Free People Trend Report AW 21/22 Olivia Smith, Lauren Duffin,Lottie Mowatt, Phoebe Scott and Emily Tomlin
Contents 3 Brand Wheel 4 Aqua Aerwyna 5 FP Movement Colour Palette 6 Textures New and Old 7 Embracing a Natural World 8 Active Silhouettes 9 The Gardens of Eden 10 Overscaled Blooms 11 Next Steps
2
Brand Wheel 3
Aqua Aerwyna Aqua Aerwyna, a ‘friend of the sea’ will transport you into a underwater world full of textured patterns and sustainable materials to create a trend that is nostalgic, youthful and vibrant. This trend allows for comfort crossovers with designs that are adaptable to a new lifestyle shift.
4
FP Movement Colour Palette
This colour palette picks up neutral tones with hints of vivid brights to bring comfort through happy memories. Abstract yet minimalist, ‘Nature’s textures’ can be used to reconnect back with nature. The rise of this trend can break away from traditional swimwear styles A.I.Aqua, awarded colour of the year for 2021 is still being driven through till the A/W collection. Its digitally enhanced saturation level gives it a bluer than blue appearance giving the collection a vibrant edge. Golden Harvest offers warm fusions with a calming presence and nostalgic appeal. Bringing a relaxed sensation to consumers post-pandemic stress.
5
Textures New and Old In the wake of the pandemic consumers are looking for more from their purchases, we now see certain textures being crossed over from loungewear to activewear Embrace #thegreatoutdoors as a sense of escapism and a back-to-nature sentiment Representation creates a sense of nostalgia, from those sunny beach days people are longing for. With velvet being the earth’s sea moss whilst pleats show of the true beauty of shells Use different shapes and textures to portray ocean depth and elevate their characteristics Use layering amongst this to show off harmonising patterning yet act as double-duty for warmth Interests in these textures can be spotted on the runway from past and present
6
Embracing a Natural World
Sustainability remains at the forefront as a way for brands to better themselves, meet consumer demands and think towards for the future of fashion Sustainability is no longer just found in luxury brands, it is integrated across all categories and tied into many brands ethos. Charities play a huge role in enabling such materials, collaborations with these such as Take 3 who work with ocean projects to provide a cleaner environment can help boost sales and drive consumer relationships. More wants for wellbeing and natural products are in high demand across all industries. Clothing is being made to represent these aspects and incorporate eco resources. Using recycled materials helps lower the brands carbon footprint and reduce its direct carbon emissions Respect for green consumerism is prominent globally, but highly on social media.
7
Activewear Silhouettes Sketches made on photoshop show the development of how activewear is becoming more lifestyle focused. Designs are now made to be multi-functional (soft, stretchy, breathable and long lasting whilst also stylish for everyday wear). The colours link back into our trend research and apply predicted colour samples to the mock design garments. This helps to give an idea of how the colours would work on this specific design of top.
8
The Gardens of Eden
After a year in lockdown we have found a way to allow your consumers reconnect with the natural world with help from our wholesale strategy The Gardens of Eden is a pop up shop concept which will immerse your consumers in a new shopping experience that they will never forget. The pop up igloos are good because they can be moved to different locations at ease, this will enable you to increase Free People’s exposure within department stores worldwide. To help Free People further in becoming a more sustainable brand our igloos will be sustainably made out of econyl. This is a material made of discarded fishing nets and ‘ghost’ materials.
9
Overscaled Blooms
The igloos are specifically designed to showcase FP Movement in a natural outdoor setting to help rekindle consumers with the environment Together the combination of earthy tones and over scaled blooms will bring the outdoors indoors. Our floral interiors will translate the upcoming trend of monochrome blow ups.
10
Next Steps
Free people should explore our trend of the natural world, by incorporating Harvest Yellows and Parisian Blues with ocean like textures and sustainable materials in order to stay relevant in the upcoming AW 21/22 season. Looking at textures, shaping and silhouettes, we can see the activewear industry becoming more adventurous with the availability to different styles and designs for consumers. Branching away from the classic two strap sports bra and being more crafty in their development of products. FP Movement are already working towards a sustainable future, trend forecasting shows this to only become a more relevant theme in our stores. Using inspiration from our report and the topics we have presented, this would be a great way for FP Movement to push the boundaries and create a more sustainable and adventurous brand for all. The pop up stores will give Free People the global exposure they are aiming to achieve, in a fun and immersive way.
11