The Retail Apocalypse Is Killing Fashion As We Know It As A New Dress Code Takes Hold In America
The way the average American dresses has changed drastically in recent years. Evolving dress codes, comfortable and technologically improved fabrics, and stylish but sporty designs have all combined to carve out a large section of the retail market. Sales for activewear in the US reached $45.9 billion in 2016, according to NPD Group data. That’s an 11% uptick from the previous year, and far greater than the growth of the apparel sector as a whole. The rise of athleisure as the dominant way that people dress has broad implications for the rest of the apparel industry. As people are opting to move away from traditional styles and dress in this utilitarian style, fashion brands that have been slow to jump on the activewear bandwagon are suffering. That means that traditional fashion brands now have less of a say in how Americans are dressing. Fashion is dying. Athleisure is now king. “Athleisure is the new casual,” Deirdre Clemente, a professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, recently told Business Insider. “Athleisure” is commonly defined as a “weird hybrid” of business casual and athletic wear, which has created an entirely new category of clothing. It’s combining two trends that have dominated American casual clothing — durability and comfort — in a versatile way. “I don’t think athleisure is going anywhere, honestly,” Clemente said. “It’ll only get bigger and more accessible to more people, and more acceptable in more environments.” Read more at Yahoo Finance.
