In the frenzy to find out what’s next and how to stay relevant, designers can overlook who they’re designing for or be too focused on the youngest generations. This hyperfixation of categorizing consumers by age or some other kind of general demographic is missing the mark, according to Ana Paula Alves de Oliveira, founder and strategic director of the consultancy Be Disobedient.
At Kingpins Amsterdam, Alves de Oliveira presented a denim forecast that examined how two consumer groups—The Ageless and The Borderless—are shaping macro and micro trends. By understanding these groups, she said brands can make better decisions on what they design and how they deliver their messages to consumers.
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“Technology is reshaping everything—our identity, our connection, our sense of time. So why we are putting labels on people? It’s not about age anymore. It’s much more how they live or how they want to live,” Alves de Oliveira said, adding that people always reinventing themselves.
Instead, she said brands need to take an ageless approach to their design and marketing to resonate with a broader range of consumers. Brands need to create stories that foster community across demographics from Gen Zers in high executive positions and digitally savvy senior activists to 45- to 65-year-olds who are “too young to slow down and too old to be ignored.”
Consumers are also seeking a “third place” that is neither online nor offline. The rise of hybrid work and living spaces has changed the way consumer engage with physical stores, Alves de Oliveira said, adding that retail is no longer just a place to acquire things. “They want to join an experience…retail can be a place to talk, interact and engage.”
The blurring of commercial and residential buildings, the integration of the outdoors inside and the popularity of dual-purpose spaces means there are opportunities for brands to reimagine how they present their goods and break out of the traditional confines of retail.
Alves de Oliveira described six micro trends being informed by these new consumer dynamics.
In Vintagers, faded fabrics, worn textures and classic shapes are influenced by the ’70s. Raw authentic shades of blue, fabrics with sheen, yellow-ish fades, cracked surfaces and flocked textures co-mingle with fur trims, traditional tartan and metal trims and stones. Coordinates and slim fits bring the vintage-meets-glam aesthetic to life.
Items that feel unique and one-of-a-kind are key to the Collectors. The theme that supports self-expression through velvet indigo, tapestry textures, digital prints, jacquards, exaggerated layering and fabrics with lasered logos, symbols and other forms of artwork. Added details like buttons and patches add a personal vibe to jeans spanning straight, balloon and ultra-baggy fits.
Nostalgia and whimsy give Fantasizers its unique look. Alves de Oliveira said the trend blurs the line between reality and fantasy through exaggerated silhouettes that cinch the waist and have volume and flare. Elements of the Victorian era come through 3-D floral appliques and reflective and iridescent finishes add fairytale vibe. Black denim adds a goth feeling to pieces, while deep indigo feels royal and decadent.
The fluid dialogue between body and structure is explored in Morphshifters. Silhouettes that create unnatural shapes, garments with strategically placed volume, deconstruction and pieces designed to be worn backwards help tell the unconventional style. Though colors are clean like white and dark indigo, details like knots, slouches, extra-long sleeves, twisted seams and fabric folds in unusual places add an element of unpredictability.
Imperfections are celebrated in Mistakers, which relies on fabrics with raw edges, loose threads and mixed weaves to tell a chaotic story. The trend calls for denim coatings that create waxy and leather looks, controlled destruction, artistic bleach stains, rugged patchwork and faded black washes. Trench coats, Bermuda shorts and patch pocket jeans are key items.
Outhomies speaks to the market’s unwavering demand for all-day comfort. Alves de Oliveira said the trend provides denim that “feels like home.” Fabrics that give garments a plush and cocooning effect, lounge jeans and slouchy denim captures this cozy, pajama-like essence. It is also where some of the denim’s most revealing fits live, including low-rise jeans and fits and drape off the body.
