Fashion retailers can soon breathe easier with the global fashion industry set for a full recovery in 2022. Shoppers on the other hand should brace themselves for price increases.
According to The State of Fashion 2022 report, we can expect to see a 3% increase in prices across all clothing and apparel. What’s more, a poll revealed executives are planning to bump up prices even further by more than 10% in 2022.
What’s to blame?
Several contributing factors cause inflation. Material shortages, transportation bottlenecks and rising shipping costs straining supply and demand are all playing cause to the effect. 2019-2021 trends in world shopping habits were among other contributing factors.
According to Fast Company, April 2020 saw a fall in clothes sales by 79%: the largest-ever recorded decline. This caused a state of panic between retailers and a lot of questions regarding when the pandemic was ending. Companies radically changed their operations in an attempt to endure the crisis. Those who pulled through had two things in common: digital strength and an Asia-Pacific focus. Other trends for companies to consider in the coming year include sustainability, circularity and social commerce.
The supply and demand crux is set to balance out, fortunately helping grow the fashion industry by 3-8% within the next year. As for shoppers, the effect of inflation on our purchases is the response of companies needing to pass on additional expenses to their customers to preserve their margins. A price we may, unfortunately, have to wear until further notice.
Subscribe to FIB’s Weekly Alchemy Report for your weekly dose of music, fashion and pop culture news!