Riding the cold wave: Outerwear industry’s day in the sun

Winter wasn’t considered a very fashion forward season until the dawn of modish outerwear. With each year getting colder than the previous (a fact that has been corroborated by scientists), shoppers are moving beyond the North Face jackets and home-made pullovers to embrace the cold with their most fashionable foot forward. According to Statista, the market for outerwear which is estimated to reach US $ 94.50 billion globally by 2021, has given rise to new competition from a flurry of emerging labels offering innovative designs that are stylish and practical, which means keeping yourself warm no longer has to be drab. As with any other market, outerwear is also driven by newness. Brands, both big and small, are all looking to bring their A-game to this segment that traditionally required heavier expenditure on the part of the shopper. The warmth and textural intricacies to technical influences such as new and improved fills for extra warmth, special coatings and technical fabrics are all part of this new era of outerwear. Nivindya Sharma, Director – Retail Strategy and Insights, WGSN, told Business of Fashion, “Outerwear is one of those areas that a consumer would be willing to spend money on, because they think they can get cost-per-wear out of it, like handbags or leather goods. However, unlike the handbag market, which has seen a lot of innovation from big and smaller brands, we (didn’t see) this earlier in the outerwear market.” For more insights, click @ Apparel Resources