You stand in front of the closet and wonder what to wear. In fact, others have already decided for you how to dress and what clothes to choose, like millions of people who wear comfortable pants or skirts that do not interfere with movement, a soft jumper or a casual shirt, a loose-fitting jacket , comfortable sneakers, moccasins or slippers.
The strange thing is that until recently people were dressed in business suits and tight boots, pressing the little toe or using tights - 80 days, a dress with a tight bustier and 10-centimeter heels to tighten your belly. >
How did this transformation happen?
When did this democratic revolution in clothing take place, which gave freedom to the body?
Who created this convenience and comfort in the global fashion industry?
Generation Y
Each new generation grows up, adopts the habits and manners of their parents, including clothes, and each brings something of its own, and sometimes radically changes the prevailing stereotypes.
Today, the main important concern of marketers, fashion analysts and popular brands is to create Generation Y or "Millennium" fashion, also known as Millennials - this is a demographic group and covers those born between 1980-1995. >
Some experts sadly joke that this is the generation that is simply destroying the fashion industry (and with it everyone else), others reassure, saying no, they are the same consumers, they just consume differently. p>
What does this generation want?
Millennials, of course, are not destroyers. Millennials are the loneliest generation This is a generation of romantics, but the idyll speaks of them as a fire and imagines them - walking in the park with a glass of soy latte then enter a fashion boutique with chocolate in hand and dressed in all colors of the rainbow.
It is no coincidence that there are so many hipsters among them (the modern notion of a subculture composed of middle-aged people aged 18 to 45, who often belong to the middle class, differ in independent thinking, anti-conformists, counterculturalists , fans of contemporary art), who were the first to buy second-hand clothes.
Luxury branded clothing is not particularly attractive to this generation: according to a 2018 RBC Capital Markets survey, 64% of Millennials are more likely to spend money on restaurants, travel or, at worst, spa than for extravagant clothes.
Impressions are more important to them than clothes.
This is understandable, because millennials are a troubling generation because their lives have not gone according to plan: this is the first generation (in the West) whose level of well-being does not reach the level of their parents, with whom they are forced to live to 30 and later.
Moreover, millennials are undergoing change as new threats (global terrorism, Brexit, Trump, Putin-4) emerge that could destroy their usual comfort.
Healthy clothing life
When the surrounding reality began to be influenced by this generation, the minimalist, androgynous style and normorek became fashionable - this is the way to dress in ordinary, comfortable clothes: a plain white T-shirt, a boy's jacket, comfortable "mom's" jeans, which my mother herself, by the way, had a hard time wearing because they were probably tight and tight like tights.
Thanks to the normorek - the legs of women of all ages shone in ballerinas, which are now replaced by sneakers, moccasins and other shoes with flat feet or low heels, because comfort is paramount.
This ensemble, described above, has not lost its relevance for several years: look at the page of every fashion blog and you will see that this is the basis of the basic wardrobe of every lady, regardless of her financial status.
As a result of convenience, the popularity of Scandinavian brands on the mass market is beginning to grow - their traditional style is focused on loose and comfortable clothing and, if possible, natural fabrics.
And this is, in a sense, a reflection of the healthy lifestyle that came into vogue at the beginning of the zero years, when a ban on smoking in public places began to be introduced in many Western countries.
After all, Millennials like to indulge themselves with new tastes and sensations, but only with those that are good for health.
Z Generation
The ongoing millennial Z-generation or postmillennials create even greater difficulties for popular brands and well-known marketers.
Postmillennials were born with Mom's cell phone: they first learned to push buttons and swipe, then to talk and write even more. Like their smartphone friend, they are multifunctional and can do many things at once.
Accordingly, the boundaries of the virtual and the real for them are blurred, as well as many others - learning and entertainment, work and leisure, men and women and the way they prefer to dress, this is what reflects. p >
It was they who introduced the fashion for comfortable sports style and universal oversize size - free, wide, comfortable.
Sports style - this is when you dress so you can sit freely, drive freely, go to a rally and more. And then go to the movies or the bar. That is, you can have sporty pants or yoga pants, but with some added stylish element that takes them beyond the scope of a simple sporty style - such as intricate stripes, sequins or too wide pants.
It can be a hooded sweatshirt worn under a wide-cut jacket in combination with stylish pants, in addition to modern sneakers.
And don't think that "oversize" is an old extended and wide T-shirt in which your dad would look postmillennial when he's in front of the TV.
This is artificial gargantuanism, created for a feeling of comfort - when you wear something like this, whether it's a fluffy coat or sweater, you have a feeling of warmth and coziness as if "I'm home". p>
Color - Unisex
Gender neutrality is close and understandable to postmillennials. But he grew up on social media and knows that anyone can hide behind an avatar - boy or girl - it doesn't matter, the main thing is that it's a man, unisex.
And Unisex is exactly what Generations Z prefer in clothes, but to be original.
If before, women's clothing borrowed many of its elements from men's - pants, jacket, button-down shirt and even underwear - now it's the opposite: men's clothing tends to relax and become more, say, fun. < / p>
British designers have introduced men's shirts in bright print, but now this trend has stayed away.
And if you're still considering whether to personally imprint an animal, the answer is: of course it's worth it.
No, you won't look vulgar. You are just a connoisseur of Sir David Attenborough, you are the patron saint of the savannah and announce it with your leopard blouse.
Postmillennials grew up surrounded by sex, so that's not the main thing for them. They are not in a hurry with this. He or she doesn't need sexy clothes.
In the last two years, many large lingerie companies have seen a drop in demand for bras with cups and face foam, which creates the illusion of lush women's breasts, and demand for bras - without foam.
This is not the first time that women have massively tried to reject this part of their wardrobe. This happened, for example, in the 1960s during the second wave of feminism and general emancipation, when bras and high heels symbolized the patriarchal view of women as a sexual fetish.
Today we are talking about convenience. And the point is not that young women have smaller breast sizes, in general - bras are produced for every size. They just don't see a reason to wear it.
The new heroes on the podium
The superwave of feminism has just risen with the fall of influential Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, accused of sexual harassment of women, and the emergence of the global women's equality movement #metoo, and the fashion industry is already meeting these challenges. p>
During London Fashion Week, Hollywood actress Rose McGowan, one of the first to publicly accuse Weinstein, opened a collection show by British designer Nicholas Kirkwood, walking the catwalk boss - despite the fact that Kirkwood is a shoe designer.
In a statement to the show, Kirkwood explained his choice as follows: "This is a subculture whose realities are little studied in terms of fashion, no matter how influential it is now and how much intrigue surrounds it."
What the hacking subculture of the fashion industry can do in addition to a few provocative slogans of silence remains to be seen, but the main intrigue is different: what impact #metoo will have on the advertising industry, usually using erotic images and sexual overtones to push goods?