
A submission-based Instagram account, @wfhfits, made headlines for highlighting the fits of the fashion-forward, whether it was a boundary-pushing outfit or a relatable simple one, rendering unfussy casualwear even more acceptable if it was being championed by trend leaders. Through the pandemic, sportswear was no longer attached to trends or sporty activity - it was instead tools of dress attached to our everyday lifestyle, enabled by elasticated waistbands and 4-way stretch construction.
The same ingenuity applied to festival dressing was applied to the home, with this very high-low mix resulting in a hedonistic showmanship meets curated 'effortless' casual sensuality.
Let’s take a look at this 8 year range of key items With a ‘start, middle, end’ viewpoint. While we can see clear attachments to wider trend messages, these specific items became so popular, they gained a ‘basics’ or ‘essential’ status.
Aimé Leon Dore x New Balance, February 2020
[3] A term coined by indie artists-turned-trend-forecasters K-Hole which became a part of public vernacular to describe basic fashion largely based on casualwear in the 1990s. See origin here.
[4] This is absolutely no shade to the world of streetwear, I’m merely pointing out the un-trended product identity. Of course these basics hold meaningful collateral when tied to a lifestyle, brand, or culture.
Left: A bomber jacket is featured in the shoot, Techno Vision in September Vogue, 1994. The shoot’s copy opens with: ‘Borrowing high-performance fabrics and athletic shapes, they’re creating street-smart clothes that are functional yet sexy–perfect for nightlife or the sporting life’
Right: Phoebe Philo, wears her cropped bomber jacket in her interview with The New York Times, March 2024.
Right: Phoebe Philo, wears her cropped bomber jacket in her interview with The New York Times, March 2024.
Crossing the Chasm, a marketing theory by Geoffrey A. Moore. It has parallels with the traditional trend cycle or fashion lifecycle system. Source: Strategies for Influence.
A submission-based Instagram account, @wfhfits, made headlines for highlighting the outfits of the fashion-forward. Whether it was a boundary-pushing look, or a relatable simple one, the account, along with the conversations around WFH attire rendered unfussy casualwear even more acceptable when being championed by trend leaders.
Princess Diana was the muse of Virgil Abloh’s Off-White S/S18 collection, entering the bike short as the ‘low’ in the ‘high-low’ fashion mix or simply as a basic essential.
Google Trends data demonstrates its commercial success in 2019/2020 and its stable status as a summer essential each season, since its re-entry into the contemporary market.
Image Credits
Fig. 6. Basics in 2016 were heavily influenced by the hype of streetwear that infiltrated menswear, which drew inspiration from 90s sportswear and lead to the saturation and commercial understanding of Normcore dressing. Approaching 2020, this league of streetwear exasperated the consumer (Nike dominated best seller lists in 2019), which led to the burst of tie-dye and a short-lived 'Scumbro' summer. However, the pandemic's practicality brought Normcore back to life, but in a quieter, more aspirational manner – enter 'Quiet Luxury'. It's Normcore products without the more casual trend-related buzz that brought upon the mass consumption of multiple sweat sets and limited edition New Balances or box-fresh Nike Air Force 1s. If Normcore was rooted in 'normie' normalcy, Quiet Luxury exuded cringe of a different caliber—one born from conversations around timelessness and luxury that were absent in Normcore.
As an added note, basics brands like Pangaia led a movement of replacing hype-driven streetwear and a 'shrink it and pink it' approach to women's sportswear around 2020. The focus on millennial pink shifted to tighter capsules of greige to warm beiges – a palette cleanse of sorts – in time for Gen-Z to enter the market and christen the next wave of basics as Quiet Luxury or 'That Girl' uniforms of wellness rituals. The quick, bolder nature of micro-trends also meant that popular shoes such as the ballet flat, Mary Jane, and jelly shoe were watered down or fused into one to maximize commerciality.
As an added note, basics brands like Pangaia led a movement of replacing hype-driven streetwear and a 'shrink it and pink it' approach to women's sportswear around 2020. The focus on millennial pink shifted to tighter capsules of greige to warm beiges – a palette cleanse of sorts – in time for Gen-Z to enter the market and christen the next wave of basics as Quiet Luxury or 'That Girl' uniforms of wellness rituals. The quick, bolder nature of micro-trends also meant that popular shoes such as the ballet flat, Mary Jane, and jelly shoe were watered down or fused into one to maximize commerciality.
Honorable Mentions
Hierarchy of Needs: Footwear
Image Credits
Fig. 7. We flip the pyramid of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs meme to showcase key footwear items, that act as markers of basics or essentials dressing, or have influenced the category.
- Basic Needs: Comfort basic needs understood by the commercial market as essentials for contemporary life.
- Psychological Needs: Attainable, lifestyle-driven footwear that directly correlates to and uplifts an aesthetic tribe or mass-cultural activity such as casual hangs, 'basics-wear' occasions, or 'day-to-night' dressing.
- Self–Fulfillment Needs: These luxury or designer-driven items eventually became so popularized, the trend-savvy consumer understands these items as wardrobe basics or essentials for a particular season of dress. For example, the Gucci fur-lined loafer entered the market at the same time high-shine pajama dressing became normalized, and the statement sculptural heel by Jacquemus dressed up Normcore basics or the 'classic' slip dress. Alaïa's flat is currently the sought-after shoe that adds a point of fashion know-how oddity to Quiet Luxury fits of wide-leg trousers or slip dresses.
Honorable Mentions
Impactful Apparel
Image Credits
Fig. 8. Additional key items which have shaped basics dressing, and continue to drive everyday basics. They are split into culture and lifestyle driven vs. fashion and industry driven. For example, the general casualization of dress has resulted in athleisure and utilitarian dressing on the cultural side, while fashion brands such as Vêtements uplifted the humble hoodie to be a fashion item.
Noteworthy product highlights:
- Trended Trousers as Womenswear Basics: Jesse Kamm's Sailor Pant circa 2017 and Rachel Comey's high-waisted denim rounded out the Millennial woman's understanding of basics casual dress, which influenced the aesthetic of DTC basics brands such as Everlane. We can connect the success of their silhouettes with the emerging 'Kick Stretch-Cotton Knit Cropped Flare Pants' by High Sport which has garnered attention across fashion media and influencers, despite its $860 USD price tag.
- The denim work jacket or chore coat: Popularized by the minimalist Kinfolk Magazine aesthetic which underpinned the success of lifestyle brands such as Steven Alan, A.P.C., and La Garçonne around 2014-2015. It was recently highlighted again this year by The New York Times as a uniform for hospitality workers and by GQ, which defined the item as an All American Classic.
- Utilitarian Details: A consistent design influence in everyday dress, the chino pant, parka jacket, cargo pant, and quilted liner jacket frequently making appearances across luxury and casualwear as essential to a wardrobe of basics. Though the parka jacket may be viewed as out-of-fashion, brands such as Ralph Lauren, Stone Island, and Moncler consistently incorporate iterations of it in their trans-seasonal collections.
B — Contemporary Casual Style:
Built on a Foundation of Basics
The term 'basics' is used to encapsulate core products, instead of fashion-focused ideas or on-trend items. A basics collection indicates versatility, a sense of investment, or an outfit-building need. More recently, it has become a means to dress economically, or even sustainably, though the truth of the latter is questionable and should be scrutinized.
It has become a universally known term (at least in the West) and has visibility from fast fashion to luxury. Its products can be viewed as a blank platform to build brand worlds upon. For example, the humble, hardworking t-shirt, or the staple button-up shirt that never reach 'trending' heights attached to a specific trend name or subculture, but rather exist on their own as 'It' items. Conversely, items that were once seen as trendy become basics 'post-trend' as they trickle down into the mass market with trend saturation.
Macro
Micro
Art / Concept
As a result of innovation or macro movement in the the wider industry of art, design, concepts of futurism. These are not micro-trends, aesthetics or fads.
Examples
Minimalism
Sportswear
Tailored Womenswear
Culture & Lifestyle
Instigated by the consumer or subcultures as a result of culture and lifestyle shifts and updated industry capabilities. Contemporary understandings of ‘aesthetics’ and micro trends live here.
Examples
Business Casual Modernity
Streetwear
Athleisure
‘It’ Moments
In our digital age, influencers, online muses and ‘it’ hero items often become viral and drive entire trends to mass popularity.
Examples
Walmart ‘Free Assembly’ Jean
Uniqlo U Crew Neck
Aritzia TNA Cozy Perfect Zip–Up Hoodie
Fig. 9. Basics Drivers and Influences: Macro Movement to Micro Moment. Though the cumulative context of an Art/Concept driver may seem quantifiably greater than an 'It' Moment, we mustn't underestimate the significance of micro moments, especially with an influential muse is a catalyst. For example, Hailey Bieber's strategic streetstyle and crafted personal brand of effortless, essential fashion has landed with her audience as a somewhat approachable, mimic-able aspirational style and lifestyle.
While the fashion industry thrives on the perpetual cycle of trends, basics have not changed dramatically over the past ten years. Instead, the foundation of basics has expanded to suit broader consumer groups and to encompass the trend drivers outlined above that influence today's fashion.
One such consumer group is the luxury segment, which is traditionally seen as more aligned with the Art/Concept Macro Movement as illustrated above, but instead, seems to be looking towards basics built on culture, lifestyle, and 'it' moment trends. In response, just as the luxury market adopted streetwear, it has incorporated basics into its product strategy, sometimes in the guise of 'heritage', 'essential', or 'core'.
Despite a fashion’s habit of looking beyond our eye-line of reality toward a shiny, aspirational trend forecast, it’s the pull of the ordinary, the desire to touch grass and be, feel, and appear down to earth, that positions basics not just as markers of fashion, but of everyday dress.
For example, while the fitted baby t-shirt may be popular with Gen-Z, relaxed t-shirts still perform well for the wider commercial market as a wardrobe essential, which is stylistically imparted to consumers as wearable, versatile, and practical. The consumer experience of seeking a desired fit of a simple t-shirt is similar to that of denim now – bootleg may not be front-and-center from a trend point of view; however, the bootleg consumer will always exist.
Unlike the faux pas of 'outfit repeating' in high fashion circles, basics are embraced as stylistic anchors—a hallmark of the seasoned fashion insider rather than a novice. In fact, in many ways, basics and their footprint in fashion history have meant that there is now less friction between dressing trendy or ordinarily. Dressing in basics can also be viewed as modern, or a participation in modern attitudes towards fashion.
With 'cool girl' aesthetics and a point of effortlessness as frequent style objectives, we could argue that this very point of being ordinary oozes the sought-after principle of effortlessness and carefree, casual attitude for fashion – so long as you're not basic yourself.
Whether it involves high-effort with high prices, or an authentic low-cost effortlessness, there seems to be a solid cohort of consumers who are happy to blend in as fashion takes a backseat in their priorities. The industry often doesn't focus on this cohort, assuming that the 'everyday' consumer will eventually follow the trendsetters. With an inevitable post-micro-trend world - or at least a break from it - our understanding of basics fashion will be (and perhaps, already has been) ingrained into our culture of dress as ordinary style, plain and simple. This isn't Quiet Luxury—a trend laden with consumer aspirations to display markers of anonymous wealth. The Quiet Luxury trend has strayed so far from its origins that it has ironically homogenized individual style to the point where it isn't quiet or appears luxurious at all. Instead, it has developed into a monotonous landscape where the act of everyone trying to appear quietly luxurious has been silenced by ubiquity.
If everybody looks rich, no one is.
After all, just how many Quiet Luxury one-and-done investment pieces can one own? Plus, where's the fun in just investing?
Bottega Veneta Pre-Spring 2024 campaign
Balenciaga Fall 2024 fashion show in L.A., with launch of Erewhon collaboration
Gucci under new creative director, Sabato de Sarno, appointed in 2023
Celine launches dedicated pilates collection, June 2024
Basics as uniform, or uniformity in un-trendy or non-trendy contexts:
Image Credits
Fig. 10. Basics act as a way to either anonymize fashion into the background or collectivize groups into a unified, often casual look, bringing the look itself to the forefront. Whether it be all-white parties, a herd of financiers in matching graphic t-shirts, or the trifecta of blue button shirt + chinos + Patagonia vest, non-trend basics are most apparent in everyday spaces. The informality of basics also conveys relatability and approachability in traditionally formal contexts like workplaces and family portraits.
In professional settings, casual attire often signals a focus on work over fashion. However, its reception differs by gender: men in tech wearing t-shirts may be seen as boyishly simple to focus on their genius, or simply too modern for the traditional suit, while women's fashion choices remain scrutinized regardless of style. This trend reflects evolving attitudes towards formality in various social spheres, though its implications vary across genders and industries.
In professional settings, casual attire often signals a focus on work over fashion. However, its reception differs by gender: men in tech wearing t-shirts may be seen as boyishly simple to focus on their genius, or simply too modern for the traditional suit, while women's fashion choices remain scrutinized regardless of style. This trend reflects evolving attitudes towards formality in various social spheres, though its implications vary across genders and industries.
Fashioning the everyday is exhausting, and basics have become a solution to decision fatigue.
Basics serve as a tool to signal various messages, trends, affiliations, and lifestyles. They can convey messages ranging from 'I'm just like you' to 'I don't participate in trends.' Basics can also project a curated image of fashion through carefully edited and refined outfitting that is assumed with the wearer's profile. Far from being a default state, basic fashion is often a deliberate choice.
While trends might be seen as low-brow clutter or the result of falling victim to marketing tactics, basics are often associated with the creative elite who understand concepts like minimalism and 'thoughtful' dressing which result in a different kind of casual. A known, upscale one.
In contrast to playing 'up' messages with basics, basics are also utilized to casualize and dress down the high-stress nature of fashion trends. A fatigue of micro-trends is driving conversations around discovering 'individual style', which mostly looks like casualized versions of high-effort looks like Blokecore. This sentiment is further amplified with tight budgets and an awareness of over-consumption, resulting in basics growing more 'market share' across wardrobes as they act as tools to 'hack' outfits together. Content trends such as '333 dressing' (which often incorporate basics), 'capsule wardrobe' building, 'the rule of 5' trend, or popular content such as '#QuietLuxury styling hacks' are a reflection of this.
Further sentiments around basics can be expressed as below:
Gelato, a print-on-demand platform. This 'merch-for-all' has created a surge in custom products, typically made for singular occasions, which is resulting in a headache for sustainability experts.
Kardashian Christmas portrait, 2017. Matching basics to personalized pajamas for family portraits, bridal occasions, and more have normalized a look of uniformity to exude togetherness.
The trend of taking J.C. Penney portraits with friends and family has been popular on TikTok since at least 2021/2022, instilling a point of playfulness in matching clothing and nostalgia.
Source: @kristy.sarah
Source: @kristy.sarah
“You’ll never find a girl like me again” became a meme 3 years ago, after viral videos of sorority rush events showed herds of young women in matching outfits performing dances and doing activities in unison. The chronicling of these events have gained popularity on TikTok, and has become a way for retailers to verify the impact of trends (and perhaps its direction) through visibility within this group, often seen as the peak commercial market in North America. It’s also a way to validate commercial saturation in sneakers, seasonal feminine dresses, and updated silhouettes in everyday essentials such as the t-shirt and jean. Revolve’s ‘Sorority Rush Shop’ is a good demonstration of this.
Gif Source: @patricksandersq94
Gif Source: @patricksandersq94
Idolized Fantasy
Attitude, consumer mindset
Practical Reality
Dress, not Fashion
Relatability as Publicity
A crisp white button–down shirt, a simple outfit of t-shirt and denim: a look of basics are often utilized for celebrity PR stunts and media spreads as a way to symbolise a fresh start or a relatable ‘girl next door’ appeal, re: Taylor Swift on Rolling Stone magazine etc.
‘The Unsinkable Jennifer Aniston’, Vanity Fair, September 2005 – Aniston’s first interview post–divorce.
‘IT Girl’ Simplicity
A ‘cool girl’ aesthetic driven by an ‘It Girl’ or style icon du jour has consistently popularized key basics in contemporary fashion history. Whether it be Birkin’s effortless bohemian style to Kate Moss’ model-off-duty casual throughout the ‘90s.
Jane Birkin, Source Unknown
Cultural Archetypes
From ‘French Girl’ style, ‘Minimalist Scandi’ style, to Japanese streetwear, cultural archetypes of style act as drivers for directions in basics items.
Capsule Wardrobe
An edited approach to dressing results in a streamlined buy–in for basics, typically limited to a t-shirt, a tank top, and a tailored trouser.
Unity and Uniform
The popularization of foodie and cafe culture, along with accessible services such as print–on-demand services means that staff are often wearing business merch as their uniform, or simple basics.
JJJJound x Vans, July 2023. The art of the subtle hospitality uniform was the campaign concept.
333 Styling
With the cost of living crisis, a consumer value of sustainability, and a desire for personal style, Gen–Z consumers drive online conversations around ‘styling hacks’, with Rachel Spencer’s 333 styling recently going viral.
Rachel Spencer on TikTok
Fig. 11. Fantasy to Reality: Basics as Stylized Signals
Chronically-online, trend-conscious consumers use basics to balance overly trend-conscious looks with staying true to their personal style and practical needs. Basics ground fashion choices across a 'styling spectrum', adapting to various lifestyles.
To illustrate this, let's examine how a white t-shirt, a quintessential basic, functions as an outfitting builder in different contexts.
Image Credits
Fig. 12. Basics as Anchors to an Everyday Styling Spectrum. Basics items act as a foundation to contemporary style and trends to various degrees, downplaying more outlandish ideas such as a barrel leg jean or cowboy boot to have a connection to a commercial reality. Examples depicted are based on what was commercially 'basic' for North America's S/S 2024.
- Basics + Trend Cues: 90's inspired baby t-shirt fitted at the waist with mid-rise baggy jeans are core basics, however a minimalist 'pop of red' sandal illustrates a stronger dosage of trend influence. Trend leader cities might see the sandal be replaced with the flip-flop shoe instead.
- Basics + Trend Accents: Odd Muse, a social-first brand from London, garnered a strong following for their simple shift dress silhouette and resurgence of the A-line skirt. Together with Phoebe Philo's interpretation of the white t-shirt in cotton shirting, this outfitting illustrates a simple workwear look, grounded by the ballet flat which has become a casual essential.
- Basics + Trend Themes: Contemporary high-low dressing brings together a graphic t-shirt, a 90's slip skirt, along with the up-trending cowboy boot. This highly trend-conscious look is championed by Gen-Z, which can be attributed to their affinity for thrifting, and a desire to look 'effortless'. Ironically, the look has become a trend itself.
Basics-focused brands are increasingly utilizing styling as a service and investing in building streamlined narratives around stylized dress for the everyday.
This approach positions basics as 'non-trend' practical essentials, cementing these brands as authoritative leaders on wardrobe must-haves for consumers who value the longevity of un-trended products.
Ironically, this 'non-trend' approach to basics has become a trend itself. Nevertheless, the versatility of these items has validated these brands' status as experts in building essential wardrobes.
Stylist Karla Welch launched a collection of basics with Hanes. The range was marketed as a stylistic tool to support fashion looks after her client, Justin Bieber, was unable to find a desired elongated fit.
The Promise of 'Essentials Only': Brand Case Studies
Key brand callouts that are exploring a stylized approach to streamlined, everyday dressing:
Fig. 13. Stylized Taste Applies Beyond Fashion, It’s a Lifestyle: The Line. Moodboard of images by The Line’s universe of brands, sourced from the Instagram accounts: @thelinenyc, @protagonistnyc, @khaite_ny, @assembledbrands, @vanessatraina, and 2x4.
The Line
The Line, launched in 2014, was an e-commerce platform that had a retail space called 'The Apartment' in Soho, NYC, (later in LA and the Hamptons too). The space presented their curation of high-end home products and a “wardrobe of interesting and elevated essentials” within the context of a designed apartment which represented “the fundamental building blocks of your home and wardrobe” as a response to “over assortment in the marketplace”. Everything within The Apartment was for sale and merchandised by founder Vanessa Traina, whose umbrella company, Assembled Brands, had a “distinct vision focused on defining a new kind of American Sportswear that is less about trend and more about lifestyle”. While The Line, The Apartment, and their essentials brand Protagonist have closed, the attention of Assembled Brands is now focused on Khaite, which has demonstrated success in womenswear.
Fig. 14. Direct–to–Community: Subscription based service Lot2046. Images sourced from Lot2046’s website and this @lot2046archive Twitter account.
LOT2046
LOT2046, founded in 2017 by Vadik Marmeladov, was a subscription-based product service that aimed to simplify consumerism and challenge fashion norms. For a 'basics' subscription of $50 or an 'experience' tier for $100 monthly, subscribers received personalized packages of monochromatic basics, hygiene products, and could opt into occasional experimental items like tattoo guns.
The project aimed to eliminate 'capitalist distractions' and foster a minimalist, essential approach to consumption. Packages often bore messages like "This is between us" or "For the good death," reflecting LOT's philosophy to champion an “aesthetic with moral dimension” and the 'self' over consumption. By dematerializing the act of dressing through their subscription service, LOT2046 positioned itself as a solution for consumers to redirect their attention to more meaningful aspects of their daily lives.
Despite its somewhat anti-fashion and anti-hype manifesto, consumers developed a fandom for the brand and its founder. They chronicled items in shared documents, archived Marmeladov's "fresh hour" YouTube livestreams, and discussed products in detail. Their interactive "ChatOS LOT Community" website further engaged users.
LOT2046 closed in 2022; however, recent social media activity has signaled a potential relaunch, suggesting LOT2046's approach to basics will return.
Wardrobe NYC
Wardrobe NYC, founded by stylist and editor-in-chief Christine Centenera and designer Josh Goot, reimagines luxury essentials for the modern consumer. These essentials are launched in-season within capsule concepts or edits such as Tailored, Sport, and Street collections. Products are shoppable as 'Wardrobes' that automatically come with a discount. This offering of an already-curated wardrobe also presents as if it was directly styled by Centenera herself.
At launch, The New York Times described the men's collection as including "a roomy overcoat, a two-button blazer, a T-shirt, a pair of loose-fitting trousers and a hoodie," while the women's line features "a gloriously big coat, a white collarless shirt, black leggings, an A-line skirt and more." The palette is exclusively black and white, which Goot terms "democratic" and "solutions-based." At launch in 2017, the Italian-made collection was sold exclusively on the brand's site, with an eight-piece wardrobe priced at $3,000 and a four-piece 'core' wardrobe at $1,500 for both men and women.
In a 2020 Vogue interview, Centenera articulated the brand's appeal to two customer types: those seeking a well-made, lasting uniform of pieces that work well together, and fashion consumers who desire non-branded, seasonless staples to mix with trendier items. She emphasized the versatility and reliability of the pieces, stating, "I know they're going to look great, they're going to suit me."
Tibi
Developed by Tibi’s founder Amy Smilovic and Styling Director Dione Davis during the pandemic, Tibi's 'Style Class' on Instagram Live catapulted the brand to new heights of popularity with their Creative Pragmatist brand persona and styling identity. It especially spoke to consumers who were fatigued by trends and were seeking a more practical, utilitarian approach to dress, without sacrificing the joy of being stylish or creative in their everyday. The concept of The Creative Pragmatist has since become a book after discovering fans were making PDFs from the screenshots they would take of the Style Class series on Instagram and sharing it amongst themselves. Tibi's own 'Tibictionary' includes anagrams such as WOF (Without Fails) understood by their customers around the world as their essentials, along with terms such as 'HTH' (Have-to-Haves) and I&O (In and Out – pieces of the moment) which their viewers and consumers understand as codes to dress.
Tibi's e-commerce website acts as a bonus go-to source for their consumers, with content such as 'Are you a CP?', Style Class, Tibi Vocab, and 'The Good Ick' where the odd and nuanced are discussed.
C — Is your Hoodie Hoodie-ing?
The Casualwear Divide between Millennials, Gen–Z and Alphas
Fig. 17. The Hoodie Alignment Chart. This list doesn't contain every type of hoodie out there, and the appearance of silhouettes shift with details such as kangaroo pockets, zip front, weight of material used etc., as it exaggerates or streamlines the overall impact of the item. It's a product-focused meme that is made from each item's characteristics, textile use, silhouette, and details. For example, although the Slim Fit Hoodie is an item that has strong market share from the fitness realm, I placed it as 'chaotic good' as the structure of the garment can make it uncomfortable around the armhole and waist when not constructed properly. Similarly, while the Sleeveless Hoodie is important in the LGBTQIA+ community with attachments to identity and signaling, the item itself from a product point of view can appear imbalanced at the armhole and neck, under the common design principle umbrella of visual weight distribution.
Just when we thought streetwear as we know it was distinctively tied to Millennials (Gen-Z are too cool for such a generic sub-cultural term, of course, preferring more hybridized micro-iterations of the term), a Millennial mom who shares her Alpha child's trend notes became viral. One notable trend report by Faith Hitch was that hoodies were the ultimate casual cool for young teens.
While hoodies have graduated to becoming a somewhat passive purchase for Millennials, i.e., purchasing without much thought, hoodies are now an active purchase for the younger generations, who are dissecting the item's fit, fabric, and details as a topical trend interest online.
This led to an exploration of how the three generations – Millennials, Gen-Z, and Alphas – view their blue sky basics of t-shirt and jeans.
Teen ‘Graphic 90s Hoodie’ by Dejcuba Kids, at The Iconic, August 2024
The Generational Divide: Casualwear
Silhouette On/Off
Fig. 18. The Generational Divide: Casualwear. Of course, there are consumers across the three generations who already own and will purchase basics across the varying silhouettes; however, the above was a result of exploring what the most significant, commercial idea of basics has been expressed from each cohort.
Examining the different approaches to basics silhouettes - from fitted to oversized - allows us to visualize the surrounding trends that have impacted each generation, from the Millennial's love of Japandi minimalism, Gen-Z's interest in off-beat individualism, and Alphas' love of baggy clothes.
D— World Building with Basics
As we start to look back on high summer in the Northern Hemisphere, we can reflect on how consumers built upon their understanding of basics with varying trend touchpoints and product types, from long-term staples to topical/seasonal items.
Fig. 19. Basics Trend Building Funnel: where basics fashion sits within a planned season of design concepts. Basics must act as a core to subsequent trend ideas to maximize sell-through. This example is created with S/S 24 in mind.
After assessing brands, collections, and media around basics, a common glossary of terms are evidently used indifferently – and frequently.
It often feels repetitive, however, a simple roster of basics terminology acts as a familiar code to connect the consumer to the product, the message, and the vision. Identifiable terms are key to directly resonate with the target basics consumer, without relying on a singular hashtag.
Basics Buzzword* Builder
*Words that are typically used to describe, sell, or create a sense of urgency when describing the basics. Create your own, or hit the shuffle for randomized inspiration.
Select Dropdown
Select Dropdown
Select Dropdown
Shuffle
Output
Fig. 20. A Basics Buzzword Builder – Words that are typically used to describe, sell, or create a sense of urgency when describing basics. Various combinations of these words are frequently used to headline or narrate social-media content that brings basics items to the consumer's radar. Unlike the copy that supports fashion trends, basics' copy reads to the consumer as practical, essential, and even investment-worthy with a touch of romanticism to make an otherwise familiar item feel interesting and new again. Additional words such as Consistent, Reliable, Humble, Dependable, Mainstay, Stronghold, Epitome of, and Quintessential are used. Moving forward to A/W 24/25, online vernacular 'demure' and 'mindful' enter the mix. Fashion publications building alternative narratives to Quiet Luxury are also noteworthy. For example, the New York Times photoshoot, ‘Fashion Has Entered a New Era of Elegance’ in February this year, brings to the forefront an extended cycle of words such as discreet, perfect, refined, posh, polished, sleek, etc. to prolong the buzz of minimalist basics.
Fashion That Sticks to the Bare Necessities, The New York Times Style Magazine, February 2024
Fall Fashion Is All About Refinement, The New York Times Style Magazine, August 2024
From this introductory study of basics, we can framework basics fashion.
While basics often serve as a catch-all term, the following visualization aim to explore how concepts of basic, classic, and essential style intersect or diverge from one another.
Fig. 21. Although basics, essentials, and classics are often used interchangeably, they can have distinct meanings and be used interchangeably too. Basics can be viewed as a 'sum of all parts', the result of an accumulation of classics, essentials, and basics all together. On its own, basics can be seen as a category of peak commercialization and mass consumption. They are typically core cut-and-sew items such as t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, and sweatpants.
Essentials may not be basics themselves but have earned their status through commercial success, for e.g. knitwear items and denim. Meanwhile, classics are items with deep roots in fashion history. We can differentiate classics, essentials, and basics to embody Archival References, Trending Relevance, or Contemporary Dress. For example, the trench coat is known as a 'classic' item, yet contemporary trends often tag it as essential or basic. Conversely, a motorcycle jacket is a classic item that is currently neither an essential nor a basic as it is not trending as of now. At the peak of the Millennial's hipsterdom, however, it was.
Essentials may not be basics themselves but have earned their status through commercial success, for e.g. knitwear items and denim. Meanwhile, classics are items with deep roots in fashion history. We can differentiate classics, essentials, and basics to embody Archival References, Trending Relevance, or Contemporary Dress. For example, the trench coat is known as a 'classic' item, yet contemporary trends often tag it as essential or basic. Conversely, a motorcycle jacket is a classic item that is currently neither an essential nor a basic as it is not trending as of now. At the peak of the Millennial's hipsterdom, however, it was.
01 — A Saturn Return[5]: Basics are Based[6]
At the intersection of nostalgia and innovation lies the realm of basics fashion, a domain where history and contemporary tastes collide. This section explores the historical drivers of basics fashion, with a notable focus on the 1990s. It examines macro concepts, trend cycle systems, larger fashion shifts, and the power of nostalgia to better understand why certain basics themes, such as minimalism, consistently resonate with consumers.
A — Trend Cycles as Orbits, and our Saturn Return to 1990s Basics
Fig. 22. Trend timelines visualized as ‘orbits’.
[5] Saturn Return refers to the period when the planet Saturn returns to the same position in the sky that it occupied at the time of a person’s birth. This occurs approximately every 29.5 years. In astrology, it’s considered a major transitional period in a person’s life, associated with ,maturity and reassessment of direction.
[6] Based is used to express agreement or approval, especially for opinions or actions perceived as honest, authentic, or questionable. It implies that something is factual or true, regardless of popular opinion. Originated in rap, popularized online.
The standardized trend timeline, trend lifecycle, or trend period varies from an organic culture-led (e.g. fad, micro trend) to a manufactured industry-based (e.g. seasonal, product and concept-led) one. When understanding or articulating the return of past trends, trend forecasters have historically leaned on the Vicennial Trend Cycle to explain the phenomenon, i.e. the return of trends every 20 years.
This 20-year trend cycle can be theorized as a 'Parent-to-Child' or 'Older Sibling Chaser' trend theory. In this concept, a child born in the early 2000s would have been too young to participate in the adult trends of that time period but grew up witnessing or even idolizing them. As a result, when they become adults, they revive this era to participate in it themselves – Gen-Z's love of Y2K fashion exemplifies this. We can call this phenomenon 'Generational Recycling'.
To understand the impact of trends and their trend cycle, it is crucial to examine how fashion businesses rely on trend themes, concepts, and archival references. These elements are used to rejuvenate their businesses by introducing newness, updating their offerings to reflect seasonal consumer lifestyle shifts, or simply outperforming their competitors.
Trend Orbits - Number of Trends to Themes
Name
Month 1
Month 2
Month 3
Fast Fashion
15–30+ Trends per season
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mass Market
10–20 Trends per season
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Advanced Contemporary, Contemporary, Mid–Market
5–10 Trends/ Concepts per season
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Luxury Brand
3–7 Trends/ Concepts per season
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Designer
1–5 Trends/ Concepts per season
•
•
•
•
Fig. 23. Number of trends utilized by type of business during each season with a period of 3 months. Historically, the trend timeline aligned with a production lead time (for e.g., a season would be designed a year or six months ahead). However, today, with fast fashion serving as a pillar of competition for most brands, speed-to-market production timelines have become a common practice to match micro-trends. This pursuit of ‘of-the-moment’ trends has resulted in a lower investment into the creative development of substantial trends, due to the lack of time to explore ideas with longevity or depth.
B — Key Concepts and Theories vs. Fashion Shifts
In understanding the impact of the 1990s and our developmental attachment to that era, we review key concepts and theories that have emerged since 1995, comparing them to key shifts and highlights in the fashion industry.
1995–2000s
- The New Millennium inspired ideas about a digital or modern future, influencing fashion design toward either futuristic minimalism or nostalgic romanticism.
- A Y2K Business Casual emerged through the casualization of workwear, a shift from the '80s power shoulder, and cultural discourse on women at work. Simultaneously, an effortlessness in beauty and style became front and center in women's media.
- American Sportswear and minimalism, championed by Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, and Donna Karan, reached the masses – whether they knew these designers' names or not.
- Industry innovations and globalization in the 90s made production broader, cheaper, and faster
- Rise of premium denim elevated the casual jean into a fashion item, ultimately bringing casualwear into luxury markets and special occasion contexts, from work to date nights.
[7] Cyber-Utopianism via Tech: The optimistic view that emerging digital technologies will lead to significant positive social and cultural transformations, creating a more connected, efficient, and potentially utopian world. This concept combines ideas from Nicholas Negroponte’s “Being Digital” (19950; Kevin Kelly’s “Out of Control” (1994); Ray Kurzweil’s early writings on technological optimism; Vincent Mosco’s “Digital Sublime: Myth, Power, and Cyberspace” (2004)
[8] Nostalgic Sensibility: A cultural attitude that combines longing for the past with a paradoxical nostalgia for the present. This romanticization of the past imbued with a sense of immediate historicity in the present, influencing how people perceive and engage with contemporary culture and products. This concept combines ideas from Fredric Jameson's "Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism" (1991), which introduces the concept of "Nostalgia for the Present"; Svetlana Boym's "The Future of Nostalgia" (2001), which explores "Reflective Nostalgia".
Macro Themes
Late Capitalism
1960s+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Neoliberal Capitalism
1980s+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Post-postmodernism
1995–2000+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Cyber-Utopianism via Tech[7]
1995–2000+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Globalization and Cultural Hybridization
1995–2000+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Nostalgic Sensibility[8]
1995–2000+
Consumer Behavior and Identity
Third-Wave Feminism
1995–2000+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Experience Economy
1998+
Consumer Culture
2000 – 2010
- Specific denim styles became signifiers of trends and fashion discourse. The glam-rock-emo-grunge style exemplified this by bringing skinny jeans to the forefront of fashion, presenting them as a modernized version of traditional youth subcultures associated with rebellion. Skinny jeans demonstrated how subcultures can be represented by a singular item, similar to how flared jeans had characterized the '70s and low-rise jeans had dominated the early 2000s. Mass retailers, with their newly acquired ability for mass production, accommodated consumers of varying subcultures through an 'archival' approach to fits, offering a range of styles from bootcut to baggy to skinny in one arena.
- Gender–Inclusive Fashion or the 'androgynous' look, stemming from 1990s minimalism, saturated the mass market in the early 2000s. Additionally, the term 'metrosexual', coined in 1994, was reintroduced and popularized as an aesthetic. The American Dialect Society chose it as word of the year in 2003.
- Growth of mass–production in the fashion industry led to new industry habits of 'passive designing' by creatives and popularized items such as the graphic t-shirt.
- Streetwear 2.0 goes mainstream, with brands such as Supreme and BAPE gaining wider popularity, along with sneaker culture among young men.
- Casual luxury via diffusion lines, for e.g., Karl Lagerfeld's collaboration with H&M in 2004, became common practice.
[9] Omnichannel Marketing & Retail
An integrated approach to commerce and marketing that provides customers with a seamless shopping experience across all channels - online, mobile, and in physical stores. It reflects the evolution of retail where e-commerce and traditional brick-and-mortar stores have found ways to coexist and complement each other, with marketing strategies adapted to this multi-channel reality. This is an ongoing area of development today.
An integrated approach to commerce and marketing that provides customers with a seamless shopping experience across all channels - online, mobile, and in physical stores. It reflects the evolution of retail where e-commerce and traditional brick-and-mortar stores have found ways to coexist and complement each other, with marketing strategies adapted to this multi-channel reality. This is an ongoing area of development today.
Macro Themes
Late-Stage Capitalism
2000-2010+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Metamodernism
2000–2010+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Transmodernism
2000–2010+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Conscious Consumerism
2000+
Consumer Behavior and Identity
Masstige, Massclusivity
2003+
Consumer Culture
Hyperhybridism
2000–2010+
Consumer Culture
Pseudo–modernism
2000–2010
Digital Age Dynamics
Paradox of Choice
2004+
Consumer Behavior and Identity
Omnichannel Marketing & Retail[9]
2005+
Industry-Market Dynamics
2015
- A ‘post post–minimalism’ or '90s minimalism echoed throughout contemporary fashion again, especially with denim silhouettes such as the high-waisted, straight-leg jean. Specifically, the Levi's 501's were revived through millennial thrifting habits and preferred aesthetics such as K-Hole's Normcore (2013) or the VSCO (2011) girl look, which saturated the mass market around 2015.
- Health Goth, which combined gothic 'all black' elements with sportswear, defined in 2013 by Portland artists Mike Grabarek, Jeremy Scott, and Chris Cantino, saturated the commercial market.
- Athleisure, a concept of wearing athletic clothing in non-athletic settings, gained traction in the late 1990s. The origin of the term is debated; however, it began to be widely used in fashion media between 2013–2014 and was officially added to the dictionary in 2016. Discussions emerged on Reddit around 2011-2012 about the appropriateness of wearing leggings as pants or sports bras as tops.
- Product categories in fashion apparel expanded as the homogenization of manufacturing allowed for the mass-production of athleisure, denim, and intimates within one brand identity in a more accelerated manner.
- Direct–to–Consumer brands began to saturate the mass market.
2020
- Streetwear 3.0, or the hype-ification and luxury commodification of streetwear, blurred the lines between high fashion and street style. It made product ranges dynamic at each market level and leveled the playing field. This trend was not just about elevating streetwear into the luxury market, but also represented a fashion hierarchical exchange as duping 'luxury' items or aesthetics became common practice in the mid-to-mass spaces.
- Millennial Pink fatigue and post-minimalism brought on an era of an expanded palette of neutrals and hybrids such as 'greige'. Additionally, a maximalist approach to minimalism emerged, whereby a 'minimalist everything' approach to products meant that the minimalist stylization of dress expanded to home, kitchen, and lifestyle objects via overconsumption – which contradicted the traditional concept of minimalism.
- The Influencer Economy boomed with a second wave of social media, driven by TikTok and Gen-Z's shorter attention spans.
- Fast Fashion retail fragmented into a broader hierarchy with the rise of Shein, eliminating the market need for 'high street' brands such as Topshop or ASOS.
- Sustainability, diversity, and size inclusivity initiatives gained bigger traction than ever before, coinciding with the growth of the Gen-Z market.
Macro Themes
Post-Capitalism
2010+
Cultural and Philosophical Paradigms
Algorithm–driven
2010+
Digital Age Dynamics
Circular & Sharing Economy
2010+
Industry-Market Dynamics
Post–Irony
2010–2015+
Consumer Culture
Value–Action Gap
2010–2015+
Consumer Behavior and Identity
Post–truth
2015–2020
2016: Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year
2016: Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year
Digital Age Dynamics
Surveillance Capitalism
Defined in 2014
Developed 2015–2020
Developed 2015–2020
Industry–Market–Brand Relationship
Influencer Economy
2010–2015
maturing 2015–2020
maturing 2015–2020
Industry–Market–Brand Relationship
‘Cancel’ Culture*
2015–2020~
Industry–Market–Brand Relationship
Premium Mediocre
2017
Consumer Culture
Fig. 24. A comparative view of influential concepts vs. fashion highlights, demonstrating the connection between theory and fashion output. It also provides a bird's-eye view of key drivers from 1995 to the present. This table presents a simplified list, along with an edited approach to definitions and callouts. While many independent theories are not included in this chart, those highlighted are relevant to our study of basics.
Evidently, basics dressing is a result of cultural, conceptual, and product-driven movements since the 1990s. While we cannot pinpoint a single moment or reason for our consistent reversion to this decade, we can connect the aforementioned concepts, theories, and fashion shifts to today's contemporary casual outfit consisting of a simple t-shirt, hoodie, and straight-leg jeans. After all, our bodies, with the same four limbs, have not changed.
Are we reverting to our postmodernism roots of the '90s because we refuse to modernize further, limiting new trends or fashion to have longevity?
Or, with the stagnant state of 'metaverse' fashion[10], are consumers content to dress for real life – mundanity and all? Alternatively, are they unconsciously dressing for a pre-digital time when there was still an idealized romance for modernism and technology, rather than a fatigue of it?
Upon closer examination, it is evident that basics as we know them - t-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, athleisure, denim, and streamlined tailored workwear pieces for women - came into fruition in the mid-1990s, and perhaps more specifically, in 1994.
[10] The 2021 buzz around the metaverse, NFTs, and digital-first fashion promised a revolutionary consumer experience but has since quietened down with a reality check – or at least due to an investor pivot to AI from 2022. Plummeting NFT values and low attendance at the Metaverse Fashion Week revealed a stark truth: most consumers prefer dressing for their physical reality. It can also be argued that the desire is for fashion to be present in their existing gaming universes, rather than as its own separate entity. While digital-first design and 3D design have fostered creativity and enhanced industry practices, digital products themselves aren't appealing beyond niche markets, as the broader audience favors traditional fashion experiences for the bodies they cannot log out of.
C — A Saturn Return Reflection:
Back to the Start – 1994
To understand the origins of basics as we know them, we look to where it all started: the 1990s. Our interest in the '90s cannot be accurately attributed to the concept of the 20-year trend cycle. We could invert this understanding of 20-year trend intervals of 'trends returning', and instead argue that micro-trends have shortened the trend cycles into a longer trend era. Alternatively, we could reason that trends are not cycling out faster, but rather swinging back and forth like a pendulum within a larger era that started in the '90s and perhaps ends in the 2010s – at least, for now.
Could it be that we are just a continuation of postmodern fashion principles and not, in fact, a new era?
Perhaps a slowdown of new, inventive trends can be attributed to the fact that invention in fashion – silhouettes, materials, details, ideas of futurism - has stagnated, as the human body and imagination have reached their peak. If 1984 marked an Orwellian darkness, 1994 kicked off a postmodern, uniform flatness – with perky marketing and positivity in third-wave feminism.
Utilizing the Vogue Archives and WWD's Archive platform, we explored the roots of basics fashion, its trend leaders, consumer mindsets, and the temperature of consumer culture of the time in an effort to define our connection to the era.
In 1994, consumers were starting to feel fatigued by the romantic, layered look of grunge[11] saturating the commercial market in 1993, and the 'power dressing' of the 1980s. The latter, characterized by bold silhouettes and pronounced shoulders, had initially emerged as a visual assertion of women's growing presence and authority in traditionally male-dominated workplaces but was beginning to feel outdated by the mid-1990s.
There is a noticeable shift in tone and attitude in the January issue of Vogue in 1994, with its fashion features kicking off with 'In Pursuit of the New Prettiness', flipping the script on what 'pretty' meant up until that point. Remarks on minimalism, sleek workwear, and effortless athleisure redefined 'pretty', marking a significant change from ruffles and volume.
This 90s pivot from frills to functionality bears a striking resemblance to our recent evolution. The dreamy fantasy-based Cottagecore aesthetic with its pouf sleeves and tiered skirts giving way to sharp blazers and tailored waistcoats[12].
Moving forward, while Vogue issues of 1995 continued the conversation on minimalism, athleisure, tailored workwear, and futuristic fashion, an exploration of 'sexiness' and glamour was a notable distinction from 1994.
Evidently, 1994 was the birth year of this casualization of minimalism and a 'capsule'-ing of basics, positioned between the peak of grunginess in 1993 and the emerging glamour of 1995.
Then it clicked: Are we simply in the Saturn Return of contemporary basics fashion?
[11] Dubbed ‘mad mixing’ by WWD in 1993
[12] Perhaps there's a deeper meaning here, that we're no longer fantasizing a romantic, remote escape, but one of stability and work?
Contextualizing 1994: A Closer Look
Fig. 25. Radar chart of the key pillars upon which fashion products and trends were built. While all four elements were present across 1993, 1994, and 1995, there were differences in the impact of the message across the three years. 1994 marked the beginning of attention to glamour and a time when minimalism was saturating the commercial market. Notably, Jil Sander championed this minimalism in womenswear, with the brand's export ratio rising by 50% in 1994, for the first time in their 25-year history at that time.
1993
Economy: Slow recovery from early 1990s recession
Retail: Discount stores gaining popularity
Fashion: Grunge style influential, Marc Jacobs collection for Perris Ellis, plus romantic elements via bohemian-inspired pieces referencing the 1970s
Globalization: NAFTA* signed, to be implemented 1994
* NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement between United States, Canada, Mexico, implemented January 1, 1994
1994
Economy: Continued growth, low inflation
Retail: Rise of “big box” stores
Fashion: Minimalism trending, sleek and pared-down looks ascribed as the new glamour, concept of ‘athleisure’ ascribed by journalists
Fast Fashion: H&M expanding internationally
Globalization: GATT* transformed into WTO
* GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) was primarily a set of rules and multilateral agreements, while the WTO (World Trade Organization) is an institutional body with a more comprehensive framework for international trade relations, incorporating a more powerful dispute settlement mechanism and facilitating multilateral trade agreements
1995
Economy: Robust growth, “Goldilocks economy” emerging
Retail: E-commerce beginnings (Amazon founded)
Fashion: Heroin-chic look controversial, supermodel era in full swing, saturating a commercial understanding of glamor
Beauty: Cosmetics industry growth
Globalization: Continued expansion of global trade
* Goldilocks economy gained popularity under Bill Clinton’s administration (Clinton came into office January 1993). The term "Goldilocks economy" refers to an ideal economic state where the economy is not growing too quickly or too slowly, but at a steady, sustainable pace - much like the porridge in the Goldilocks fairy tale that was "just right."
Fig. 26. An overview of 1993, 1994, and 1995 to examine key differences in the birth of basics fashion as we know it today. Disclaimer: all mentioned fashion themes existed in the wider timeline of the 1990's, however we were able to distinguish these differences by assessing the key messages across archival Vogue and WWD.
Key Differences: Context
- 1993: Focus on economic recovery and trade agreements
- 1994: Retail expansion and international growth of fashion brands
- 1995: Stronger economic growth, emergence of e-commerce, shifts in fashion trends
Key Differences: Fashion
- 1993: Grunge and romantic styles
- 1994: Shift towards minimalism and sportswear influences
- 1995: Emergence of more glamorous, polished looks, but still maintaining an air of effortlessness
Understanding Basics:
Key Drivers To Key Fashion
1994
Fig. 27. The womenswear universe in 1994, presented as a brain map. This was derived from reviewing the 1994 issues of Vogue. Interestingly, many of the themes are relevant today, with the integration of sportswear and tailored workwear underpinning contemporary casualwear. The influence of vintage references in daywear and occasionwear proves that our current habits of referencing the past are not new. Evidently, there are commonalities between 1994's tension between femininity, dressing for the workplace, and navigating sexiness as Gen-Z is currently exploring this category of dress today, with online discourse around what is deemed appropriate (tailored shorts, for example) sparking much debate.
2024
Fig. 28. The basics universe as we know now, with a focus on the larger trends that are impacting products today. Evidently, there are many similarities between the two basics universes, with 2024 an expansion on many ideals, and hybridized concepts, amalgamated from the 1990s and mid-2000s.
Additional Notes and Term Explanation:
- Trend Freeze is based on Taste Freeze, a concept in music. Popularized by psychologist David Hargreaves in the 1980s, Taste Freeze posits that people's musical preferences are most strongly shaped during their formative years, typically adolescence and early adulthood. Research by Holbrook and Schindler (1989) and more recent studies using streaming data support this idea (Seth Stephens-Davidowitz and his findings with Spotify), suggesting that musical tastes tend to crystallize in the teens and early 20s. This phenomenon is attributed to the strong emotional experiences and identity formation associated with music during youth. While some studies confirm the relative stability of music preferences over time, others argue that tastes can still evolve throughout life, especially with increased access to diverse music through streaming services – this can also be said for the exploration of new trends, despite a trend freeze.
- Trend Burnout refers to a state of consumer fatigue and disengagement resulting from the relentless promotion of trends through social media marketing. As brands and influencers continuously push new styles, products, or ideas across various platforms, consumers become overwhelmed by the constant barrage of "must-have" items and "next big things." This oversaturation leads to a sense of exhaustion, skepticism, and a decreased desire to participate in or keep up with rapidly changing trends. Consequently, some consumers may actively resist new trends, seeking more timeless or personally meaningful choices instead.
- Inclusive Fashion and Non-Binary Fashion represent a consumer-driven trend focusing on versatile basics designed to be universal and cater to all genders inclusively. This movement evolved from androgynous fashion, a '90s style later popularized by high-end designers in the early 2000s, which in retrospect appears problematic due to its emphasis on masculine-coded clothing and slim silhouettes. While inclusive fashion aims to address these issues, it faces ongoing challenges in production and manufacturing. Creating truly gender-inclusive and size-inclusive clothing in a cost-effective manner remains a complex and debatable topic within the industry, highlighting the tension between inclusive ideals and practical implementation.
Key Headlines of 1994
Fig. 29. Key Headlines from Vogue Issues throughout 1994 act as an overview to understand the context of fashion trends. These headlines reveal the emergence of a universally understood concept of basics, or a contemporary casual wardrobe of 'essentials', built upon an idea of minimalism (well, at least in the United States).
Advertising of 1994
Fig. 30. A look at advertising demonstrates market drivers, market shifts, consumer lifestyles, and consumer tastes that they served (or attempted to capture).
Now and Then: Style
Fig. 31. A comparative view of key looks between present day 2024 and 1994. An attention to commercial fashion underpinned this exercise.
Comparisons demonstrate similarities across: (1) Casual Workwear; (2) Wellness; (3) Navigating Sexy; (4) Bodywear; (5) Retro Redux; (6) Retro Glam Redux; (7) Leisurewear; (8) Designer Denim; (9) Materials Focus; (10) Resortwear as Mainstay/ Fashion; (11) Minimalism as Futuristic; (12) Innerwear as Outerwear; (13) High/Low Style Mixing; (14) Pop of Red; (15) Neutrals; (16) Casual Summer/ White-on-White
Comparisons demonstrate similarities across: (1) Casual Workwear; (2) Wellness; (3) Navigating Sexy; (4) Bodywear; (5) Retro Redux; (6) Retro Glam Redux; (7) Leisurewear; (8) Designer Denim; (9) Materials Focus; (10) Resortwear as Mainstay/ Fashion; (11) Minimalism as Futuristic; (12) Innerwear as Outerwear; (13) High/Low Style Mixing; (14) Pop of Red; (15) Neutrals; (16) Casual Summer/ White-on-White
Setting the Scene to Prove Similarities: 1994
In 1994, the fashion landscape was in transition. Grunge was phasing out of casualwear, and an '80s preference for ‘power shoulder’ workwear was fading. Vogue's reintroduction of 'prettiness' in January 1994 was a welcome idea for readers. The commercialized streetwear of the '80s, led by Black culture, was now described by L.A. Gear executives as worn by 'Street Hikers,' with Ralph Lauren adding that these consumers were 'partaking of life' [13].
Notable sneakers, such as Puma Suedes and Adidas Gazelles, were worn not to work out in, but to work. Adidas president Peter Moore explained the surge in sportswear as "part of the honest, no-hype nineties attitude"[14]. This amalgamation of fashion across categories came to be understood as American Sportswear as we know it today, less about the dresses of Bill Blass which defined the term in the 1970s.
The values of the womenswear consumer shifted as she explored ways to dress for everyday contexts, namely the workplace[15]. A shoot titled Strictly Speaking[16] conveyed: "Strip away last year’s loose layers and unveil what’s essential this season: streamlined jackets and skirts that enhance the bodies beneath them. To convey a sophisticated message, black says it best - adding a sexy edge to practical pieces that work by day and relax by night.
Calvin Klein attributed this shift in modern prettiness to women no longer trying to look powerful or like men[17]. He explained that this global sentiment extended beyond the United States, with European women wanting the same freedom and outgrowing the ideal of being "decorative," "fussy," or "pretty" for men. Klein reasoned that through this modernization of minimalist workwear, Europeans wanted to dress like American women and wear flats, stating:
“It’s about ease, not about looking like you spent an hour in your closet”[18].
Vogue's illustrated consumer priority focused on being chic, with a desire for simplicity and an attention to the face and body. The use of "-chic" was the "-core" of the time, fashioning lifestyle and culture-led trends: sporty-chic, grunge-chic, retro-chic, etc.
Fig. 32. 'Chic' as the original '-core': The concept of 'chic' can be seen as a precursor to our current habit of attaching '-core' to trend names. Interestingly, we can draw a parallel between past and present attitudes: while being called "simple" was once considered derogatory (similar to today's "basic"), there was an ironic idealization of simple clothing, lifestyles, and approaches. This mirrors the current trend of favoring basics in fashion and lifestyle choices.
L.A. Gear Ad, Vogue, April 1993
Vogue, April 1993. Coverage of the movie Clerks provides a snippet of attitudes around Gen-X.
[13] Vogue, January 1994, p.g. 84
[14] Vogue, January 1994, p.g. 88
[15] ‘Whom do Women Dress for By Rachel Urquhart, Vogue, November 1994
[16] Vogue, August 1994 p.g. 229
[17, 18] 'Clavin's Clean Sweep', Vogue, August 1994, p.g. 240, 241
[14] Vogue, January 1994, p.g. 88
[15] ‘Whom do Women Dress for By Rachel Urquhart, Vogue, November 1994
[16] Vogue, August 1994 p.g. 229
[17, 18] 'Clavin's Clean Sweep', Vogue, August 1994, p.g. 240, 241
United Colors of Benetton ad in Vogue, April 1995. ‘Heroin-chic’ was becoming commercialized across mass-market fashion brands.
While a focus on a 'simple chic' was evident across Vogue's advertisers, it was evident that the brands were yet to catch up with the contemporary culture and conversation expressed across the pages. Advertisements ranged from cigarettes, cars, fur coats, milk, sneakers, products for diet fads and luxury bags, demonstrating the tension between the old and new guards of fashion and culture. As minimalism and modern simplicity gained interest, outdated ads slowly diminished. We can also attribute this to the popularity of new age spirituality and wellness activities like yoga and pilates, with Christy Turlington as its poster child. Minimalism could be seen as the zen-ification of grunge fashion, which primarily consisted of more relaxed and printed casual items.
Trends in items flip-flopped between desired hemlines, and fashion stories were almost led by singular designers, or at least, by a singular vision. A February 1994 Vogue photoshoot summed it up nicely: "All about ease: The hallmarks of great American sportswear–clean, unfussy styling and a relaxed, athletic attitude-typify fashion's direction for spring. Warmed with a pale neutral palette, the season's simple pieces turn up in their softest-ever incarnations, from pajama-easy pantsuits to flippy skirts to fluid slip dresses"[19].
May's 'Vogue's Point of View' proclaimed that the face of fashion was changing, calling out "Fashion's New Woman: Strong and Sexy," and aptly described the fashion persona as: "After seasons of soft layers and unstructured slips, a very tailored, very pulled-together look is taking shape. The pivotal elements: the sharp lines of a menswear suit, the forceful femininity of high stiletto heels, and the polish of smooth hair, lined eyes, and really red lips"[20]. This idea of glamour was a cleansing of the palette after an era of 1980's maximalism and youth-culture driven grunge. This take on modern minimalism was seductive and almost sensual, by comparison.
It's important to note that minimalism was not the only trend at the time. Trends and referential designs inspired by vintage fashion emerged as significant style influences, coinciding with but distinct from the broader movement towards minimalism. This meant that there were other creative concepts connecting with consumers outside of minimalism. Typical archetypes such as floral femininity and off-kilter bohemian styles existed for a reason - and still exist today.
Best-sellers list, Vogue, November 1994. The copy reads: Early reports from the stores say the following are shaping up to be the hot items of the 1994 fall shopping season: 1. Skinny belts; 2. Tuxedo; 3. At Patricia Field in downtown New York, shrunken T-shirts and sweaters; 4. White shoes for fall; 5. At Anna Sui, shearlings; 6. Calvin Klein's polo coat; 7. Cashmere twin sets; 8. Armani pant suits; 9. Bill Blass cocktail suits and bright wool coats.
Fig. 33. Contemporary trend forecasting and the art of referencing fashion history were being solidified as a creative or design practice at this time. It was less about copying European designers, and more about American brands expressing their creative concepts as a reaction to their desired market, within a larger corporatize strategy, from trend to production. Left, Bloomingdales advertisement from Vogue, February 1993; Right, Macy's advertisement from Vogue, February 1995.
Trends and referential designs based on vintage fashion existed in 1994. Instead of algorithms and Pinterest moodboards, designers like Gaultier and Galliano drew inspiration from tribal fashion and historical art, justifying these modes as a way to educate or artfully adorn the feminine form. The '40s and '50s inspired suiting and formal eveningwear by Prada, the '30s inspired slip dresses and romantic, slinky dressing (John Galliano), the '60s mod influenced suiting and leisurewear (Calvin Klein), and a '70s bohemia inspired high-low mixing with contemporary grunge (Anna Sui).
'90s fashion, known for its minimalism as a way to define contemporary womenswear (Donna Karan, Giorgio Armani) and beginnings of futurism (Helmut Lang), only stood out with its design principles within a backdrop of a wider trend scene. From a high-fashion, designer point of view, it was not about aesthetics but conceptual creativity, with a tendency to 'update the classics' or explore femininity. In 1995, Vivienne Westwood said: "Glamour has always had a touch of nostalgia" articulated through careful tailoring and old-fashion infrastructure of past styles[21].
[21] Vogue, January 1995, p.g. 129
Fig. 34. Basics as easy, effortless pieces for a capsule approach to everyday dressing became consistent across Vogue pages, led by examples from A.P.C. and the Gap. Left, Vogue October, 1994; Right, Vogue, May 1994.
Discussions of seasonal essentials were key across the pages, with our contemporary idea of the 'Shacket' already present as the 'Shirt-like Jacket'[22]. The '60s inspired shift dress, a button-up work vest, lingerie-inspired little black dresses, short-skirted suits, a-line minidresses, sheer shirts, sleek, slicked back hair with a touch of bronzing were ever-present in 1994. Donna Karan's exploration of bodycon dresses was considered a new form of 'power suiting' in its simplicity. "I don't care about fashion. I care about comfort and what's modern."[23]
T-shirts were styled into runway looks (Chanel), and a headline callout across catwalks with Vogue's View feature in February 1994 read, "Tee Time: Out of the gym and off the street, the T-shirt emerged on designer runways as spring's replacement for last season's ubiquitous white button-down."
Perhaps this focus on contemporary lifestyles, shift in consumer values, and a yearning for simplicity after the whirlwind of grunge, spearheaded a futuristic minimalism that converted all casual dressing to feel straightforward and simple.
WWD, in a December 1994 report titled "The Basics are Building the Business", summed up that mass-market brands such as Guess and Lee expanded their assortment of denim-related items, including jackets, dresses, skirts, woven and knit tops, and 'sexy little t-shirts.' Margie Hanselman, merchandise manager for Levi's women's jeans at the time, shared that they had a 40%+ increase in 1994 over 1993, stating, "The trends, while it might sound boring, were 'more of everything.' One of the interesting things, though, is that there seems to be a shift in silhouette toward a relaxed fit. Our biggest business is still in junior, and that customer has been focused on skintight for a couple of years. I think it might be related to the amount of advertising there's been lately for loose fits for men, and that may be moving over to the target 14-to-19 group in girls. They're wearing them loose and slouchy, with a tiny top. And with looser fits, you get the trend and the volume customer." The piece also recognized an emerging problem: many stores were looking identical through this business of basics, merely differentiated by range of fits and proportions – a problem that resonates today.
Overall, being modern in 1994 was not a futuristic, controversial idea, nor a rebellion against traditional values and roles – it was a practical one built on a need for straightforward simplicity that women desired. Even the discussion or exploration of trends in print media was informative, with writers and editors reporting on what leading creatives were innovating or championing. Though this was still done in a capitalist context back then, by contrast, today's trends feel as if they are built upon the end goal of the consumption of product and content, and the marketability in between it all.
D — The Flow of Influence:
Basics are Based in Design Origins
Labels On/Off
Founding Aesthetics by Designers
Jil Sander
Prada
Maison Martin Margiela
Max Mara
Giorgio Armani
Donna Karan
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Influential Streetwear
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Bottega Veneta by Daniel Lee
Luxury Designers to High-Fashion Brands
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
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Tibi
Contemporary
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
Maison Martin Margiela
High-Street
Maison Martin Margiela
DTC
Maison Martin Margiela
Mid–to–Mass
Maison Martin Margiela
SKIMS
Mass Market
Fig. 35. The Flow of Influence: Today's understanding of minimalism, basics, and contemporary fashion derives from key founding aesthetics led by designers, followed by subsequent brands that have undoubtedly drawn inspiration from these original sources.
While the table demonstrates the key influential brands and designers who shaped our understanding of basics through their codes of design and principles of modernism, we must also consider the influence of mass retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, The GAP, and American Apparel. Their marketing of basics as a key driver of contemporary style has significantly impacted our understanding of basics as we know them today. These retailers' targeting of youth markets and their portrayal of the all-American girl next door who bought into this lifestyle at their local mall brought the notion of basics clothing to life. Today, this same influence is seen in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands such as Everlane for the older Millennial consumer, and in Abercrombie's successful brand revival of late.
While the table demonstrates the key influential brands and designers who shaped our understanding of basics through their codes of design and principles of modernism, we must also consider the influence of mass retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, The GAP, and American Apparel. Their marketing of basics as a key driver of contemporary style has significantly impacted our understanding of basics as we know them today. These retailers' targeting of youth markets and their portrayal of the all-American girl next door who bought into this lifestyle at their local mall brought the notion of basics clothing to life. Today, this same influence is seen in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands such as Everlane for the older Millennial consumer, and in Abercrombie's successful brand revival of late.
Additional notes:
- On Luxury: The term 'luxury' is used interchangeably to attribute a market segment, to market fashion, or to verify a product's attributes. For example, Louis Vuitton aligns itself as a luxury brand; however, their products are not as luxurious on the scale of luxurious goods and are not marketed only to the luxury market. Louis Vuitton's luxury image is marketed to resonate with the masses.
- On Minimalism: Minimalism is a design principle that is applied from a purist perspective or as a guide to modernize trend-conscious concepts. The application of minimalism, though often subtle, can vary from Peter Do, The Row, Khaite/Proenza Schouler, to Peter Mulier's Alaïa, whereby minimalist principles are combined with utilitarianism, femininity, or tailoring to execute a point of difference from competitors. Even in the 1990’s, fashion brands such as Dolce & Gabbana and Versace presented minimalist looks despite not being a minimalist brand - these have not been included in this graph. The current creative direction of Bally, Ferragamo, and Carven feel true to this statement. Additional brands such as Joseph, St. John have also not been included, as once could argue that some of their designs present as conservative or polished womenswear rather than minimalist by design.
- Minimalist to Basics via Diffusion Brands: Emporio Armani, DKNY, and Calvin Klein Jeans created a new market segment with accessible versions of their luxury parent brands. These diffusion lines maintained minimalist design principles and perceived quality, translating them into attainable basic wardrobe essentials for a wider audience. They commercialized minimalism as modern casualwear, bridging the gap between luxury fashion and everyday wear. By focusing on core items, these brands popularized the concept of elevated basics in mainstream fashion.
- On Levi’s: Levi's impact on fashion trends, especially their iconic 501's, is undeniable. However, the brand's enduring popularity isn't solely self-generated. Taste curators, influencers who thrift their jeans, and designers who reinterpret their styles have played crucial roles in maintaining Levi's relevance. This influence spans from denim cut-offs as summer festival staples in mass markets to Vetements' reworked Levi's jeans in their FW 2015 collection, which sparked a renewal in the high-low mixing of the 1990s. Despite these successes in brand presence, Levi's has struggled to build a comprehensive core collection around their denim offerings, failing to effectively expand into basics or lifestyle trend-driven fashion in the way that, for example, Abercrombie & Fitch has managed today. Evidently, Levi's struggles in delivering a unique value proposition for their younger consumers who are thrifting their jeans. The brand is being out-conceptualized by resale brands like The Vintage Twin, and fashion-forward brands such as Re/Done denim, which have catapulted Levi's - or iterations of it - into contemporary relevance more effectively than the brand itself.
Additional brand callouts*:
- 1990s Contemporary Brands: Premium mass market brands Ann Taylor, Kenneth Cole, and Cole Haan influenced essential everyday dressing for the working, modern woman in the 1990s.
- Mid-2000s Contemporary Americana: The era of American designers in the mid-2000s should be noted for the way they evolved American contemporary fashion: Rag & Bone, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Thakoon, Derek Lam, Peter Som, Richard Chai, Michael Kors
- Post-2020 Contemporary Americana: The impact of streetwear and its gender-inclusive appeal has defined contemporary American fashion today, led by the likes of Aimé Leon Dore and the streetwear-to-prep bubble around it. American fashion seems to be warming in this direction, a sort of Ralph Lauren-esque approach to minimalism meets sportswear meets sartorial womenswear, rather than a contemporary minimalist (Khaite, Proenza Schouler) or a contemporary womenswear (Tory Burch, Altuzarra) one.
- Minimalism as Feminine Sensuality: Social-media first or influencer-led, young womenswear brands lean into minimalism with their overarching brand vision and fashion design. Examples: The Line by K founded by Karla Deras; Helsa Studio by Elsa Hosk, Orseund Iris, Danielle Cathari, AreYouAmI by Rumi Neely.
- Non-American Basics or Essentials Identities: Margaret Howell (UK), Agnès B (FR), Comptoir des Cotonniers (FR), Equipment (FR), Sunspel (UK), Aspesi (IT), Filippa K (SE), Lacoste (FR), Petit Bateau (FR), United Colors of Bennetton (IT), Esprit (US), Giordano (HK)
- Mass Japandi: Uniqlo, Muji, Arket, COS
- Millennial Minimalism via DTC Footwear & Accessories: Allbirds, Rothy’s, Koio, Bombas, Mansur Gavriel, Cuyana, Away, Daniel Wellington, Mejuri, Aurate, Warby Parker
* This is a general overview/ summary, excuse our boldness.
Levi's Batwing Logo T-Shirt
In 2019, Business of Fashion reported that a combination of '90s nostalgia and logomania led to Levi's selling a graphic t-shirt every second. At the time, Levi's prospects were soaring, with revenue increasing 14 percent to $5.6 billion in 2018 from the previous year. Levi's red batwing logo had become the everyman's equivalent of Supreme's box logo, accessible and desirable across all genders and viewed as commercially cool by mass-market consumers in both conservative and liberal states alike.
In 2019, Business of Fashion reported that a combination of '90s nostalgia and logomania led to Levi's selling a graphic t-shirt every second. At the time, Levi's prospects were soaring, with revenue increasing 14 percent to $5.6 billion in 2018 from the previous year. Levi's red batwing logo had become the everyman's equivalent of Supreme's box logo, accessible and desirable across all genders and viewed as commercially cool by mass-market consumers in both conservative and liberal states alike.
The Washington Post, July 2024
Honorable Mentions
Additional Leaders in Application of Minimalism
Highlighting designers and brands, and their signature styles which contributed to shaping minimalism and casual basics in womenswear today.
Minimalism via Craftsmanship
Left to right: Hugo Boss 2003 campaign, known for suits; Margaret Howell 1993, launched with a focus in shirting, later known more prominently for outerwear and knitwear; Cerruti 1881 S/S 1997, initially known for wool and suiting.
Fig. 36. Brands and designers who focus on craftsmanship or the purity of a garment intentionally and unintentionally implement points of minimalism to highlight their specialty. We considered including Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli, but their suiting did not incorporate a design ethos of minimalism until recently, with their approach to their wool, cashmere, and suiting specialty in a more traditional formalwear or business attire approach.
Minimalism as Concept, Design Ethos
Left to right: Martin Margiela for Hermes S/S 1999; Yohji Yamammoto F/W 1998; Raf Simons for Jil Sander S/S 2011
Fig. 37. A modest approach to womenswear, minimalism as a framework, and an artful, conceptual approach to design by respected designers trickled down into broader creative practices, and therefore the resulting fashion product.
Minimalism via Sportswear, Sensuality, and Sexuality
Left to right: Tom Ford for Gucci 1996, known for his slick, slim suiting that exuded an overt sexuality with a minimalist sensuality; Calvin Klein S/S 2004 by Francisco Costa, who energized Calvin Klein’s house signature of minimalism with utilitarian details and bold color; Narciso Rodriguez S/S 2005, the designer became known for his dresses and work-to-evening attire.
Fig. 38. A point of modernity and contemporary glamour informed silhouettes and fashion design throughout the late ‘90s and early 2000’s.
Minimalism via Modernity, Glam, Grunge, Rock, Boho
Left to right: Hedi Slimane’s first collection for Saint Laurent; Christophe Decarnin’s Balmain who popularized the grunge-glam skinny jean with zippers and contrast stitching; Isabel Marant brought together a bohemian sensibility (with problematic design instances in-between) with contemporary denim dressing and the infamous sneaker boot.
Fig. 39. From bohochic to rocker-glam, minimalism is applied via a point of restraint, or product simpleness.
Honorable Mentions
New-ish* Applications of Minimalism Today
Minimalism as Barefoot Luxury
Left to right: St. Agni Studio highlights a cityscape minimalism; Bassike is known for their approach to minimalism in their casualwear and contemporary approach to dressing up; DISSH has found success in bringing together a uniquely Australian approach to sleek dressing, particularly via colour and materials.
Fig. 40. Coined by Luke Leitch for Vogue Business, barefoot luxury defines a school of minimalist brands emerging from Australia, typically associated with boho or a beachy femininity a la Zimmerman, its’ most successful export.
Minimalism as Nostalgic, Feminine Sensuality
Left to right: Djerf Avenue by Matilda Djerf; The Line by K by Karla Deras; Helsa Studio by Elsa Hosk
Fig. 41. Minimalism as Feminine Sensuality: Social-media first or influencer-led, young womenswear brands lean into minimalism with an emotion-first 'feminine sensuality' overarching brand vision and fashion design.
Minimalism by Size-Inclusive Brands
Left to right: Good American; The Universal Standard; Girlfriend Collective
Fig. 42. A market often underserved, or completely left behind, size-inclusive brands are including consumers in contemporary trends of minimalist denim, basics, and activewear essentials. Minimalism is utilized for commercial accessibility of minimalism as a mainstream trend.
Suggested further research: Designer and contemporary denim brands, activewear brands
There is a brand matrix that expands on basics brands in Part 3: Marketplace of this piece.
Brand Case Study:
Taking Advantage of a ‘90s Past
Brands with a '90s past are tapping into their own brand histories or legacy product categories to reach today's audiences through their nostalgia for the era's style.
Fig. 43. Abercrombie & Fitch then at left, and the brand today at right. Left: All images by Bruce Weber; Right: All images sourced from Abercrombie’s Instagram.
Abercrombie
Updating Brand Values and Consumer Lifestyle
By the mid-1990s, Abercrombie & Fitch was blatantly, proudly elitist. "We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends," said A&F's CEO, Mike Jeffries, in 2013. "A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
Fast forward to today, and Abercrombie has transformed to exude an inclusionary image. Fashion for all, and beyond casualwear. The brand has revamped its product lines, marketing strategies, and corporate culture to reflect a more socially conscious consumer base. The company now offers a wider range of sizes and focuses on quality basics that resonate with millennials and Gen Z. This strategic shift has not only helped Abercrombie shed its controversial image but has also led to a significant resurgence in popularity and sales, proving that adapting to new values, and not holding on to history, is the only way forward.
Fig. 44. Eileen Fisher then at left, and the brand today at right. Left: Eileen Fisher campaigns, found on Pinterest; Right: All images sourced from Eileen Fisher’s Instagram.
Eileen Fisher
Cultivating Value and Loyalty
Founded in 1984, Eileen Fisher has steadily evolved into a brand that offers timeless, minimalist pieces that align with contemporary attitudes around quality, sustainable basics. The company's initiatives, such as its take-back program for used garments and its emphasis on organic and recycled materials, resonate strongly with today's eco-conscious consumers.
By leveraging its long-standing values and adapting them to current market demands, Eileen Fisher has connected with the consumer. While not completely 'slow' with manufacturing in China, Eileen Fisher embodies a 'slowed down' approach to fashion, balancing quality materials and approachable costs.
In an effort to create a holistic viewpoint on the flow of influence, we build on the development of influence in product design, and now consider the saturation of these products through various types of marketing strategies.
Saturation of Influence:
Basics Brand Types
Fig. 45. Horseshoe of Influence: Basics within Brand Power. The horseshoe structure demonstrates that both luxury and mass market brands possess influential power of equal measure. Social media and the flattening of consumer categories due to context collapse mean that influence, inspiration, and virality can happen in unexpected ways and cross-pollinate across various market arenas. This has transformed influence into a horseshoe shape, saturating the consumer's space from all markets simultaneously. This dynamic also mirrors the coexistence of fast fashion and regular brands, which often share similar brand values or visions - just scaled across their respective capabilities and markets - illustrating how micro and macro trends operate in parallel.
Saturation of Influence:
Agents of Basics Marketing
Fig. 46. Integrated Marketing Funnel: From Awareness to Retention in Fashion Influence. The infographic provides a holistic view of how brand influence works across different stages of consumer engagement in the fashion industry, with a particular focus on social media strategies and metrics.
E — Desperately Seeking a New Alignment:
Context Collapse[24] Through Nostalgia and False Starts to Forecasted Futures
Today, consumers are caught in a paradox: they vocally reject the constant churn of new trends, expressing unprecedented fatigue with micro trends, while simultaneously craving fresh creativity and liberation from trend-driven marketing. This tension manifests in two seemingly contradictory ways. First, there's a surge in collective nostalgia, a shared longing for familiar styles of the past. Second, there's a growing emphasis on 'personal style' – an individualistic response to algorithms that categorize us into homogeneous groups, leading to what sociologists term 'context collapse'.
This dichotomy creates a value-action gap, or what we might call 'trend double speak'.
Consumers appear uncertain of their desires, engaging in circular discussions about style and identity. Yet, despite this ambivalence, they continue to participate in the very system they critique. They succumb to adding items to their cart, then anxiously await the arrival of their purchase within the now-expected window of 3-5 business days.
This tension between need (newness) and want (staying in-the-know) creates a deadlock state - one that basics-focused brands are capitalizing on as a point of neutrality.
Neutral casual fashion based on the 1990s will likely continue to thrive, as it can serve as both a trend-driven Quiet Luxury and a trend-less versatile basic. These items are generally accessible and accommodating to body diversity. For example, bootleg jeans pose challenges in catering to various heights, as the ankle flare requires individual attention during production for each size and length (which is costly). Similarly, the 2000s low-waisted hipster jean is not favorable across both size ranges and age demographics.
The continuance of 1990s basics fashion can also be attributed to an unquantifiable third factor – attitude. It embodies a sort of effortless, carefree nonchalance towards being on trend and off of it - an ambivalence tied to nothing other than valuing womenswear and dressing for one's own womanhood with a modernist approach, that makes it fashionable. Perhaps the modernity and minimalism of 1990s fashion is the Helvetica font of fashion – timeless, utilitarian, and when used right, fashionable.
Late and late-stage capitalism pushed new products with minimalist and futuristic messages around new 'modern' lifestyles for Gen-X in the 1990s and early 2000s. A post-capitalist era brought about a staunch minimalism among Millennials in a time when projected girlbosshoods coincided with a shift in advertising strategies. Advertisers became less focused on emotive appeals tied to lifestyles, and instead targeted consumers based on identities linked to consumption patterns.
Dress for the job you want became fashion the life you want.
The focus shifted from 'you run to work, therefore you need these sneakers' to 'you are a wellness girlie, therefore you need this Lululemon dupe that will change your pilates-to-brunch life'.
The romance in perusing womenswear has been lost as algorithms push hauls and hacks, and influencers systematically 'shoe pop' and selfie onto our screens. It seems as if the womenswear market has lost confidence in the art of self-directed fashion, becoming more susceptible to trends – akin to a Stockholm syndrome situation with our algorithms and sponsored recommendations.
While the fashion industry has shifted away from overly romanticized marketing to women, Donna Karan's 1994 advertisement exemplifies the emotion of femininity in the 1990s well:
Woman to Woman
“To me, the future is all about personal style, not designer dictates. My role is to offer women the freedom and tools to pull it together in a completely modern, sexy way - with simplified pieces that are timeless, luxurious, and flexible enough to go day into evening. This is not about a season: it’s about everything I stand for. Building a wardrobe. Playing with pieces both old and new. The feminine with the masculine. The hip sophistication of New York. And dressing every body type, as well as every style of woman. Inspiring, unique, strong, and real women. Women of character. Women who wear the clothes and never let them wear her. Because that’s what great style is all about. The confidence to be true to yourself. That’s why I think these clothes as a celebration of personal style. From one woman to another.”
Fig. 47. Advertisement by Donna Karan in 1994: Original (left) and Redesigned for Legibility (right). After the disillusionment with girlboss culture for Millennials and Gen-Z's fixation on 'girly pop' and coquettecore aesthetics, notions of womanhood are being explored less frequently by creatives and designers. Empowerment has become a problematic value proposition for products, given that much of society still fails to reflect this ideal – a projection from the 1990s that remains unfulfilled, or perhaps has even regressed. Recently, Sandy Liang's show notes for S/S 25 circulated on Twitter, sparking conversations around this very sentiment.
[24] Context Collapse or ‘Collapsed Contexts’ is the “flattening of multiple audiences into a single context” due to social media and the study of human interaction on the internet. While it has earlier origins, it’s contemporary meaning is credited to Danah Boyd.
Ellen Tracey Ad, sourced from Vogue, September 1994
A version of ‘Quiet Luxury’ existed in 1995, as reported by Cathy Horyn in Vogue October, 1995.
While the promise of women having it all in 1994 felt like a false forecast, technology was not.
Technological advances in the early days of internet culture accelerated in the 90's. As speculative cyber worlds emerged with the approach of the year 2000, the first online transaction occurred in 1994, and internet usage became normalized in everyday life. This democratization of access eventually gave birth to Gen-Viz[25], with Millennials being the first generation to be digitally fluent, and Gen-Z emerging as the first digital natives, who are often seen as the primary target markets by businesses today. Thirty years later, with advancements in A.I. and exploration of the metaverse, public sentiment around technology appears more skeptical and negative, rather than optimistic - a stark contrast to the prevailing attitudes of the 1990s.
Time Magazine, July 25, 1994
Our distaste for or discernment of technologically enhanced reality is solidifying our stance in a base reality[26], with our nostalgia and longing for the past acting as a form of gravity, grounding us against future ideals.
This longing for the past is primarily being driven by Gen-Z. It could be the result of our Generational Recycling theory, manifested by their affinity for thrifting. But to be nostalgic, you must have memories of what you are nostalgic for. So what happens when you are nostalgic for a time in which you were not present?
Or perhaps we are haunted[27] - not nostalgic - by the past, through the echoes of trends, culture, and concepts that live forever in our internet history, and the rotation of suggested content driven by algorithms. While the promise of women having it all in 1994 felt like a false forecast, the transformative power of technology was not.
Fig. 48. The Present Trap: We're stuck in the middle.
[26] Base reality describes the underlying, objective state of existence that persists regardless of individual perception or interpretation. It stands in contrast to constructed realities like virtual reality, the metaverse, or subjective experiences shaped by human design. Base reality represents our unfiltered, earthly, fundamental truth.
[26] Base reality describes the underlying, objective state of existence that persists regardless of individual perception or interpretation. It stands in contrast to constructed realities like virtual reality, the metaverse, or subjective experiences shaped by human design. Base reality represents our unfiltered, earthly, fundamental truth.
[27] ‘Hauntology, first invented by Jacques Derrida in Specters of Marx (1994), is a combination of haunting and ontology to philosophize that the effects of the past stay with us, like ghosts. Mark Fisher in Ghosts of My Life (2014) expands that as a society we are unable to imagine new futures due to hauntology. We live with a case of societal retrograde amnesia in which new memories cannot be retained…Retro-futurism, Y2K fashion, and endless reboots are signs that our culture is haunted by specters of the past. The 21st century is just the 20th century culture on high-definition screens, as Fisher states. It is only through critical examination and understanding of the ghosts that haunt us that we can create a future that is truly new.’
Definition cited from Hauntology by Philipp Gschwendtner, featured in the book, Weak Signals, Edited by Lukas Feiress & Florian Hadler, 2023.
Definition cited from Hauntology by Philipp Gschwendtner, featured in the book, Weak Signals, Edited by Lukas Feiress & Florian Hadler, 2023.
Attention Shoppers: Internet Is Open, The New York Times, Aug. 12, 1994. The first online transaction was made used by encryption technology for a Sting CD. The next successful shopping experience was Pizza Hut’s PizzaNet.
[25] Gen Viz, or Generational Visual, is a term describing the image-first, text-second approach adopted by youth markets. As teens are born with no memory of a world without the Internet or social media, many see visual culture and visual media - YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc. - as frontiers of authentic creativity. The questioning of ideals presented is not corrected but merely discussed in the comments, as if the culture of the past were more of an open forum than fact. We can also connect this emergence of Gen Viz with our problem of Visual Pollution – both in our physical and digital worlds.
Graphic Reference: David Lewis-Williams
In our fast-paced, high-fidelity world, we often find ourselves drawn to the past, seeking solace in nostalgia. This inclination may stem from burnout in our current 'hi-fi' lives. By embracing 1990s fashion in our daily attire, we subtly distance ourselves from contemporary trends, opting instead for a more grounded, 'lo-fi' aesthetic.
Nostalgia serves as a means to dial down our lives to a lo-fi vibration—a comforting background noise or collective framework of memories. We retreat to this familiar space when trying to make sense of the present or, perhaps, to avoid it altogether.
Rejecting a hi-fi lifestyle isn't an act of rebellion but rather a maintenance of a lo-fi baseline. This approach flattens our experiences, blurring the lines between work and leisure against a backdrop of unfolding global crises. We can draw parallels between this blending of everyday life and the popular music genre exemplified by playlists like '24/7 Lo-Fi Hip Hop Beats To Study and Relax To'[28].
These ambient soundtracks have replaced traditional radio, providing a constant audio companion throughout our day.
Much like how basic fashion offers a comfortable refuge from trend-chasing, these lo-fi playlists create a separate sonic space distinct from our hi-fi lives.
It's as if we've wired ourselves to maintain an internal 'second screen'—a background soundtrack perpetually playing in an unknown corner of our mind. This creates a tier of content behind an imaginary fourth wall in our brains, one we're hesitant to breach.
This secondary lo-fi wavelength remains ever-present, akin to the comfort and constancy of everyday leggings.
We can exemplify the difference between hi-fi and lo-fi nostalgia in fashion with the recent rebrand of Australian brand, P.E. Nation. The brand had found global success through their bright, punchy activewear that was built on concepts of retro, looking to the bolder-side of nostalgic fashion references, such as the late 1990s and early 2000s. Their brand focused on activewear with elements of performance, with brand signatures of color blocking against backdrops ranging from seaside to ski. In July 2024, P.E. Nation relaunched their brand with RE/CREATION, wiping their socials clean along with a re-structuring of their company. The collection name suggests that both work and play have elements of recreation, as the casualization of work has blurred the boundaries between the two, and therefore there is less of a need to be performance-driven, but instead, recreation-driven.
The press release nicely sums up many strategies employed by minimalist and lifestyle-driven brands today, with this brand value manifesting into product via simplicity, resonating with consumers through this new brand direction as a vision they can make their own:
The new collection stylistically brings together blazers with activewear, bomber jackets with sheer skirts, and while it may have been at the forefront a couple of years ago, you can't help but make aesthetic connections. It's a little bit Yeezy, a little bit Donna Karan's '7 easy pieces', a little bit Kith 2017. But that's ok. P.E. Nation's goal is not to be original, but to serve their already loyal fan base, bringing the macro trend of minimalism into the arena they are already in, across products they have already validated because they already own a version of them. It's a sum-of-all-parts approach to nostalgic minimalism, digested as new by their audience who are perhaps sitting on a collection of color blocked leggings and seeking something new. The new P.E. Nation is not something to get noticed in at the gym or on your run - it's strategized to signal affiliation with a contemporary attitude to style, and be muted enough that it can be blended into trend in a subtle way. This collection of basics allows consumers to be anonymous with what they're doing or not doing, by wearing a more neutral mix of clothing that is not quite athleisure, but a fashioned activewear.
Through P.E. Nation's rebrand, perhaps we can see how there is a 'correct', 'commercial' or 'conservative' way to play into nostalgia, whereby committing to a nostalgic trend like '90s minimalism with its plain aesthetic is the very thing that can speak to wider lifestyle narratives, and appeal to a broader scope of audience.
LoFi Hip Hop Radio - Beats to Study/ Relax To, YouTube
[28] Lo-Fi hip hop is a music genre distributed and mediated entirely via the internet, and has a contradictory relationship with nostalgia. Contradiction is expressed in content (productivity vs.relaxing), along with its content production (nostalgic hip hop with injections of an artificial vinyl’s ‘crackling’) played on a digital-only platform. Cited from: Beats to Relax/ Study to: Contradiction and Paradox in Lofi Hip Hop, by Emma Winston and Laurence Saywood, IASPM Journal, Vol. 9, no.2, 2019.
P.E. Nation’s Collaboration with H&M in 2019 showcased their original brand signature look of a hybridized retro-sport look.
P.E. Nation’s Resort 2025 Collection, 'Re:Creation'.
Trapped in a Digital Limbo
Are we, in the present, simply stuck in a context collapse between a storied pre-post-internet past, and forecasted futures? Are we in limbo between meeting our fate of Utopia or Dystopia due to our habits of post-rationalization, and turning everything into a discourse or content trend?
We can hypothesize that context collapse exists in various aspects of contemporary fashion and culture.
Nostalgia and Historical Inaccuracy:
- The constant re-appropriation of nostalgia is resulting in many inaccuracies.
- Past ideas or concepts are customized to suit a contemporary audience.
- Historical contexts are often mixed up or amalgamated into a single hashtag.
- This leads to discussions on trends like Indie Sleaze, where historical accuracy is often compromised.
- Gen Alphas' identification of 'preppy' fashion often describes contemporary preppy consumers rather than classic American prep fashion
Late-Capitalism and Fashion production:
- Macro creative concepts now exist in the same plane as micro trends.
- Both macro and micro trends have the potential to be equally impactful in the industry.
- This collapse of context means a basic hoodie from Walmart can be conceptually equivalent to a couture piece at Balenciaga, despite vast price differences.
Content Creation and Social Media:
- Social platforms have become less about being social and more about being media platforms.
- Creatives now market themselves without traditional agents, competing directly with professional influencers.
- Creative content is often produced with the hope of becoming memes, going viral, or being remixed within internet culture.
- Digital content rarely gets deleted, contributing to a habit of self-universe-building.
Digital Footprints and Self-Expression:
- Our digital footprints now extend beyond public social media posts.
- Unrealized "mood-bored-ems" of bookmarks, saves, and likes have become a more authentic expression of self.
- These digital traces represent individual taste, unfinished thoughts, incomplete purchases, and unrealized actions.
Quiet Luxury and Loud Consumption:
- Sentiments around quiet luxury and loud consumption have collapsed into each other.
- Quiet luxury has become one of the loudest trends, despite its understated aesthetic.
- This trend can be seen as the peak optimization of fashion, available at various price points.
- Conversely, basic items like the Stanley Cup water bottle have become symbols of loud consumption.
- The Stanley Cup's popularity among Gen-Z exemplifies how a basic item can become a loud trend.
Choice Collapse in Consumer Behavior:
- Over-saturated markets are creating a 'choice collapse' for contemporary consumers.
- Minimalist basics reflect a stark contrast to consumer demand during the Fordist era.
- Instead of desiring variety (e.g., a t-shirt in every color), consumers now seek subtle variations of the same item.
- This shift might be a subconscious response to overwhelming choice.
- It could also represent a withdrawal from trends or an attempt to connect with nostalgic simplicity.
Referential fashion is also keeping us trapped in a digital limbo, under the guise of knowledge or taste.
Spearheaded by headline-making celebrities wearing vintage pieces on the red carpet and social media moments by content creators, the art of referencing continues to persist as fashion and trend revival have become both publicity and product strategies.
Rooted in nostalgia - a powerful emotion of longing - referential fashion moments extend conversations through a trifold narrative: what was then, what it looks like now, and what it could be.
However, this phenomenon often leads to another type of context collapse, particularly in online debates about originality and credit. Commenters argue not just about the accuracy or authenticity of the revived moment, item, or idea, but also about who first shared the scan, posted the Pinterest pin, or mood-boarded the vibe. Ironically, they often forget that they are all likely seeing the same thing, thus contributing to its reappearance.
This paradox exemplifies the true context collapse of social media and fashion: nothing is by us, and yet everything is by us.
The Poetic Function of Imagination: The Parallel Process of Poiêsis, Angela Carlson, 2019.
As the gap between objective and subjective realms of experiences is narrowing, there is an increased need for a more artful approach to science. In the advent of Postmodernism, approaches to understanding the nature of things is being put into question via the below meanings.
Poiêsis: Making or creation Noêsis: Thinking or understanding
Aisthêsis: Sensation or perception
Alêthaic: Truth or disclosure
As the gap between objective and subjective realms of experiences is narrowing, there is an increased need for a more artful approach to science. In the advent of Postmodernism, approaches to understanding the nature of things is being put into question via the below meanings.
Poiêsis: Making or creation Noêsis: Thinking or understanding
Aisthêsis: Sensation or perception
Alêthaic: Truth or disclosure
The Big Flat Now, published in December 2018 by Jack Self for 032c.
“Cultural production in the third millennium is totally flat. The information we make and share travels through media that lack hierarchy or centrality. There is no principal authority, no recognized arbitrator, and no centralized archive...There is no perspective, no yesterday, and no tomorrow. Flatness has neither a limit, nor a horizon. It has permanently changed our relationship with time and space. As a contemporary metaphor, flatness describes how the invention of the internet has restructured global society.”
“Cultural production in the third millennium is totally flat. The information we make and share travels through media that lack hierarchy or centrality. There is no principal authority, no recognized arbitrator, and no centralized archive...There is no perspective, no yesterday, and no tomorrow. Flatness has neither a limit, nor a horizon. It has permanently changed our relationship with time and space. As a contemporary metaphor, flatness describes how the invention of the internet has restructured global society.”
Upward Spiral of Online Enlightenment
A stylist saw my reference, now its on a celebrity; my idea is now a corporate concept
I went viral
A screenshot of my tweet is in a marketer’s deck, a trend forecasting report, an article
I wrote about it, on Substack, LinkedIn
I commented, tweeted about, or critiqued it
I saved it on my tumblr
I saved it on my Pinterest first
I saved it on my Pinterest first
I scanned vintage magazines and memorabilia into forums
I was alive at the time
I remember it
IYKYK
I remember it
IYKYK
Fig. 49. A somewhat humorous look at online behavior around a 'who thought it first' in relation to reference culture.
Fig. 50. Unpacking the online ego in relation to consumer values and approach to trends.
Graphic Reference: The Upward Spiral, IHTC
Analytical Psychology: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1925 (Jung Seminars Book 601)
The Mathematical Way of Thinking, Hermann Weyl, 1940
Our collective nostalgia for the past keeps us tethered to the pretext of the 21st century. The '90s have become void of time as a measured element - they're simply the pretext of the world as we know it, encompassing the entirety of the 21st century. Everything before that becomes null, as traces of fashion throughout past eras were also present in the 1990s. Our current and future iterations of those ideals will always be viewed through the filter of 1990s modernity.
There can never be pure nostalgia, only edited, translated, and appropriated versions. We don't just long for nostalgia in a way that's compartmentalized in the past; we experience it in our present. Our longing for the past lives on as it's desired in the present and perhaps willed and planned for its return in our future.
After culture, after capitalism, after the democratization of access – we find ourselves in limbo.
As we navigate the complexities of our current cultural landscape, caught between nostalgia for the past and uncertainty about the future, we find ourselves in a state that mirrors neither the idealized Utopia nor the dreaded Dystopia.
How Different Cultures Understand Time, Business Insider, Richard Lewis, 2014. Lewis contrasts Western linear time, where the future is seen as somewhat predictable through planning, with Eastern cyclical time, which emphasizes harmonizing with natural cycles. While linear thinking views the past as behind us and the future ahead, cyclical time is less rigid. This concept applies to nostalgia, which doesn't follow a linear timeline but resurfaces organically in cycles. Like Eastern time concepts, nostalgia is driven by 'human harmonization' rather than systematic revisitation, reflecting a more fluid, cyclical approach to remembering and reinterpreting the past.
Introducing: Mesotopia
Derived from the Greek "mesos" (middle) and "topos" (place), Mesotopia represents a societal state that occupies the middle ground between extremes. It embodies our collective experience of being 'stuck in the middle' - simultaneously clinging to the past through nostalgia while tentatively reaching for an uncertain future.
Mesotopia is characterized by:
- Ambivalence: A coexistence of positive and negative elements, reflecting the nuanced reality of our lived experiences.
- Flux: A constant state of change and adaptation, mirroring the ever-evolving nature of fashion and cultural trends.
- Temporal Fluidity: A blurring of past, present, and future, as seen in the context collapse of referential fashion.
Unlike the unrealistic extremes of Utopia or Dystopia, Mesotopia offers a more authentic framework for understanding our current condition. More than just a descriptive concept - it could be a fundamental truth. The constant recycling and reinterpretation of trends, the simultaneous embrace and rejection of technology, and the ongoing negotiation between individuality and collective identity all point to a Mesotopian state as the natural condition of contemporary culture.
Rather than striving for an unattainable perfection or resigning ourselves to inevitable decline, we can embrace the dynamic, often contradictory nature of our cultural landscape. This Mesotopian perspective allows us to find meaning and innovation in the tension between nostalgia and progress, tradition and disruption, the physical and the digital.
The concept of Mesotopia invites us to reconsider our approach to trend forecasting, cultural analysis, and even personal style.
It challenges us to find significance in the in-between spaces, the unresolved questions, and the ongoing dialogues that define our era.
In doing so, we may discover that the truth of our cultural moment lies not in any fixed destination, but in the journey itself - a perpetual navigation of the middle ground we call Mesotopia.
Perhaps if we intellectualized less - dare I say, forecasted less - we wouldn't feel trapped into making conclusive positive or negative reads. Just like basics fashion, a pared-back 'underpromise, over-deliver' approach to forecasting might leave us more content rather than disillusioned, allowing us to navigate the world with greater ease and authenticity.
Eddington A. S. 1928. The Nature of the Physical World . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
02 — Marketplace:
Meeting in the Middle
In examining the success of basic clothing brands, we delve into the landscape where they flourish across markets. This section spotlights how the rapid saturation of trends and a focus on minimalist, contemporary essentials have leveled the basics playing field. The result? An expanded capacity for brands to resonate with consumers while adapting minimalist codes to fit a wide array of clothing categories and functions.
A — K-Shaped Economy:
A Roaring ‘20s Promise, A Broken ‘20s Reality
As the 2010s drew to a close, trend forecasters eagerly anticipated a 'roaring '20s' – a hopeful echo of the 1920s post-war boom. Despite political turbulence during Trump's presidency and sluggish post-recession economic growth, many envisioned a positive era ahead. The murder of George Floyd in 2020 catalyzed a wave of corporate diversity initiatives, though their long-term impact remains questionable four years later.
When COVID-19 struck, disrupting these optimistic projections, forecasters pivoted. They framed the global pause as a ‘blank page for new beginnings.’ While the message felt insensitive, this perspective wasn't entirely misplaced. The stillness of lockdowns sparked profound discussions about the fashion industry, environmental concerns, and societal values. This period of reflection gave rise to 'big think talk culture,' which found its home on platforms like Clubhouse and fueled the explosive growth of podcast culture as we know it today.
As the world emerged from the pandemic's shadow, its effects proved far more complex and far-reaching than anticipated. Economies, social structures, and future outlooks were reshaped in unprecedented ways. The pandemic's economic impact was far from uniform, resulting in what economists call a K-shaped recovery[29]. In this scenario, the top 1% of earners were largely insulated from the pandemic's financial fallout, often benefiting from the stock market's swift recovery and the shift to remote work. In contrast, the middle class faced significant challenges, with many sliding into lower income brackets. This widening wealth gap effectively hollowed out the middle class, pushing a substantial portion into the lower market. Consequently, serious concerns arose about long-term social stability and the need for more equitable economic policies.
Post-pandemic, the middle class experienced a bifurcation: some managed to level up into the upper-earning class bracket (often dependent on their business category), while others were pushed down into lower-income brackets. This inequality resulted in the share of adults who live in middle-class households falling from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2021. This divergence effectively emptied the traditional middle market, creating a more polarized economic landscape.
Interestingly, where these two income brackets meet is in the middle – or at least in how they present themselves. While the rich continue to have access to luxury goods and spaces, trends like "Stealth Wealth" and "Quiet Luxury" have given rise to a 'Premium Mediocre[30]' approach to shopping and dressing. This phenomenon reflects a complex interplay between economic realities and social presentation, where individuals across different income levels aspire to project a similar aesthetic, blurring the visible lines between economic classes.
While economic and fashion market conditions are constantly evolving, at present, there is an interesting 'middle' emerging, as a result of this K-shaped economy:
Fig. 51. A traditional matrix of fashion market segments, with a perceived 'middle market' at the center, positioned between directional and commercial fashion design.
Fig. 52. Placement of the K-shape economic recovery and a new perceived middle market that shifts more closely to the commercial side as the economic crisis prompts more conservative spending. This results in a premium mediocre approach to product and brand placement as a new 'middle market' where the luxury and mass markets meet in the middle, at least superficially, in basics or casual contemporary dress. It inverts the term 'The Great Divergence' - used by economists to describe the widening income and wealth inequality in the United States since the 1970s - in that while the gap is widening in income and wealth, there is a 'coming together' in the way people dress and the trends they participate in. This phenomenon also connects the luxury consumer's values of inconspicuous consumption and conspicuous consumption with mass markets. After all, the basis of 'quiet luxury' is this very discreet inconspicuousness assumed by the luxury market, now mimicked by the masses, through the façade of a premium mediocre.
Prosumer
An informed, discerning consumer.
Origin:
Alvin Toffler, ‘The Third Wave’, 1980
Alvin Toffler, ‘The Third Wave’, 1980
Massclusivity
Mass-produced goods with an air of exclusivity via limited quantities or segmented markets.
Origin:
Concept born in 1999 when architect Michael Graves created housewares for Target. Gained popularity in product and marketing strategy between 2000-2005
Concept born in 1999 when architect Michael Graves created housewares for Target. Gained popularity in product and marketing strategy between 2000-2005
Premium Mediocre
Consumption of goods and experiences that are marketed as premium, creating an illusion of better quality.
Origin:
Venkatesh Rao, ‘The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial’, 2017
Venkatesh Rao, ‘The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial’, 2017
Masstige
Mass-produced goods marketed with a purpose to exude an air of ‘prestige’ to a mass-market audience.
Origin:
Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske, ‘Luxury for the Masses’ in The Harvard Business Review, 2003
Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske, ‘Luxury for the Masses’ in The Harvard Business Review, 2003
Fig. 53. Hypothesis: A K-shaped aspirational consumer recovery via brand strategies.
Image Source: Meet the 'K-shaped' recession, where professional workers are largely fine and everyone else is doing awful, Business Insider, September 2020
[29] The K-shaped economy refers to an economic recovery or growth pattern where different segments of the economy recover or grow at different rates, speeds, or magnitudes. The term is visualized by the diverging arms of the letter “K”. The upper arm represents sectors and groups that are recovering quickly or even thriving. The lower arm represents sectors and groups that are recovering slowly, stagnating, or even continuing to decline.
Miu Miu Spring 2023; Fall 2023; Spring 2024.
When launched in 1993, Miu Miu was positioned as the “anti-fashion” little sister line to Prada.
When launched in 1993, Miu Miu was positioned as the “anti-fashion” little sister line to Prada.
[30] Premium Mediocre refers to products, services, or experiences that present an illusion of luxury or high quality while actually being of average or mediocre caliber. This concept typically involves superficial upgrades or marketing tactics designed to make something appear more upscale than it truly is, often at a slightly higher price point than standard options. Coined by Venkatesh Rao in ‘The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial’, through his blog, Ribbonfarm, 2017.
Image Source: Economic Policy Institute, on the World Economic Forum
While a K-shaped economic recovery is largely attributed to the pandemic, we can argue that it was a long time coming.
While a K-shaped economic recovery is largely attributed to the pandemic, we can argue that it was a long time coming.
Image Source: drishtiias
We can illustrate new variations of ‘premium mediocre’ below:
Accessibility as Basic
Sometimes Cringe
Sometimes Cringe
Premium Mediocre as Mid
Commercial Cool
Commercial Cool
Luxury Basics
Typically Climactic
Typically Climactic
Accessibility as Basic
Sometimes Cringe
Sometimes Cringe
Premium Mediocre as Mid
Commercial Cool
Commercial Cool
Luxury Basics
Typically Climactic
Typically Climactic
Fig. 54. Demonstrating basic-ness, a premium mediocre, and a basic (or entry-level) luxury on a spectrum to reflect the way in which a 'K-shaped' recovery is manifesting in fashion to reflect this new 'middle'. For e.g. with Shein a pillar of competition for Zara, the brand has been actively positioning themselves as a more 'premium value' store with their big-budget photoshoots to emulate high-fashion imagery via esteemed photographers and models. Carving out new 'middlegrounds' for consumers is a key strategy to differentiate brand positioning.
B — Direct-to-Social: Redefining Fashion's Digital Middleman
Social media has revolutionized the relationship between fashion brands and consumers, challenging traditional wholesaling models and rendering obsolete traditional fashion media and their role in introducing new fashion to consumers. This direct-to-consumer approach via social platforms not only streamlines operations but also fosters more personalized customer experiences by sidestepping conventional distribution channels. As fashion brands increasingly leverage social media's vast reach and targeted capabilities, they're redefining marketing strategies and distribution methods, making traditional wholesaling practices less relevant in the digital age.
The social media landscape has transformed consumer engagement in terms of market excitement and prosumer knowledge discourse. While an online conversational trend of 'If You Know You Know' has not replaced the feeling of 'hype' previously associated with streetwear, it has become an evolution of this buzzy type of consumer engagement.
Hype ↓
While there is still a sense of hype and brand excitement as seen in streetwear 5-10 years ago, it’s apparent that there is a diffusion of hype. This is a result of:
- Crowded market
- Consumer fatigue around product hype and drop culture
- Loss of cultural capital and sense of authenticity post-commercialization
- Loss of community within brand fandoms as consumers became competitors to each other, from eyeing the same limited products to reselling the very products to each other at inflated prices
- Awareness of the state of the economy and the cost of living crisis
While consumer hype won't vanish entirely, a shift towards a more nuanced, unspoken 'cool hunting' approach to product discovery and consumption is essential to consider in brand and product development.
IYKYK ↑
The IYKYK* culture around fashion products has created a value for 'insider' product knowledge. This digital wink of peer approval on trending products manifests as consumers:
- Explore products in isolated, online experiences through sponsored posts
- Create communities via engagements in comments of product-driven posts, especially with 'dupe' culture and product hacks across fashion, beauty, and home categories
- Desire a point of exclusivity, discretion, or products that feel as if the research has already been done by a trusted influencer, or more importantly, themselves
This IYKYK discourse fosters a sense of belonging among those 'in the know' while maintaining an air of exclusivity, individuality – and excitement – for consumers.
*IYKYK: If You Know you Know
*IYKYK: If You Know you Know
Fig. 55. Key factors driving shifts in consumer engagement
We place the above exploration into to the below:
Current State of Engagement
Low Engagement
High Engagement
Passivity
- Lowest level of engagement
- Characterized by background presence and passive recognition
- Consumer Value: Convenience
- Priority: Effortless integration into daily life
- Retention: Habitual Purchasing
Examples:
Brands you subconsciously scroll past, items you might screenshot but don’t return to
Brands you subconsciously scroll past, items you might screenshot but don’t return to
IYKYK
- Middle ground of engagement
- Characterized by niche knowledge and a sense of being an insider
- Consumer Value: Newness
- Priority: Expression of individuality
- Retention: Curated loyalty
Examples:
Emerging fashion trends, unexpected/ left-of-center products, dupes
Emerging fashion trends, unexpected/ left-of-center products, dupes
Hype
- Highest level of engagement
- Characterized by intense, loyal, and active participation
- Consumer Value: Status and/or Uniqueness
- Priority: Being at the forefront of trends and culture
- Retention: Enthusiastic loyalty
Examples:
Viral TikTok products, major launches like iPhones, limited streetwear
Viral TikTok products, major launches like iPhones, limited streetwear
Fig. 56. Key differences in consumer engagement, including the 'Passivity' type, where constant immersion in the digital world creates a consistent subconscious awareness of brands and products - an ambient awareness akin to background music in malls. Additionally, in a social media-led world, both influencer-driven and community-driven (i.e., being introduced to products by our friends), traditional active shopping has become much more influence-led rather than self-directed.
C — Brand Marketplace: Bare to be Basic
A stripped-back approach to contemporary casualwear and basics, along with the integration of denim and conceptual interpretations of minimalism, brings together the below matrix of basics-focused brands. There is a congestion of brands within the Contemporary to Mid-Market range, representing a 'middle-ground' where both upper-luxury consumers and mass-market consumers often meet. This is a general overview, with many brands not included – also keep in mind that the very exercise of placing brands on a matrix is subjective, and each brand's placement could be subject to change.
Fig. 57. Basics-focused brand matrix. Brands were placed on the cost of their basic white t-shirt in April 2024. Luxury Brand: $500+; Designer: $300-500+; Advanced Contemporary: $200-300+; Contemporary: $100+; Mid-Market: $50-100; Mass Market: $20-50; Fast Fashion: Under $20
Spectrum of Basics Consciousness*
* Made in good fun, please don’t come for us (although, we do have receipts...)
Fig. 58. U.S.-focused mass-market brands known for their basics offerings, placed on a spectrum of consciousness in terms of how 'awake' they are with their product offering, brand positioning, and connection with their consumers via lifestyle and values. Their ability to be agile in trend also determined their placement here, i.e., their overall ability to react to fast trends and trending memes via social media, as well as their capacity for 'trend cognition' or trend 'reaction' in a timely manner, without sacrificing the integrity of their brand. Since creating this graphic, Eddie Bauer has made a stylized entry into Japan, Madewell has launched a collaboration with Alexa Chung, and J.Crew has relaunched their catalogue.
Nara Smith for Aritzia, August 2024
Eddie Bauer launches Japan-only ‘Eddie Bauer Black’, September 2023
Alexa Chung for Madewell, September 2024
Victoria’s Secret, 2024.
Graphic Reference: Stephen Thaler, 1996
From our exploration of new 'middle grounds', it is evident that a pared-back modernist minimalism is a way to bridge our place at a crossroads of the past and future, and our tension between opting into traditional trend cycles or a trend-less basics approach. This is also a result of the industry-at-large, and the creative leaders within it, perhaps looking at the same information or sources of inspiration more than ever before.
Scaling Minimalism as a Design Code
Minimalism, as a design ethos and concept is intentionally or unintentionally applied to fashion design, product development, merchandising, and marketing strategy. It’s a way to create a point of intellectualism within design, as if minimalism is the result of a considered, thoughtful process, or on the flipside, as a starting point to streamline products to optimize accessibility and versatility.
Either interpretation sells goods to the consumer, in their own arena from luxury to a ‘premium mediocre’ middle-market to a highly commercial mass-market.
Design Principles, Brand Values,
Production Value
Production Value
Product Design and Development
Designed Simplicity as Affordable
Practicality, Consumer Lifestyle Values
and Consumer Culture
Practicality, Consumer Lifestyle Values
and Consumer Culture
Occasionwear
Sartorial Tailoring, Utilitarian Workwear
Contemporary
Womenswear, Corporate
Workwear
Womenswear, Corporate
Workwear
Contemporary Femininity (Youth)
Streetwear,
Merch
Merch
Sportswear
Athleisure, Activewear
Resort,
Swim
Swim
Loungewear
Intimates, Shapewear
Casual Basics
Fig. 59. Applications of minimalism across each apparel category. The hi-lo styling and lifestyle-based merchandising of brands have led to the amalgamation of aesthetics across contemporary womenswear to casual basics, whereby denim and loungewear can be mixed into workwear (in more casual contexts). The use of minimalism across categories has allowed for this hybridized approach to dress. Through this visualization, you can see minimalism has flattened design across fashion categories and desired consumer markets from luxury to mass.
From left to right: Bevza, Noah by Nordstrom August 2020, Céline Pre-Fall 17, Orseund Iris, Museum of Peace and Quiet, @katelanpell, Alo Yoga, Matteau, Helsa Studio, SKIMS, Feel Jeans
From left to right: Bevza, Noah by Nordstrom August 2020, Céline Pre-Fall 17, Orseund Iris, Museum of Peace and Quiet, @katelanpell, Alo Yoga, Matteau, Helsa Studio, SKIMS, Feel Jeans
The Basics Binary: Trend and Non-Trend
Through our analysis of basics in the marketplace and a new 'middle' market that presents itself as premium mediocre, we observe a binary classification at the center of our K-shaped economic recovery: products can be tagged as either Trend or Non-Trend.
This dichotomy extends to the concept of 'minimalism' across the brand matrix, either appreciated in its true conceptual form as minimalist, or as a diluted form as basic, typically tagged as such in product identity and not in larger trend messages. For example, the slip dress, which can be categorized as a basic item, is more frequently described as a iconic, or essential dress since it has trend connections to minimalism and the 1990's. Conversely, simple leggings or a bralette are not considered minimalist but basic.
Beyond price architecture, product context informs this 'basics binary,' whereby an item within a category can be perceived as either a trend or non-trend product.
Fig. 60. The Basics Binary as a result of a K-Shaped Economic Recovery
Contradiction by Calvin Klein Ad, 1998
Viewing basics within the context of our K-shaped economic recovery and a basics brand matrix reveals how contemporary consumers have adopted a basics-first sensibility to navigate the Trend/Non-Trend spectrum and remain safely in the middle, mediocre or not. This approach conveniently blurs the spectrum from minimalism to basic into a singular aesthetic profile, allowing consumers to shape-shift between Quiet Luxury and being downright basic with just a sharp tailored blazer or a t-shirt whose value is dictated by its brand.
The search for personal style within this common middle-ground means that contemporary consumers are navigating this landscape with dual intentions. They shop in communal brand universes for connection via uniformity while simultaneously seeking uniqueness for individuality. By remixing both trend and non-trend items, they attempt to achieve a semblance of personal style or individuality, aiming to avoid the 'basic' label while dressing in basics – or so they believe.
Basic vs. Minimalist Meme
03 — Consumer Identity:
To Be Basic, or Not To Be
Exploring the paradox of consumer identity in contemporary fashion reveals a tension between embracing popular basics and avoiding the 'basic' label. This struggle pits conformity against individuality as fashion-conscious consumers navigate trends while nurturing their desire for personal style, all in an effort to honor the notion that we are all unique—or perhaps uniquely basic.
A — Buying Basics vs. Being Basic
Aspirational Basics
Attainable Basics
Accessible Luxury as Basic
Trend Aspiration
Trend Aspiration
Premium Mediocre as Basic
Trend Mainstay
Trend Mainstay
Basic Baseline
Trend Saturation
Trend Saturation
Fig. 61. Items that are often associated with being basic today, across a spectrum from Aspirational to Attainable.
Being called cheugy, corny, cringe - or downright basic - is a cardinal sin in fashion circles. It confirms conformity to mass commercial trends or status as a fashion victim. Originality and algorithmic independence mark the ultimate cool, though differentiating oneself grows increasingly challenging.
Amidst a cost-of-living crisis, tough job market, and inescapable product cycles, being basic has become a safeguard. It's a way to opt out of micro-trends and embrace a default dressing style - a uniform for our uneasy times. This approach favors being a citizen over a 'fashion person': chic, perhaps creative, but definitely not -core. Not quite basic, but anonymous.
Basics dressing reflects the mundanity of ordinary life: logging in, lying flat, walking around.
It's a safe incognito mode in an unpredictable economy, accepting that we needn't be extraordinary. This style caters to non-influencers who don't require a fashioned life. While the cerulean blue monologue still resonates, it's the ambivalence to effort that defines basics dressing and should guide the fashion industry. The direct-to-consumer approach to trends and branding, fueled by online discourse, has diminished the romance of product discovery. As Jared Spool noted, good design is invisible, while Paul Klee spoke of art making the invisible visible. Both concepts apply to basics dressing.
Consumers shouldn't need to know their clothes' trend attachments. The absurdity lies in everyday people identifying their basics as "Coastal Grandmother" or “Recesseion-core”. Product descriptions overflow with buzzwords like "premium elevated essential iconic 90's fit t-shirt," reflecting how capitalism and social media have transformed our relationship with clothing.
As trend fatigue sets in, tension emerges between embracing basics and chasing trend leadership. Discussions around 'under-consumption-core' - essentially regular, non-upper-class consumption - show fashion conformists becoming more discerning about clothing essentials. They're warming to 'basic' without the label, recognizing that being a fashion 'normie' or simply a citizen is key to understanding the commercial market.
While businesses pursue fashion-forward consumers, they often overlook the basics-focused segment, generalizing their desires with lazy 'blanding' to broaden reach. Yet, it's these consumers, who seek clothing over fashion, who have shaped contemporary casual dressing. They deserve more credit as the discerning consumers who drive the shift from skinny to baggy jeans, and therefore deserve more design and creativity, rather than being the recipient of umbrella ideas such as 'everyday essential basics'. Especially since their wealthier counterparts would never be called basic, or sold such ideals. Sure, a modernity or minimalism has driven basics from a design point of view and is still the favorable concept. However, since the success of basics stems from the purchasing of clothing over trends, the prioritization in basics strategy must be one of creativity and innovation, rather than one of marketability. Not everything can be premium or essential.
Ultimately, buying basic doesn't equate to being basic, especially as inflated views of a trend-filled life lose relevance. In a multi-crisis world demanding basic survival, who can afford to be a trend chameleon?
The Memes Are Pouring the White Claw Down Your Throat!, The New York Times, by Jonah E. Bromwich, September 2019. The subheading reads: The brand doesn’t care if you’re buying “ironically.” You’re still buying.
Acting Basic, Youth Mode Report, K-Hole: 'When the fringes get more and more crowded, Mass Indie turns toward the middle. Having mastered difference, the truly cool attempt to master sameness. Sameness is not to be mistaken for minimalism.'
Beyond Based and Cringe, by Nate Sloane, June 2021
‘Single White Female’ Fashion feature in Vogue UK, January 1995. The copy reads: “Her man’s fled. She faces dinner alone. But what the hell - with silk and cashmere to hand, life’s not all bad. Luxurious clothes may be an indulgence, but sometimes they’re essential survival gear...Facing her first night alone: cutting a dash - and the garlic - in Hervé Léger’s curvy, sculpted evening dress.”
SNL’s ‘Fashion Coward’ skit in April 2019 was based on Ann Taylor defining the store’s clothes as “Clothes that suggest the general idea of a person”. While the skit could have been based on any other store at the time, The Gap, for example, it was a stark reminder of how ‘smart’ basics for millennial women became a safe default.
B — The Body* in Basics
Basics dressing favors conventional body types. While this bias starts in production - brands typically sample from a standardized size US 0-4 (dependent on the brand and their budget) - the last reported average size in the US is a US16. This stark contrast highlights a significant disconnect between industry standards and consumer reality. Despite this, our collective gaze gravitates toward celebrity influencers as aspirational imagery, and dressing in basics has come to emphasize the body.
Just like how a 'no-makeup' look highlights the features and skin of the face, resulting in a normalization of cosmetic procedures, basics-driven looks of tops and jeans highlight the body.
Baggy jeans appear baggiest on thin frames, and baby t-shirts fit as intended when one's torso resembles that of a child. This phenomenon creates an implicit pressure to conform to a specific body type, often unattainable for many.
Many have called out the dangers of women's diet culture reverting to that of the late '90s and early 2000s, which emphasized being extremely thin. This was a time when low-slung jeans drove Atkins diet trends, wheatgrass shots, and lemon-maple-syrup detox drinks. For instance, the popularity of shows like "Friends" popularized a look that was achievable primarily through extreme dieting. Today, 'that girl' routines and baggy jeans have replaced this phenomena, masked as a wellness lifestyle or an effortless look. Social media influencers promote 5 AM routines and green smoothies, presenting an image of health that often disguises restrictive behaviors.
However, it must be noted that unless you are a thin person, basics are not so effortless, as they require maintenance of the body for basics to fit in the desired way.
A simple white t-shirt and jeans combo, often touted as universally flattering, can become a source of anxiety for those who don't fit the idealized body type. While basics seem simple, they can be seen as a canvas of hedonism, a result of consumers focusing their efforts on their bodies. Basics (or a boxy t-shirt with oversized jeans) become the draped curtains that highlight this very effort – reflecting an afforded leisure to workout and spend at wellness establishments like Erewhon and Equinox. The $4.5 trillion global wellness industry thrives on this intersection of fashion and body ideals, selling not just clothes but a lifestyle.
This exploration of basics fashion reveals a complex interplay between consumerism, body image, and societal expectations. While the simplicity of basics may appear democratic, it often reinforces narrow beauty standards. As we navigate these trends, it's crucial to critically examine the messages they convey about our bodies and worth, especially in the context of basics, where their affordable, accessible nature implies something priceless.
* We must note that this is a topic with complex roots and deserves to be explored further. However, as a piece focused on the connection between trend and dress, this is an overarching view and a factor in a larger story on basics fashion. Future discussions might delve into the psychological impact of these trends, their economic implications, and potential paths towards more inclusive or realistic fashion practices.
Is Bella Hadid’s Style Plus-Size Friendly? I Dressed Up Like Her for a Week to Find Out’, Aiyana Ishmael, Teen Vogue, January 2023. Writer Aiyana Ishmael dressed like Bella Hadid for a week, in an effort to debunk 'effortless streetstyle' and explore the weighted conversation around aspirational style and mimicry of thinness.
C — Uniquely Basic: The Art of Mainstream Individuality
The creator economy has normalized the over-presence of sponsored content, the discussion of trends, and 'inspirational' assets, cultivating a fashion persona identification that is intertwined with the consumption of products. While ambivalent consumers still exist, the very marketing strategies and trend forecasting habits of industry professionals have seeped into consumer culture and lingo, with content posted hand-in-hand with marketing speak. A sort of consumption triple speak where marketing, trend, and product all hit the consumer simultaneously is evident. It's no longer 'minimalism' for example, it's 'Wide leg Quiet Luxury pants for the minimalist girlies'.
Through this mass marketization of trends, the struggle for trend authenticity and authority is pushing trend leaders to turn to personal style to assert their position more forcefully.
When celebrities, influencers, and industry creatives are equipped with the same digital mediums to source references as citizen consumers, there is a tension of power. This can be seen in the way UGC or User Generated Content creators are able to build communities more effectively in some ways through 'mainstream individuality' versus an established influencer or celebrity who receives backlash for their attempt to be uniquely basic or 'regular' in a mainstream arena, sprinkled with products they are trying to sell in a somewhat organic manner. Kylie Jenner's make-up videos in her car come to mind.
The hierarchy of influence is no longer linear. We are no longer collectively looking upwards at the same thing.
While it may seem like social media culture has reduced subcultures to commodities to buy into, it has also made tapping into trends much more flexible, allowing consumers to opt in and out as they please.
This has resulted in a paradox of expressing individuality through common items or online sensibilities. We want to be independent but not alone in the world of fashion. We want to be uniquely basic in the mainstream world of trends, not too unique to the point of alienation, but unique enough that we don't appear as a fashion victim – buying into too many trends is bad taste, but not participating in any is even worse.
To 'be in fashion' is endless work. The superficial nature of image and appearance has reached the everyperson, normalizing the idea that every body is a brand or a curated image in the world of social media and digital identity. Life online for most means that an element of personal branding has become an important means of asserting yourself. Aligning with a style collective to present yourself with those values feels somewhat unnecessary, in the same way a young person might pick a fandom and allow it to take over the aesthetic of all of their belongings. However, it's also become a way to build your individual universe for the algorithm to feed into, or for you to find your following, or your tribe.
This digital fashion ecosystem extends to celebrities or those who want to become one. By asserting their relevance through girl-next-door basics, celebrities can appear to have aspirational, achievable, and enviable style all at the same time - or as 'uniquely basic' - they're able to draw in audiences and earn affiliate earnings in between. Fashion has become an asset to leverage to cultivate a following, fandom, and hopefully, a universe. Their fashion choices blur the lines between organic preference and sponsored content, raising questions about authenticity. For instance, was Katie Holmes' viral Khaite knit twinset a personal purchase, a gift, or a sponsored moment? Has looking up Hailey Bieber's outfit tags on Instagram via her street stylist become just another way to shop?
The future of fashion identity may well depend on our ability to find meaning and genuine self-expression within the paradox of being uniquely basic.
Laura Harrier Wants ‘It’ Girls to Go Back to Gatekeeping, The Cut, March 2024
‘Contemporary Casual’ Consumer Personas
We identify five key basics personas who are shaping the way contemporary casual fashion is worn today. They are addressing the art of mainstream individuality through their personal style, and represent the cohort of consumers they embody. We represent these consumers with their ideal social media influencer.
Concept Driven
Product / Design Driven
Streetwear WASP
Follows trends and shops across fast fashion and mid-market fashion. Constantly seeks: newness in items, color, and graphic design. Buys into: athleisure and casual basics regularly. Influenced by: activewear and sportswear trends for lifestyle, e.g., run clubs, tennis, and yoga. Appreciates: packaging design and personalization.
Image credit: @emilyoberg
Muse/ Reference:
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
Utilitarian Sartorialist
Follows, explores, and sometimes leads trends. Shops: mass-to-mid-market fashion. Enjoys: fashion as a way of personal expression. Seeks: newness in creativity. Champions: individuality and creative communities. Buys into: aspirational luxury periodically, and menswear regularly. Avoids: item repetition amongst peers.
Image credit: @laurareilly___
Muse/ Reference:
Zoë Kravitz
Zoë Kravitz
Subversive Essentialist
Hedonistic across their lifestyle. Prioritizes: aesthetics in dressing, nurturing the body, and home decor. In tune with trends, but likes to identify as a trend leader. Explores: sensuality and sexuality through body-conscious silhouettes. Subverts: classic womenswear ideals to bring unexpected items to light.
Image credit: @lefevrediary
Muse/ Reference:
Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Aspirational Minimalist
Works in fashion or adjacent creative industries. Well-versed in: design codes such as minimalism and brutalism. Approaches: minimalism as a way to dress in a uniform manner. Seeks: recognition as someone who is in-tune with art and design, rather than community approval. Enjoys: the discovery process of new designers and creativity.
Image credit: @love_aesthetics
Muse/ Reference:
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Design Classicist
Has an acute awareness of fashion classics and brand signatures. Values: quality and brand principles. Dislikes: fussy products. Prefers: to be catered to in terms of brand recognition. Will pay for: a curated experience. Reads: The Gentlewoman and Kinfolk Magazine.
Image credit: @juliepelipas
Muse/ Reference:
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola
Fig. 62. Connecting consumer personas with their ‘muses’. These muses are not quite influencers, as they don’t typically promote products, at least intentionally or full-time.
Left to Right: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, (image source: Pinterest). Her street style is one of the most emulated today, similar to Princess Diana's 'off-duty-post-divorce' looks of bikeshorts and varsity sweatshirts. In October 2023, the New York Times discussed the impact of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her status as a 'Ghost Influencer’, in time for the launch of the book, ‘Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion" by Sunita Kumar Nair. Zoë Kravitz (image source: Pinterest) is referenced for her effortless dresses and mix-and-match with denim and workwear pieces. Kravitz approaches casualwear with a bohemian flair, in the same way Charlotte Gainsbourg and Alexa Chung does. Kate Moss, (image source: Pinterest), and the naked slip dress. Other influencers who try to emulate this attitude toward a casual-yet-sensual femininity are Elsa Hosk, Jenn Cala, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Tylynn Nguyen. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen at the 2019 Dia Art Foundation via Vogue. Their style skews more true minimalist with influences from brutalism (emphasis on raw materials) to goth, often wearing all-black outfits. Other references for the consumer who looks up to the Olsens may be Michele Lamy, Carine Roitfeld. Sofia Coppola for Louis Vuittin, 2010. Similar influences are Phoebe Philo and the artists portrayed in Charlie Porter’s, ‘What Artists Wear’. Through these influencers, we can see how original references all skew to a specific face and body, and the fact that social media has allowed for a broader participation and democratization.
Left to Right: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, (image source: Pinterest). Her street style is one of the most emulated today, similar to Princess Diana's 'off-duty-post-divorce' looks of bikeshorts and varsity sweatshirts. In October 2023, the New York Times discussed the impact of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her status as a 'Ghost Influencer’, in time for the launch of the book, ‘Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion" by Sunita Kumar Nair. Zoë Kravitz (image source: Pinterest) is referenced for her effortless dresses and mix-and-match with denim and workwear pieces. Kravitz approaches casualwear with a bohemian flair, in the same way Charlotte Gainsbourg and Alexa Chung does. Kate Moss, (image source: Pinterest), and the naked slip dress. Other influencers who try to emulate this attitude toward a casual-yet-sensual femininity are Elsa Hosk, Jenn Cala, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Tylynn Nguyen. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen at the 2019 Dia Art Foundation via Vogue. Their style skews more true minimalist with influences from brutalism (emphasis on raw materials) to goth, often wearing all-black outfits. Other references for the consumer who looks up to the Olsens may be Michele Lamy, Carine Roitfeld. Sofia Coppola for Louis Vuittin, 2010. Similar influences are Phoebe Philo and the artists portrayed in Charlie Porter’s, ‘What Artists Wear’. Through these influencers, we can see how original references all skew to a specific face and body, and the fact that social media has allowed for a broader participation and democratization.
What Artists Wear, Charlie Porter, 2019
Curated vs. Creative: Understanding Credibility
The ubiquitous nature of social media, staged paparazzi photoshoots, professional stylists, and PR teams has made it nearly impossible to decipher genuine style. This confusion influences the audience's assessment of authenticity and approval, blurring the line between aspirational minimalism and mere basics.
Curated | Public Style
Styled for an audience, to be photographed. Style with an agenda. Utilizes fashion as a way to seek external credibility. For celebrities, public style is achieved with a ‘street stylist’, and creative strategies begin with a moodboard. Usually sponsored and coordinated with paparazzi to give the illusion of authentic style.
Creative | Private Style
Styled for the self, at least, at first. Approaches fashion as personal expression. Already has credibility. This approach is becoming harder to distinguish due to the culture of social media; however, its importance is still felt in the way '90s airport street style is still heavily referenced along with vintage photos of celebrities and fashion icons.
Fig. 63. Deciphering the difference between Curated vs. Creative personal style. We can still credit those who curate personal style to be perceived well as influencers of fashion, but we must recognize the manufacturing of the image. However, we must make distinct their high-efforts in curation to the low-efforts of creatives such as Solange, who, through her album A Seat at the Table in 2016 became known for her elective-meets-minimalism style, which was a result of her creative exploration, and recognition that "Minimalism is a part of humanity" and that "The idea that minimalism or avant-garde belongs to white people is pervasive" as told to Culted Magazine. Ashley Olsen or the Olsen twins’ personal style can also be differentiated from the curators, as it’s completely believable that they dress the same way, whether or not they are photographer. Same goes for the celebrities of the 1990s and their streetstyle, with 1990s celebrity airport style a favored search prompt for casual fashion.
From left to right: Hailey Bieber, posted by her street-stylist, Dani Michele; model off-duty style circa 2010 found on Pinterest; Industry talent such as Emmanuelle Alt, ex-Vogue Paris Editor-in-Chief, became sought out by street photographers for their personal style, notably their approach to 'high-low' style; Solange for Culted Magazine; The Ashley Olsen Lookbook by The Cut; Jennifer Aniston, paparazzi-ed at the airport, found on Pinterest.
From left to right: Hailey Bieber, posted by her street-stylist, Dani Michele; model off-duty style circa 2010 found on Pinterest; Industry talent such as Emmanuelle Alt, ex-Vogue Paris Editor-in-Chief, became sought out by street photographers for their personal style, notably their approach to 'high-low' style; Solange for Culted Magazine; The Ashley Olsen Lookbook by The Cut; Jennifer Aniston, paparazzi-ed at the airport, found on Pinterest.
Mass Appeal + Personal Style = Uniquely Basic?
While it's becoming harder to distinguish authentic style in the age of social media, we can view the phenomenon of someone's style through the binary lens of whether they are dressing for a public audience, or for their private self – or at least start from there. We can view basics fashion as an equalizer for consumers across the spectrum of Curated to Creative, and as a baseline to add the lifestyles, cultures, and values of the market that they represent to better focus a strategy. At the same time, through the execution or exploration of personal style, a point of uniqueness can be portrayed.
After all, it's the idea that everybody is unique that is selling a t-shirt, not the idea that we are all the same.
D — Contextualizing the Consumer:
The Basics Landscape
We explore these consumer personas in an imagined landscape of product concepts versus consumer. The 'Design Classicist' is not included, since this persona typically lives outside of trend or concept cycles. By mapping out the personas in relation to the key concepts and composition of the basics, we're able to understand the granular factors that contribute to the overarching aesthetics of basics today.
Landscape Legend On/Off
Fig. 64. The placement of our contemporary consumers against a landscape of concepts that are influencing basics and contemporary casual fashion today. Through this exercise, we can see how broad the scope of basics dressing is, and further, target micro-points of influence and style to develop newness within.
Basic? In This Economy?
What else could we be, or what else should we be dressing for?
Basics represent versatility, affordability, and practicality in a time of recession and uncertainty. They're also a way to express personal style in an effortless, nonchalant sort of way that doesn't lean on a message of trend, therefore proving one's stylistic integrity or power the most.
Whether we're working from home, or wish we were, dressing basic can be seen as a preference and not just as a default, or even a failure, of being a person of the times.
Yes, there is still an effort, often an audience too, but generally no pressure to perform with basics dressing, unlike dressing for the workplace, for example. It's become a symbol of the leisurely bourgeoisie, except, instead of walking a turtle around on a leash, we're walking around in plush plastic slides and stopping to buy little treats. What else could we be but basic in basics, in this ordinary life we've built for ourselves? It's like a reward.
With the influencer economy and top-to-bottom influential hierarchies of the past, this expansion of 'aspiration' has made the chatter of trend twice as loud, with consumers either preferring to opt out, or re-branding the entire thing as minimalist. Consumers are either resisting the trend, or accepting it, but either way, they are in basics as the dress can be the result of either scenario.
Fig. 65. Graphic from The Thing About Trend Forecasting. Consumers donning basics might see themselves as rejecting the churn of fast fashion or fast trends, yet in doing so, they're participating in perhaps the most pervasive trend of all – the trend of 'trendlessness'. This duality allows basics to appeal to a wide range of consumers, from the fashion-averse to the style-conscious, each finding their own meaning in the simplicity.
In these uncertain times, basics offer us a canvas for self-expression, a shield against the noise of fast fashion (although many basics thrive from this arena), and a comfortable cocoon as we navigate our changing world. They're not just a fashion choice, but a reflection of our times—a practical, stylish response to the question, "How do we dress for a world in flux?"
So here we are, basic in our basics, finding our own little luxuries and comforts in a chaotic economy. And honestly, could there be a more fitting uniform for the autonomous ordinariness of our lives right now?
Herbert Bayer, Diagrammes de la Vision Étendue, 1936.
04 — Building Basics Inventory:
Montessori to Merch
Breaking down basics fashion from a production perspective to build them back up into an original brand universe, or into your own existing business.
Image Credits
Fig. 66. Montessori Minimalism Moodboard
A — Defining Purpose Before Production
Launching a successful basics brand or collection requires a paradoxical blend of simplicity and innovation. In this sea of sameness, it's become integral to define a brand purpose before anything else, especially as a preference for minimalism flattens aesthetics beyond mere blanding.
This over-simplification of design, in an effort to be minimalist, modern, or even peaceful, has resulted in items feeling like Montessori products for adults, extending far beyond fashion.
Padded or inflated furniture and homewares feel like baby-proofed objects. Minimalist sex toys appear gentrified for the home. The removal of shine in car paint colors has resulted in starkly muted vehicles that sometimes resemble roaming blobs in the street.
Color is disappearing from the world, and we're opting to choose this Fordist fantasy. We prefer neutral color palettes and sans serif fonts for legibility and sameness above everything else in an effort to ensure peace in our digitally cluttered world, and to find our IRL selves around organic forms, or our understanding of nature - despite it sweltering away in the heat.
Perhaps this phenomenon is more than just a sign of our recessionary times, or our fatigue with trends. It's a merch-ification of everyday life. It may reflect the fact that consumers are no longer shopping in department stores, but rather within brand universes. We want merchandise that is uniform, or presents a taste singularity. The research, curation, and effort involved is that of a discerning customer who has done the work to distinguish a unique value proposition of the merchandise of a brand, not the merchandising of a broader, corporate entity.
Furthermore, we could posit that basics are an extension of a merch collection. We've surpassed the idea of merch being a simple tote bag, and with print-on-demand capabilities and manufacturing-as-a-service platforms like Pietra, the possibilities have expanded tremendously.
Basics also act as a preliminary brand extension, or way to initiate a baseline with a consumer market. A brand with a cult following, such as Djerf Avenue, can win over their consumer with a new 'core essential blazer', but this call to action rings empty when there is no additional value proposition other than the fact that the item is a Djerf Avenue piece.
Like the endless products trickling through our lifestyles, so is the merch of our lives.
While it may seem superfluous to ascribe every product as a 'lifestyle', marketing has attached lifestyles and consumption to almost everything. Food is now often marketed as merchandise of brands, and they may even have it while you're there. The millennial tablescape of avocado toast is now a brightly lit ensemble of tunacado sandwiches in hot pink sleeves. A Diptyque candle on coffee table books is left in pristine condition. Smoothies are more than a blended slush when they're from Erewhon.
Meme by Brooklinen
Image Credits
Fig. 67. Fashion, Food, Home: The Merch of Our Lives. Essentials for living have become conspicuous consumption signals. Everything is now merchandise, transforming thoughtless needs into branded lifestyle choices. This infographic visually represents how everyday items across fashion, food, and home categories have evolved into lifestyle merchandise, blurring the lines between necessity and branded consumption.
Purpose, Flow, Values
In an oversaturated, over-simplified market where white tees pile up on merchandised tables, launching a basics brand or capsule requires more than good intentions or buzzwords like 'modern' and 'minimalist'. It's a strategic mix of purpose, values, and smart workflow that ensures products land with a market, not in a landfill.
Fig. 68. ASKET removed all product images from their website in May 2024. "With a permanent collection that's going almost ten years, we believe that we've succeeded in creating garments that are uncompromisingly timeless. In fact, we believe they're so timeless, they're able to transcend the need for visual representation," elaborates the brand in their newsletter. The absence of images led to a decline in sales, but brand traffic increased by +32%. In total, 410 people bought 1013 ASKET garments without having seen them before; 44% of whom were new customers.
You have to consider that basics pieces are known items. Consumers have expectations of what they are, what they should do, and how long they should last, for example.
To warrant a purchase, there needs to be an element of newness to secure a buy-in, or maybe if you're lucky, a fandom. To be best equipped to stand out in an overcrowded market of basics, it's essential to adopt a unique combination of elements.
A values checklist can be comprised of the below:
- Brand Narrative: Craft a compelling story that gives meaning to your basics.
- Lifestyle Association: Connect your products to an aspirational or relatable way of life.
- Sustainability: Implement eco-friendly practices in production and materials.
- Performance: Enhance functionality beyond basic wear.
- Innovation: Incorporate unique features or materials that set you apart.
- Size Diversity: Offer inclusive sizing to cater to a wider audience.
- Quality and Durability: Ensure products withstand frequent use and washing.
- Price Point Strategy: Position your brand effectively in the market.
- Customer Experience: Create seamless interactions both online and in-store.
- Supply Chain Transparency: Provide clear information about sourcing and production.
Launching a successful basics brand or collection in today's market is anything but basic. It's a delicate balance of meeting established expectations while offering something new.
Pick at least two to start, at least three to get going, at least five to survive. Solidify your values, find your purpose, and maybe, your basics will become anything but.
Science of the Secondary: T-Shirt, Atelier Hoko, August 2023:
“What happens when a plain T-shirt is worn? What kind of hyper-awareness is produced in the wearer? How are the sensory organs roused and poised to ensure that no foreign substances of any form shall stain the pristine white fabric of the plain T-shirt? While some will find this super-sensitivity brought on by a humble piece of clothing refreshing, others consider it unnecessary paranoia and would rather not wear plain, light-colored T-shirts at all. Those who do have probably come to terms with the fact that with great plain-ness, comes great responsibility”
“What happens when a plain T-shirt is worn? What kind of hyper-awareness is produced in the wearer? How are the sensory organs roused and poised to ensure that no foreign substances of any form shall stain the pristine white fabric of the plain T-shirt? While some will find this super-sensitivity brought on by a humble piece of clothing refreshing, others consider it unnecessary paranoia and would rather not wear plain, light-colored T-shirts at all. Those who do have probably come to terms with the fact that with great plain-ness, comes great responsibility”
Pangaia
B — Inventory Planning
A general look at building a basics brand or capsule of products.
Basics-to-Essentials Starter Pack Range Plan
Core Cut & Sew
T-shirt
Tank Top
Sweatshirt
Hoodie
Pull-On Shorts
Sweatpants
Beyond Intimates &
Loungewear
Loungewear
Bralette
Mid-Waisted Briefs
Logo Boxer Shorts (Menswear-inspired)
Bodysuit (Shapewear)
Resort/ Pajama Shirt
Pajama Bottoms
Camisole Top (Woven)
Slip Dress
Slip Skirt
Tank Dress
T-Shirt Dress
Activewear
Sports Bra
Bike Shorts
Leggings
Technical/ Performance Jacket
Knitwear Basics
Sweater
Cardigan
Scarf
Beanie
Merch Accessories
Baseball Cap
Canvas ToteBag
Cotton Socks
---
Phone Case
Key Chain
Building Your Basics-Based Product Universe
From our learnings, we can zoom out and build a connected 'brain map' of basics-focused inventory. These products are typically incorporated into an 'essentials' or minimalist-focused brand. These brands exist across our Marketplace matrix, and can be focused on Womenswear, Menswear, Denim, or everything above.
Basics Brand Product Universe, from our Introduction.
Expanded Basics Product Universe
Fig. 69. Expanded Basics product universe. This brain map is also a result of our prior section, Introduction to Basics.
C — Design Priorities
Build your basics with a pyramid approach to design. While other concepts build on emerging details and points of interest such as the ruffle, basics adhere to the traditional approach to apparel design, starting with silhouettes first.
Silhouette
Textiles
Color
Print & Graphics
Construction Details
Design (Surface) Details
Fig. 70. The Miscellanea Design Pyramid. Typically, you start with a silhouette or product idea and work your way down to design details, however, anything can instigate a fashion design.
Pharrell Williams collaboration with Adidas called ‘Premium Basics’, April 2022
Updating Your Seasonless Product for Newness
basic text styling
variable name
function name
variable value
Fig. 71. The Basics Update Formula: We can potentially make our own algorithm or formula to revive basics for a new season or collection. For e.g. a (t-shirt) + [(balletcore baby tee) + (ruched sleeves)*burgundy*ribbed jersey*body-con] = fashion basic.
Moodboarding Merchandising Direction
Illustrating how the above strategic planning trickles down into the creative process, typically started with a moodboard.
Fig. 72. An edited look at key cut-and-sew basics. Seasonally, details will ‘update’ silhouettes for newness, such as a boxy fit t-shirt, or familiar items such as the henley tee will re-enter the mix.
Fig. 73. A look at the intimates, loungewear, and leisurewear category with the notion of ‘essentials’ in mind. We remove the specificity of underwear silhouettes and consider the items that are understood by the consumer as flexible pieces that underpin the modern, contemporary wardrobe. An additional note: past trends may have included a pajama set in luxe materials that can work as apparel, however a cotton set inspired by sartorial menswear has been at the forefront of late, with a matching set of button-up top and boxer short.
Fig. 74. An edited look at what constitutes a contemporary workwear wardrobe today, or what’s often understood as a work ‘capsule wardrobe’.
Fig. 75. An edited look at the activewear, sportswear, and streetwear category with mainstay ‘activity’ categories in mind, such as yoga, hiking, running, and even tennis. With communities coming together through sport, these items are often adopted as merch opportunities.
Fig. 76. An edited look at a seasonless merch collection, made up of a cap, graphic t-shirt, ‘premium’ tote bag, and basic tote bag. Additional fashion product opportunities such as socks, beanies, scarves are common items as well along with tech accessories such as a phone case.
Image Credits
Sustainability and Ethics: The Elephant in the Room
Today, a t-shirt - or even a hoodie - can cost less than a coffee. Fashion, and the romance of it all, has moved fashion creativity into the future. 3D design, the swiftness of print-on-demand services, and even emerging 'design-as-a-service' companies have made it even easier for anyone with a bright idea to turn a thought into a tangible, marketable thing in an instant, without having to answer to anyone.
While 3D design software has reduced manufacturing costs to some degree, minimizing the number of samples to be made and shipped between countries, and breaking down language barriers, there simply has not been enough innovation from the ethical and sustainability standpoint - at least anything significant enough to prevent a fashion item from costing less than $10.
Past strategies such as Everlane's transparent pricing and showcasing of their factory practices aren't newsworthy or particularly interesting anymore. Ultimately, products need to be interesting first. Sustainability and ethics are now viewed as somewhat of a bonus post-purchase, with consumers knowing that they can go about their day guilt-free.
Rarely do sustainability or ethics warrant a purchase on these principles alone, and if they do, they appeal to a much smaller market than you would imagine.
Fashion is not food – no one is buying something just because it's organic.
Gen-Z is adamant that sustainability is important to them, but they were the very generation to spearhead micro-trends and propel Shein into relevance. This double-speak reflects the true allure of fashion as a bright, shiny thing that, once we're captivated, is hard to resist.
We have outpaced our conscience. We reason the creation and consumption of more products through the guise of merch (it's more than a t-shirt) or needing more basics (I don't have enough or I don't have the right one). While it's been contested whether fashion is or is not the third most polluting industry after fossil fuels and agriculture, the hard truth is that there is still much more important work to do. Work, that is more important than a new take on an elevated basic.
YZY x GAP
"I joined Kanye West fans to dig through those viral trash bags full of his new Gap line. Employees didn't let us get very far." Business Insider. August 18 2022.
Vogue October, 1994
The World Is On Fire But We’re Still Buying Shoes, Alex Leach
05 — Perspective:
Basic(s) is in the Eye of the Beholder
Reframing basic(s) in a complex world: our dive into basics fashion has shown that nothing should be truly basic anymore or, perhaps never was.
Basics' Universal Theory: From Sartorial Explosion to Style Singularity
If the infinite possibilities of a basics universe expanded from a 'Big Bang' of fashion trends, they were driven by a market desire to be effortless, or to appear not as a victim to the trend feed. This desire led consumers to embrace an esoteric approach to making simple clothing fashionable through tags of minimalism and more. However, an inevitable 'Big Crunch' is imminent – or, perhaps, already here, in the form of a beige blindness. It’s resulting in a basics fatigue, and a fashion comfort zone that both consumers and the fashion system is recognizing, but finding it hard to leave.
Fig. 77. A visualization of a ‘Big Bang’ of Basics, and the inevitable ‘Big Crunch’ that is upon us, which has resulted in a singular understanding of contemporary casual fashion.
The evolution of basics fashion is closely tied to broader trends in the industry. The commodification of streetwear around 2016, and its adoption by the luxury market, have resulted in basics existing across varying brand positionings. This shift reflects market demand, from fast fashion to luxury segments. While it's tempting to scoff, we can't simply roll our eyes at the price-tags of luxury basics. The luxury consumer is not shopping for basics in unfamiliar territory. They are happy to pay the price for the brand illusion, the marketing, the affiliation – all of it – so long as it's in reach of where they are, or where they want to be.
Despite this acceptance of basic basics in the luxury market, ethical concerns remain. What we can do, however, is question the ethics of luxury brands and their production of basics. This becomes especially important when we are able to connect the dots with our developed discernment, as a result of being chronically online. Ultimately, the issue lies not with the individual brands, but with the system itself.
Illusion of Free Choice Meme, Abstruse Goose, edited.
J.W. Anderson, S/S 24, Clay Hoodie: ‘Putting playfulness in pragmatism and pragmatism in playfulness’ via their Instagram.
Stefan Hürlemann, Typeface design
Guess the Source
Incorrect
Source: Pangaia Hoodie, $195, Material: 100% Cotton
Correct Hightlight
Correct
Beyond Basics: Philosophy Frames Their Worth
Fig.78. Philosophical principles of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos. These philosophical foundations explain why basics remain a wardrobe cornerstone.
Basics in fashion have and will endure the test of time. Sure, preferred styles of the moment shift from skinny to baggy, but so long as we have the same four limbs, the core pieces will stay the same. Basics embody modernity, practicality, accessibility, and wearability. They represent a concept of clothing that can live across a spectrum of brand positioning and consumer profiles.
The Basics Persuasion
A 'basics persuasion' can be outlined by the timeless principles of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos:
Pathos (Emotional Appeal) in basics evokes a sense of comfort and confidence, transcending fleeting trends. A well-worn t-shirt or perfectly fitted jeans speak to our need for stability and emotional authenticity. CK jeans may have faded, but the spirit of "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins" lives on in the quiet triumph of every perfect fit discovered.
Logos (Logical Appeal) manifests in the versatility and practicality of basics, offering enduring value and adaptability. A white button-down shirt can transition from casual to formal settings, making it a logical wardrobe choice.
Ethos (Ethical Appeal) is reflected in the focus on sustainability and timeless quality of well-made basics, aligning with evolving consumer values. This has gained importance as people question fast fashion and prioritize quality across price points. Brands emphasizing ethical production and durable materials appeal to conscientious consumers.
Together, these principles create a powerful trifecta: basics that feel good, make sense, and stand for something. This satisfies our emotional needs, practical requirements, and ethical concerns. It ensures basics remain relevant and desirable, unlike trend-driven pieces lacking this holistic appeal.
The enduring nature of basics in fashion is not merely a result of simplicity or dressing in default. Rather, it stems from their ability to flexibly fulfill our clothing needs with comfort and functionality typically a gaurantee. Basics act as a canvas for intangible attachments to culture, lifestyle, values, and more, as we move through life, basic or not.
Marketing Memo
You Can’t Put a Price on Taste, but You Can Put a Premium on It.
by Frankie Caracciolo, Brand Strategy Director
Let’s not fool ourselves: The premiumization of everything has not improved life in this economy. The tide is rising, but where are the darn boats? When premium becomes the primary marketing tactic or even worse, our pervasive vibe, it leads The New York Times to question, “Is the whole economy gentrifying?” Life is not without its contradictions, which is how we end up with things like “premium basics.”
Worse yet, we’ve looked the gift horse in the mouth and now the marketplace for basics is rife with “timeless” and “classic” goods. It’s bad. Bad copy. Bad marketing. Once the usage ceases to be helpful or is meaningless to the point of confusion, we stumble and lose sight of what we were ever discussing. A t-shirt? A beverage? A piece of interior decoration? Words like “awesome” have lost a lot of their initial gravitas, but much was gained in bringing it to street level, so to speak. It doesn’t appear that “timeless,” “classic,” or even “essentials” have the same half-life. Fallen from the same word tree, they’ve gone to seed.
Along with the big nothing sandwich that is premiumization, recommendation culture has gotten out of hand. Sure, there’s value in a good rec, but mostly when it enables you to be small market in the big city. By “small,” I mean like a minor league baseball team. When reacted to or acted upon, a rec is a catalyst for taste making (hopefully your own). To literally try something on for size is incremental in getting to know whether it makes sense for you. You don’t have to like everything, go every place, be everywhere. Be small market in your discernment, joys, and trivialities, and you’ll be hard-pressed to ever let premium basics dictate your worldview again.
A big brand can be repeatably successful in being small market with its fans. There’s nothing inherently wrong or out of vogue with basics.
Just don’t market them like they’re dressed up in a way that’s implausible (no life-changing magic guarantee) or untoward (see: above discussion on premium mediocrity). It’s simple: get dressed, have a coffee, save the deck as a PDF, and turn off the lights when you leave the room. There’s work to do.
The 990v5 campaign, New Balance, May 2019
Dressed up beige: Backdrop paint company’s earthy beige is called Brooklyn Cowboy. Backdrop has had collabs with Porsche, Barbie, and Ghia.
If you’re in it for the long game, might as well stay in the comfort zone – once you get there. There is such a thing of growth through lateral expansion. Your 'enough' zone is where you deliver solid value without the fluff. It's sustainable, it's genuine, and it's where your best work happens. Grow by expanding your reach, not by premiumizing your image.
You don’t have to be for everyone, but you can be everything to someone. That's where true loyalty and satisfaction live.
Image credit: Luxury Studies, 2011
You don’t have to be for everyone, but you can be everything to someone. That's where true loyalty and satisfaction live.
Image credit: Luxury Studies, 2011
Basics Breakdown: Mass Dreams to Niche Realities
Fig. 79. New Spotlights: Small Market, Big Taste – Dodging the Premium Pitfall. The Basics Funnel illustrates the evolution of marketing strategy from mass to niche, and the diffusion of collective aspirations to a realistic actualization of product. In an age where consumers' faces are lit by the glow of endless scrolling, your product's true colors will eventually shine through – or worse, unravel. So why not skip the charade?
Strategic Takeaways:
Trends with Basics Benefits
Concept/ Trend Direction
- Lifestyle First, Aesthetics Second: Your consumer is likely already basics-rich. Make your offering resonate enough to warrant a buy-in. Represent a connection to where they are, or where they want to go next. The fantasy in our tough economy is work and leisure. Corporate workwear and a sporty prep are lifestyle-based fashion narratives ripe for interpretation for a contemporary practicality, rather than as a fashion statement.
- Nostalgia, but New: Don't just churn out literal translations of nostalgic moments. The products may not have changed much, but today's context, taste, humor, and more, are unique and ever-changing. Pay an acute attention to timing. It’s ok to sit out on viral moments, for the right one.
- Build Concepts in Unison: Keep specialties in your business intact, but create a shared narrative, especially in copywriting and macro references. The work of concept development should not be done once at the beginning to initiate design development, and again at the end to construct product narrative when going-to-market. Unity in diverse specialization is the goal.
Macro Themes
Minimalism
Macro Design Movement
Micro-Trend Culture
Cultural Insights
Sustainable Living
Consumer Insights
Fashion Direction & Production
- Design Better Basics, Not Demand: Instead of implementing tactics to hype interest or post-rationalizing product, create products worth vouching for. Sustainability, design, price-point - pick your unique selling point and own it.
- Invest in Designers, Not Just Marketers: An appetite for newness is becoming louder and louder across social media. Empower designers to reimagine basics. Make 'basic' feel like 'fashion-forward' in the primary items themselves, not in the secondary filter of marketing.
- Combat Minimalist Malaise: Address the 'beige blindness' head-on. What comes after a pop-of-red? Look to overlooked territories – gamers, mukbang-ers, chef content creators. You just might find the antidote to minimalist fatigue.
Macro Themes
Sustainable Fashion
Industry Development
K-Shaped Economy Recovery
Market Insights
Circular Economy
Market Insights
Personalization
Consumer Insights
External Brand Tactics
- Foster Cross-Collaboration: Whether it be with another brand or within your own organization, seek opportunities to blend perspectives that result in unique offerings that hybridize ideas into newness, and double the reach.
- Elevate the 'Merch' Paradigm: Explore 'bespoke basics' where items feel natural alongside concerts, festivals, and even run clubs. Think outside the general box of t-shirts and tote-bags. The hoodie with an extra pocket by Olipop comes to mind.
- Curation Not Production: Not every influencer should have a brand. Consider a curated pop-up of basics must-haves instead.
Macro Themes
Experience Economy
Market Insights
Influencer Marketing
Market Insights
Community Building
Consumer Insights
Phygital Retail
Market Insights
Marketing Strategy
- Be the coveted thing to know in IYKYK: Rec culture is the catalyst for small market thinking – your products have to live up to premium, or simply don't call them that.
- Act Small, Get Big: Be the facilitator of individuality rather than a hype generator or dictator of trends. J.Crew is a good example.
- Tap into Taste to Discover Niche: What makes you uniquely "salty" (bold, direct), "sweet" (approachable, optimistic), or "umami" (complex, sophisticated)? Evolve, don't dilute.
Macro Themes
Experience Economy
Market Insights
Influencer Marketing
Market Insights
Community Building
Consumer Insights
Phygital Retail
Market Insights
Thanks for Reading
Back to Basics: The Hoodie Reflex was written, researched, and edited by Marian Park. Special thanks to Josh Pindjak for the art and design direction for this website.
Founded in 2022, Miscellanea Studio collaborates with brands and founders to transform ideas into tangible concepts, product development, market outreach and more. Check out our About page to learn more, or for inquiries, feedback, and comments, reach out directly to hello@miscellanea.studio.
Accurately attributing and respecting the work of creatives is important to us. All text and image sources are cited where applicable across the website, or are sourced from public arenas. Please contact us if you believe there is an error in credits or copyright infringement – or if you simply don’t want your asset on our website – we will remove the citation immediately.
Accurately attributing and respecting the work of creatives is important to us. All text and image sources are cited where applicable across the website, or are sourced from public arenas. Please contact us if you believe there is an error in credits or copyright infringement – or if you simply don’t want your asset on our website – we will remove the citation immediately.
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Further Reading:
What the Internet Looked Like In 1994, Fast Company, Alex Pasternack, June 2024
At Balenciaga, Tracksuits and Erewhon Bags Define the L.A. Look, W Magazine, Kristen Bateman, December 2023
Why Does Gen Z Love Nirvana Tees, Thrasher Hoodies, and Bass Pro Shops Hats?, GQ, Eileen Cartter, May 2024
How Blank Street Coffee Became a Blank Canvas for Internet Girlies, Bon Appétit, Li Goldstein, December 2022
Even as Denim has its Moment, Levi’s Finds Itself Trying to Catch Up, The Washington Post, Hannah Ziegler, July 2024
Destroy Your T-Shirts, Alec Leach, July 2024
How Everlane Hacked Your Wardrobe, The New Yorker, Lizzie Widdicombe, September 2017
Everlane Still Wants to Be a $1 Billion Brand. Is That Even Possible?, Business of Fashion, Malique Morris, February 2024
Why Banal Is Big in Fashion’s Latest Campaigns, Business of Fashion, Joan Kennedy, December 2023
Levi’s DTC Growth Speeds Up in Q2 as Wholesale Improves, Retail Dive, Daphne Howland, June 2024
What Is Quiet Luxury And Why Is The Trend Louder Than Ever?, Elle UK, Harry Archer, March 2023
The Unbranding of Abercrombie The problematic mall brand pulled off the most exciting makeover in American retail. How?, The Cut, Chantal Fernandez, July 2024
The Songs That Bind, The New York Times, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, February 2018
Most People’s Musical Taste is Stuck, Hot Takes, Adam Singer, May 2024
What Is ‘Cheugy’? You Know It When You See It, The New York Times, Taylor Lorenz, April 2021
How Millennials Became Cheugy, Rolling Stone, EJ Dickson, April 2021
‘Backlash against trends’: The rise of the capsule wardrobe, Modern Retail, Julia Waldow, January 2024
Normcore: Fashion for Those Who Realize They’re One in 7 Billion, The Cut, Fiona Duncan, February 2014
The Tyranny of Terrazzo: Will the millennial aesthetic ever end?, The Cut, Molly Fischer, March 2020
Merch Lived, Thrived, and Died in 2016, GQ, Jake Woolf, December 2016
The End of Merch, GQ, Samuel Hine, May 2024
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Ghost Influencer, The New York Times, Vanessa Friedman, October 2023
The Office Beckons. Time for Your Sharpest ‘Power Casual’, The New York Times, Sapna Maheshwari, April 2022
Cotton Inc. : Basics for the Millennium, WWD, Allegra Holch, February 1999
1994 Production Rises 3.2 In Textiles, 1.3 In Apparel, Vice, Ella Glossop
Wall St.: Basics Limp, Niche Brands Leap, WWD, Jennifer L. Brady, November 1995
Core on the Floor: Fashion Might be Losing Steam, but Retailers and Manufacturers are Finding Solid Business in Basics, WWD, Janet Ozzard, March 1994
Getting the Word Out, WWD, September 1995
Accessories: The Post–Minimalists, WWD, February 1995
Juniors: The Customer’s Back, WWD, February 1995
Junior Trends Boost Better Business, WWD, October 1994
The Top Trends, WWD, October 1994
Dollar’s Lower–Price Strategy, WWD, July 27 1994
What's Really Behind the Fast Fashion Versus Luxury Purchase Divide?, WWD, Alexandra Pastore, July 2024
Retail needs to enter its less-is-more era, Vogue Business, Christina Binkley, April 2024
MOMA Makes a List of Iconic Fashion “Items”, The New Yorker, September 2017
The Ups and Downs of Fashion in 2020, The New York Times, Dec 23 2020
Streetwear Impact Report, Hypebeast, Enrique Menendez, January 2019
People Do Not Wear at Least 50 Percent of Their Wardrobes, Fashion United, Marjorie van Elven, August 2018
Sports Bras Are the New T-Shirt – And It's Killing the Lingerie Market, Money, Kristen Bahler, March 2017
How Much Should You Pay for a Hoodie?, Vogue, Liana Satenstein, March 2016
The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial, Venkatesh Rao, August 2017
Continue your Research:
The Style Thesaurus, Hannah Kane, 2023
Sundressed, Lucianne Tonti, 2022
Wear Next: Fashioning the Future, Clare Press, 2023
Dress Code, Véronique Hyland, 2022