Online Search Engine Lyst’s 2019 Report On Fashion Highlights Meghan Markle, Sustainability, Resale, Rental And Inclusivity.

Image Courtesy of Lyst

Now the largest global fashion search platform Lyst lets the visitor search thousands of online fashion stores at once, bringing together 5 million products from 12,000 of the world’s leading brands and retailers in one place.

This year 104 million shoppers started their fashion search on Lyst.

Lyst analysed the data; crunching the queries, page views and sales metrics across six million fashion products from over 12,000 online stores, alongside the global media coverage and social media mentions generated by the year’s biggest brands and trends.

Among the main points to emerge were :

Meghan Markle, Duchess Of Sussex

Meghan Markle was the most powerful dresser of 2019 and her outfits sparked, on average, a 216% increase in searches for similar pieces.

After she wore five different shirt dresses on the Royal Tour of South Africa, searches for the category grew 45% over a month.

The Club Monaco dress sold out in less than 24 hours, following a 570% spike in searches and wearing a J Crew skirt saw a 102% increase in searches for the brand.

Sustainability

Searches including sustainability related keywords increased 75% year on year, with an average of 27,000 searches for sustainable fashion every month.

Searches for specific sustainable materials rose; 102% for econyl, 52% for organic cotton, 130% for repreve and 42% for tencel.

Sustainable denim and sneakers were the most wanted product categories.

A number of brands launched meaningful sustainability initiatives this year, from paying closer attention to the materials used in their collections, to launching donation programmes and investing in re-commerce

Inclusivity

2019 saw a number of vocal callouts against the industry’s lack of diversity and representation.

Shoppers searched for fashion reflecting the needs and tastes of diverse communities; searches for adaptive and modest fashion rose 80% and 90% respectively.

There was a 52% increase in searches for the terms ‘genderless’ and ‘gender neutral’ with fashion.

“Woke” consumers looked for designers and retailers that aligned with their values and in response, some of the world’s most powerful brands launched diversity campaigns and programmes to promote inclusivity, some hiring new teams to help them improve at board level.

Resale

2019 saw a 255% increase in traffic to luxury resale products on Lyst.

According to a ThreadUp report, 26% of luxury shoppers now buy secondhand clothing.

Another report by TheRealReal notes that 32% of shoppers see secondhand shopping as a replacement for fast fashion, with Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada and Hermes being the most wanted brands.

Rental

Now valued at $1 billion, the rental market is projected to account for a revenue of $1.9 billion by the end of 2023.

According to Mintel’s Sustainability Report, over half of millennials have already either rented fashion or considered doing so.

Renting clothes is getting easier, with more brands and retailers such as Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, Ann Taylor, and Bloomingdale’s now allowing their customers to do so.

Virtual

In May a technology executive spent $9,500 on a virtual dress to be worn in a “photo shoot” using augmented reality.

Gucci and Nike started using AR technology to allow shoppers to virtually “try on” their clothes and shoes.

Brands such as New Balance and Gucci continued to target the gaming market with branded products for personal avatars.