What will be the “new normal” of post-pandemic fashion?

What values ​​will consumers seek from the fashion industry?

The students of SDA Bocconi's Master in Fashion, Experience & Design Management together with Salesforce created a questionnaire to understand consumer behavior across Europe and interviewed about fifteen managers to investigate their post-pandemic strategies.

The following trends emerged from the analysis.

First of all, consumers are increasingly looking for a sustainable product. In fact, consumers are ready to pay 5% to 20% more for a sustainable garment but they are not satisfied with sustainability understood only as a low environmental impact production. At AlwaysOn Show, we agree with this interpretation and in fact we believe that sustainability, in addition to the quality and transparency of raw materials, also means reuse, reparability of products and priority to people. Thus we believe that it is essential to pay attention to those who work in the sector at every stage of processing the garment by ensuring the well-being of employees in the supply chain and stable and trusting relationships with suppliers.

Secondly, the study found that consumers are looking for a traceable product. In the new post-Covid normality, the "Made In" itself has no value if it is understood only as a mere geographical origin. The new “Made In” must be accompanied by details and specifications on the transparency and traceability of the garment.

The third emerging trend is the consumers’ interest to invest in higher quality garments. Consumers are in fact willing to spend more and pay a premium price for products that last over time. In addition, a new trend that is becoming increasingly popular is the purchase of vintage and second-hand garments which allows us to contribute to the spread of a circular economy model.

At AlwaysOn Show we believe in durability, therefore objects that are able to support people in different stages of life and activities, which reuse garments and repair them. We believe that a product is not top of the range if it cannot be repaired. It is only fast fashion subject to seasonality that forces the consumer to throw away the garment at the end of the season as it is ruined and no longer wearable and without claiming to be repaired, given the repair cost higher than that of the product itself. 

MAFED students also underlined that consumers are willing to buy "local" in small shops and local shops if their purchasing method is simple and omnichannel and if the price is lower. This trend certainly took hold during the pandemic but what most represents a total paradigm shift in the sector is the new role of sales assistants. Many have had to adapt during the pandemic and have become real influencers, virtual personal shoppers who have established a relationship with the customer. It is a renewed link with the brand for a 360-degree relationship that represents the transition from a business-to-consumer to human-to-human logic. At AlwaysOn Show we have understood this trend and in fact in the previous edition of TheOneMilano we shared the Sneak Peek, purchase pills for buyers in which we tried to create a real experience according to the so-called "edutainment" model, a union between education and entertainment.

Find out more about the study and the new post-pandemic fashion trends by clicking on the following link:

https://it.fashionnetwork.com/news/Nel-new-normal-post-pandemia-vince-la-moda-che-sposa-l-approccio-h2h-human-to-human,1304980.html 

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