WGSN with Hannah Borg

WGSN with Hannah Borg

• “how many products have you touched or interacted with today?”
• coffee, phone, fridge, kitchen equipment, sitting on bed etc. thousands! “why did i purchase these products, why did i want to purchase these products, what made me not what to purchase these products
• condiments, cutlery, bowls plates, computer – chair, the room you’re sitting in
• we are all consumers, faced with these choices constantly
• context behind each of these choices
• purchasing decisions are being made more subconsciously than before; eg. a sandwich – bought because it’s healthy etc or now it could have been bought because it was a good vegetarian option; allows a lot to be said about someone as a consumer by something small such as a sandwich purchase
• new challenges when developing products – starting to be challenged, consumers dictating products themselves; big MACRO shift
• understanding consumer priorities is most important
• forecasting starts with the consumer to anticipate consumer demands = getting under the skin of your customer
• tracking macro trends across the world, turn these into consumer profiles, use these to predict consumer demand and these predicts inform product and experience design, track challenges responses and opportunities which continues to inform cycle
• stepic model – society, technology, environment, politics, industry and creativity = informs what the future will look like and what the consumer is thinking, feeling and how they are behaving
• = research, identify, challenge, verify, map, deliver
• environment – wider environment in the world, culture, natural world – also looking micro – homes, people moving, how our homes influence us- people moving back to their family homes due to the pandemic – younger people especially, improving quality of life – closer with nature
• politics – huge direct and indirect of popular opinion, people want their voices to be heard – shapes how people want to be seen and heard and present themselves
• creativity – translates research into adthethics and fashion looks through experts in specific areas
• source, expertise, delivery
• digital consumer, retail landscape, sustainability = biggest challenges we are facing in industry, especially with coronavirus
• covid has exaggerated the nerf for existing trends and highlighted already known weak spots as oppose to creating loads of new trends because of clever and affective prediction
• digital consumer – speed, convenience, experimental : edutainment, 5g, trend aware
• digital customer though a lense- mobile, voice, video = new livestream shopping – tiktok etc
• speed and convenience = high expectations
• transparency of retail – letting the customer know how the products and manufacturing works so they’re aware of the location of their products amongst arrival
• fast paced industry especially now adapting to a global pandemic
• retail geography – reccession, phygital channels, all been accelerated by covid not brand new
• physical retail stores to reinvent shopping experience since before covid = resulted in record stores being shut down therefore fashion shops need to follow suit before things shut down and all turns online
• phygital channels – physical and digital – providing a unique and practical experience for the customer,  marc jacobs creasing digisl designs that were for sale on games like animal crossing
• lots of opportunities for innovation and creativity
• sustainability – “less but better, traceability, transparency
• haul videos to anti haul videos
• people thought covid = more worried about covid and not things like sustainability but this was proven to be not true as 85% of consumers see it the same if not more than pre pandemic
• call out culture, cancel culture = sustainability credentials for brands to be a must because they could get backlash
• less occasion wear purchasing – event, wedding, holiday, festival
• less disposable income for buying non essentials because of covid = reinforce new values about purchasing in line with how current events affect consumer habits
• INSIGHT – consumer insights, retail strategy, marketing
• FASHION – creative direction, design, category buying
• BEAUTY – New product development, category management, brand management
• FOOD & DRINK – innovation/insights, new product development and packaging, marketing and communications, category management, retail buying
• LIFESTYLE & INTERIORS – creative direction, experience design, packaging design, category buying
• MINDSET
• The fashion consumer: then and now; before people used to shop globally and opposed to locally now with the pandemic people are looking back to their community and supporting local business, maybe them or their families are starting small businesses
• went from browsing everywhere and not having a specific intent of purchase but rather more exploration to going really specific with what you’re looking for maybe due to money issues or budgeting however now it’s reversing into a more experimental shopping experience especially with everything becoming online again
• evolutions of intent, taking more time to enjoy the experience
• social circles to having a wider network on social media and having a presence, but now people are going back to their own social circle for fashion and artistic inspiration and staying with people they know
• people were price driven before and they’re price driven now – not likely to change any time soon
• prediction of athleisure – real life example
• mid 2000s women rejecting unrealistic body ideals, championed in the 90s= new age of health, global financial crisis which influenced a new global health crisis = highlights obvious issues with people accessing health care and resources
• sport lux look = dated term but big in 2011
• WGSN predicts mass adoption of wellness across industries and rise of restorative fitness in 2012
• 2014 athleisure becomes a mainstay, focus on “weathness” / wearables and mental health apps boom. leggings start to outsell jeans – this highlights the idea of lifestyle influencing fashion; mental health issues being raised which leads to health issues being raised which led to athleisure links together
• 2015 ath-beauty, forecast by WGSN
• 2016 restorative fitness gains traction, WGSN identifies Athleisure styles – including #AllDayActivities and #Fashleisure
• 2017- wellness eclipses hedonism with the emergence of sober clubbing, yoga raves and SoulCycle – youth focused, working to enforce more positive and social connotations and experiences with this
• Meditation booms. WGSN forecasts “sloungewear” as an athleisure spin off. guns replace clubs as social hubs
• 2018 athleisure 2.0 WGSN forecasts the next functional evolution of athleisure and its legacy
• 2019 Bath-leisure called out as part of the Living Well trend. Mass adoption of Ath-Beauty
• 2020 and beyond, saturation point for trends, however new versions will start, more function athleisure / hybrid with loungewear- really functional, focuses on the specifics like underwear, swimwear etc
• global outlook as much as possible !!!
• consumer thinking
• micro trends being linked and informed by macro trends