Fashion Consumer Insights

Trend - Watchmakers are incorporating sustainable materials, such as ocean-bound plastics, into products. This offers customer the combination of luxury build quality and name, with the positivity associated with sustainable goods. This adds further value to luxury timepieces beyond status symbols, enabling new levels of self expression with timepieces.

Insight - Customers interested in collectible luxury goods are typically motivated by exclusivity, quality, and appearance. These consumers value products that fit their lifestyle, such as luxury watches that match outfits. As a reflexive action to these motivations, the luxury watch industry is filled with ultra limited-edition, ultra luxury iterations. However, these products are typically sold only on their complex composition and professional build quality, which may not fit into every consumers lifestyle due to environmental concerns. As a result, luxury watchmakers are now incorporating sustainable materials, such as ocean-bound plastics, into collectible timepieces.

Trend - Skincare brands are experimenting with microcrystals to help consumers achieve clear, wrinkle-free skin. Microcrystals work to exfoliate the skin, helping remove dead skin cells and debris from the outer layer. This helps address signs of aging and plumps the skin for a more youthful appearance.

Insight - Consumers often desire to look young and healthy, and many skincare products, especially those crafted with ingredients to promote collagen production, can help reduce signs of aging. Microcrystals can be paired with skincare to enhance the effects, which helps consumers feel like they're getting the most out of their products. Whether it's fine lines or loose skin, microcrystals naturally exfoliate and tighten, which eliminates the need for cosmetic procedures and injections.

Trend - Widely available, affordable personal care brands are now incorporating retinol into the new body care products--ranging from body washes to lotions. While body care with "active" ingredients was once more specific to luxury cosmetic brands, consumer demand in this space has resulted in large brands making these products more accessible to the average consumer.

Insight - Consumers' expanding knowledge of skincare has resulted in a higher demand for "active" ingredients in products, and this has extended to the body care space. This shift is no longer specific to luxury cosmetics, with more drugstore brands offering these ingredients in similarly novel formulations or products. As personal care continues to be an important part of customers' routines, brands that prioritize affordable but effective ingredients will reach more consumers.

Trend - Skincare brands are releasing moisturizing creams, lotions, and elixirs made with sea buckthorn oil. This is a natural ingredient derived from the sea buckthorn plant. The ingredient is said to heal and moisturize skin with omega fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins ---without requiring preservatives.

Insight - Younger Millennials and Gen Z consumers are more drawn to natural, chemical-free self-care products. Additionally, the percentage of Gen Z consumers who engage in daily skincare regiments is higher than in previous generations. When selecting products, these younger consumers favor those fit for sensitive skin and will pay a premium over heavily processed chemical-based products. Skincare brands are now integrating more natural ingredients, such as buckthorn oils, to appease demand.

Trend - Globally, discarded electronics have become a huge source of waste. For some interior design and jewelry brands, this waste presents an opportunity to repurpose materials and create upscale decorative pieces. Furniture and jewelry pieces made from e-waste offer sustainability and a unique selling point.

Insight - The popularity (and often, necessity) of electronics, coupled with brands creating products with shorter life cycles, has had a huge impact on global waste in the last 20 years. Consumers are becoming more conscious of the environmental impact of even "upscale" investments, and more are choosing brands that operate on sustainable business models. These consumers turn to businesses that are able to seamlessly merge sustainable principles with contemporary design.

Trend - Brands are expanding the use of the standard deodorant with formulas that can be used to neutralize odors anywhere on the body. These products come in a variety of formulations--from creams and powders to washes--and promise to control odor and sweating in any area they're applied.

Insight - The personal hygiene and care market continues to expand, and the variety of options in this space has been helpful for consumers who need to try different products before finding what works for them. Though personal care brands are facing more competition, added value like multifunctional or sustainable products help them stand out on shelves.

Trend - Masks made for facial hair are increasingly common as men, trans, and gender diverse people with facial hair seek out ways to maintain its health and appearance. These treatments mimic masks used in skincare, and are often multi-purpose to avoid adding another step to users' routines.

Insight - Skin and haircare treatments have become increasingly targeted as more consumers enjoy researching and experimenting with the many options available to them. Inclusion is especially important in this space, as people with varying genders and races seek out products that are specific to their individual needs. Brands that offer highly targeted solutions are more likely to build customer trust and loyalty.

Trend - With minimalism in skincare being popular in reaction to the several-step routines that were overwhelming or inacessible to many consumers, brands in the hair care industry are following suit. Minimal ingredients and products in lines are on the rise as brands look to prioritize simple yet effective routines.

Insight - With the vast range of choices that consumers have in the personal care space, many find themselves overwhelmed with their options. Minimalist personal care routines are becoming more popular among low-maintenance consumers who want to maintain their health and beauty without it taking up too much time in their routines.

Trend - Fragrance brands are partnering with brands in other spaces to offer bundled products that complement each other. By pairing fragrances with functional products, the consumer experience is elevated by activating more senses, such as through pairing scents with alcohol or with sodas.

Insight - Consumers in the fragrance space prioritize high-quality products and unique experiences that bring a sense of luxury. Many of these customers turn to fragrances as a means of relaxation and self-care, as scented wellness products often have measurable positive effects. However, fragrance products are less common when extending beyond the wellness space.

Trend - Brands are launching essential oil blends, candles, and pods with customizable scents tailored to customers' needs. These products reduce stresses and anxieties while boosting the mood of the customers by offering them their favorite scents and ingredients in pre-made products.

Insight - At-home self-care is an inherently personal experience. Long-time practicers of home care, as well as those who began during the pandemic-induced lockdowns, have preferences for certain products, such as diffusers or oils. These customers desire products that most accurately suit their individual preferences, as less-than-ideal scents can be harmful to the relaxation process. While some brands address this pressure by offering countless products in different scents, newer brands are launching all-in-one customizable products.