Millennials have finally outnumbered the Baby Boomers to become the largest American generation. Their numbers alone now mean that millennials have more buying power than any other group in the United States, but that isn’t even what makes millennials such a unique consumer group.
Millennials are changing the very way we interact with the fashion industry. Iconic brands like Macy’s, Sears, and Hudson’s Bay Company have all felt the effects of the millennials’ lack of interest. Instead, millennials are turning away from brands and turning to logo-free, online shopping that is heavily persuaded by social media influencers.
IMAGE: PIXABAY
Millenials Take On Fashion With An Edge
Fashion heavy hitters like Burberry have seen the changing of the guard and are using it to their own advantage. In 2017, they hired David Beckham’s 17-year-old son to photograph their campaign. This was not because the teenager was a photography protégé, but because of his 6 million Instagram followers that they could leverage for exposure.
Online retailers like VeryVoga.com are seeing this change due to social media as well.
“We have loads of customers who come looking for certain styles or designs they saw people like Kylie Jenner or Michelle Lewin wearing,” Yvonne, manager of VeryVoga.com says. “It’s almost instantaneous. A post goes up and people start searching.”
This army of online personalities have no formal training or experience in fashion or marketing, but they are changing the very way people interact with fashion, style, and their own closets. For example, more and more women are adopting a ‘wear it and toss’ mentality, only wearing outfits a handful of times before discarding them so they don’t risk being photographed in the same outfit twice on their social media platforms.
The explosion of online shopping and the knowledge that your outfits will be heavily photographed have also made millennials much more aware of cut, fit and customization than the generation before them. To this end, a lot of millennials are looking more and more into companies that are offering customization services, like JJsHouse.com.
JJsHouse.com provides custom size services on all the dresses they sell, including their impressive range of wedding dresses.
Jason, manager of JJsHouse.com, says the wedding industry has been heavily affected by this change.
“It used to be no one would even consider buying a wedding dress online, but we’re seeing out sales increase every month with young brides looking to stand out,” he says. When most weddings now have custom hashtags, the opportunity for millennial brides to have a wedding dress custom cut and fitted for them is too good to pass up.
Millennials are even changing the way fashion companies fabricate their clothes. More aware of the world and its injustices, millennials demand transparency from the clothing companies they work with. Consumers are now asking companies to demonstrate things like; where their fabric comes from, how their workers are treated, and what wages they are paid.
This has allowed clothing companies who advocate transparency and fair treatment to quickly rise through the ranks and become contenders against heavy hitters like The Gap and Forever 21.
If you are interested in even more lifestyle-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
COMMENTS