- Smart casual dress – up 104% YOY
- Sustainable clothing brands searches up 700% over past 5 years
- Matching hoodies for couples – up 83% YOY
Personalised clothing company, Banana Moon, has announced the UK is suffering from an increase in dress code anxiety. The industry report revealed that “dress code” related search terms had seen significant increases in volume compared to the previous year.
Comparing search trend data for key terms from March 2020-2021, against data from March 2021-2022, searches for ‘smart casual dress code female’ were up 128% and searches for ‘smart casual dress code men’ were up 198%. Searches for the term ‘smart casual workwear’ was also up 16%.
Of the analysis, Alex Grace, Managing Director at Banana Moon, said: “It’s clear the intent behind this search is for users to determine what smart casual means in the workplace or for an occasion. The boundaries for this have been somewhat blurred for many, with a third of adults working from home at some point this year and 56% of Brits wanting a blended worklife, comfort working from home looks set to stay.”
As well as worrying about what to wear, the report revealed UK consumers are also worried about where their clothes come from. Sustainable clothing search terms saw a lift in several areas when looking at behaviours year on year. As well as looking for general ‘eco-friendly clothing’, people are also searching for specific sustainable materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester.
Other key sustainable clothing terms that saw an increase in searches included:
- Eco friendly clothing – up 14% YOY
- Recycled polyester – up 5% YOY
- Sustainable clothing – up 6% YOY
Alex Grace continued: “Brands are recognising how important supply chain transparency is to the consumer. Consumers are actively looking for ethical brands and sustainable choices. Whether a business is investing in uniforms, promotional workwear, or branded incentives for staff, it’s clear that sustainable clothing should be a priority to ensure people feel good about the clothes they are wearing.”
Keen to identify key trends in workwear and promotional attire, Banana Moon’s report also looked at search interest around personalised clothing and accessories. The analysis revealed that personalised clothing has seen renewed interest, particularly around personalised workwear, branded hoodies, and personalised bags.
Personalised clothing searches that saw the greatest increase included:
- Personalised workwear – up 12%
- Personalised t shirts – up 17%
- Branded hoodies for men – up 310%
- Personalised beach bags – up 49%
- Personalised backpack kids – up 57%
Alex Grace, said of the findings: “Personalisation of clothing is becoming an increasingly popular way of increasing customer satisfaction. Whether boosting brand awareness, portraying a professional image, or simply commemorating a special occasion, personalised clothing has more of an impact than we realise. That’s why we conduct regular industry reporting to stay at the top our game.”
The Workwear Report 2022
With a third of adults working from home at some point this year and 56% of Brits wanting a blended worklife, it’s pointing out the obvious when we say that our lives have changed significantly. But how is this impacting what people are wearing to or whilst working? Here at Banana Moon, we keep up to date with key trends and about how our customers feel too. In our latest report we’re sharing our insight into all things personalised clothing drawing on Google Trends to predict future trends.
*Spoiler* working from home isn’t going anywhere!
Why is personalised clothing so popular?
Looking at year on year Google Trends data (01.04.2021 – 31.03.2022 vs 01.04.2020 – 31.03.2021) terms relating to personalised clothing have increased.
– Personalised workwear – up 12%
– Personalised t shirts – up 17%
– Personalised sweatshirts – up 11%
– Personalised polo shirts – up 8%
– Branded hoodies for men – up 310%
Whether its business or for pleasure, interest in personalised clothing has seen a renewed interest. For businesses, we can attribute a spike in searches for ‘personalised workwear’ to both the return to offices and places of work as well as a way of retaining connectivity for teams working from home.
Personalised bags appear to be a key trend too as several terms have also seen a lift here. This could be due to more people returning to offices or travelling again as the holiday market reopens. As a result, personalised accessories that are genuinely useful for travel could be a smart way for businesses to maximise the exposure of their promotional items.
– Personalised beach bags – up 49%
– Personalised tote bags – up 26%
– Personalised bag – up 19%
– Personalised beach towels – up 17%
– Personalised backpack kids – up 57%
Smart casual is the new workwear
We are seeing trends in multi-purpose workwear and athleisure that suits the UK’s more flexible working style, with Google searches for gym hoodies up 35% and smart casual workwear up 16%.
– Smart casual workwear – up 16%
– Work hoodies for men – up 35%
As teams navigate homeworking attire as they return to the office (or not wanting to fully let go of their new casual wardrobe) consumers are looking to understand what smart casual means in the workplace. This trend isn’t assumed either, recent news from Saville Row tailors has indicated a decline in profits over the last couple of years and trend forecaster, Nick Paget, declaring “many men have simply fallen out of love with suits, if they ever did love them”.
The boundaries for this have been somewhat blurred for many, as comfort working from home looks set to stay.
– Smart casual dress – up 104%
– Casual dress code – up 47%
– Smart casual dress code female – up 128%
– Smart casual dress code men – up 198%
Hoodies have always been popular, but we have seen significant gains in search interest for specific types of hoodies. Matching hoodies and matching loungewear are becoming increasingly popular for couples and families who want to share insta-worthy pics of their home life.
– Matching hoodies for couples – up 83%
– Gym hoodies – up 35%
– Graphic hoodies – up 4%
– Branded hoodies for men – up 310%
Sustainable clothing
Sustainable clothing search terms have seen a lift in several areas when we look at behaviours year on year. As well as looking for general ‘eco-friendly clothing’ and ‘fairtrade clothing’, people are also searching for specific sustainable materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester.
- Recycled polyester – up 5%
- Sustainable clothing – up 6%
- Eco friendly clothing – up 14%
- Sustainable clothing brands – up 700% (past 5 years)
The above graph indicates searches for ‘sustainable clothing brands’ over the last 5 years. Clear peaks can be attributed to COP26 in November 2021 and additional peaks appear to correlate with brands launching sustainable clothing ranges that made UK-wide news. The following news stories appears to have contributed to increased search interest around these topics:
- Primark launches organic cotton baby range
- Eco-friendly plus size clothing ranges launched
- Fairtrade sales continue to grow
- Levi’s campaign to Buy Better, Wear Longer with organic cotton denim
Brands are recognising how important supply chain transparency is to the consumer. Consumers are actively looking for ethical brands and sustainable choices. Whether a business is investing in uniforms, promotional workwear, or branded incentives for staff, it’s clear that sustainable clothing should be a priority to ensure people feel good about the clothes they are wearing.
As sustainability is so intrinsically weaved into our own business model, our managing director, Alex had the following to say:
“The fashion industry is responsible for over 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions, so here at Banana Moon we’re making strides to be carbon neutral and to make sure we’re doing our bit to protect our planet. For us, this isn’t a fad or a gimmick but an essential cause that runs throughout our business model. From our eco-friendly range to our biodegradable dye and from our virtually waterless printing to our fully recycled polyester threads in our embroidery, this is all powered by 100% renewable electricity coming from certified sources of solar, wind and biomass energy.
Our process means we seek to support like-minded companies who are looking to kit out their teams with personalised workwear with sustainability in mind.”
If you’re looking for personalised casual wear or sustainable workwear, browse our range today.
