Top 6 fashion trends in 2020 according to Lyst

2020 was a singular year to say the least for the fashion world, a year in which the world lockdown served as an accellerator for a series of changes already underway in the industry but which also brought precise social consequences, immediately reflected in the purchasing trends. One hundred million users used the fashion research platform, Lyst, over the course of the year in search of their favorite clothes and accessories. Lyst analyzed this huge amount of data to better understand what the turning points were for fashion in 2020. This year, for example, fashion has discovered activism for both civil rights and sustainability: mask searches have increased by 502% year-on-year and September, vintage fashion has generated an average of more than 35,000 searches per month, an increase of 104%. The prolonged lockdown has created a huge wave of searches for loungewear that hasn't stopped even now and social media has seen its role very magnified.

This unprecedented social scenario kicked off six macro-trends that Lyst analyzed in its annual Year in Fashion 2020 report. That's what they are.

Mystic-Chic

Difficult times awaken people's spirituality. But in fashion no masses are sung: the spirituality of its acolytes translates into horoscopes and accessories with an esoteric theme. The Duchess of Cambridge herself, Meghan Markle, couldn't resist the call of the occult and wore a necklace against the evil eye that, last May, catapulted searches for similar jewellery up 58%. Research that includes "zodiac sign" or "birth sign", on the other hand, has overall grown by 56% year-on-year.

Cottagecore

Where mysticism fails, the tranquility of a bucolic life makes up for it. A new wave has risen this year starting from the ideal of a relaxed life and in contact with nature (something that those who have spent the lockdown outside the city have been lucky enough to experience) and therefore the search for relaxed cardigans, blouses and wide dresses and, in general, cozy clothes with a homely-British feel has increased. Specifically, the nap dress, a white dress loved by the protagonists of House on the Prairie and all the ghosts of the Victorian era, is back in fashion with a 22% jump in research.

Loungewear

123% increase in tracksuit pants searches, 48% increase in search for leggins and, in general – but that 2020 we had all spent it all in overalls and pajamas was no longer a mystery. This is the year in which we rediscovered, in spite of ourselves, the domestic dimension with all its limitations and decided to elevate and improve it – even starting from the suit we wear on the sofa.

Performance elevate

The relegation between the four home walls was coupled with a rediscovery of sports – often the only excuse to breathe the outdoor air. Cycling shorts and tennis bottoms were the protagonists of a real research boom of 43% in September alone. Summer, on the other hand, was the season of the Nike Court Victory pleated skirt that saw a 33% increase in searches.

Survivalist

When you feel like you're in the middle of a socio-financial collapse on a global scale, your thinking runs toward the most unexpected apocalyptic scenarios. This imagination has also had an impact on wardrobes around the world, which have been filled with military boots and amphibians, with an increase in year-on-year research of 49%, and oversized leather jackets, which have risen in online searches by 32%.

e-Boy/e-Girl Aesthetic

After the last Instagram update, even those who did not follow TikTok found himself forced to follow him. The aesthetic inspired by the souls of e-boys and e-girls has become the next big thing. Mesh T-shirts, single pendant earrings and Sailor Moon-style pleated skirts increased by 20%, 72% and 20% respectively. This type of style has also been captured, with somewhat depressing results, by Hedi Slimane with his SS21 collection by Celine.

Lyst's report not only tells what is happening in the present but also looks to the future. According to their analysis, the return to normality will mark the beginning of a new audacity in fashion. Too many months spent in overalls, too many social opportunities shaded for minimalism: the future will be aggressively festive, just like in the 1920s. This optimism will also have a futurist drift, due to the new achievements made in the field of space travel by NASA and SpaceX. The gender free world will expand further following the wave of the Gucci MX and Ivy Park x adidas unisex collections and Converse's Shapes line as well as, based on the success of SKIMS and Nike's pre-maman lines, the category of pregnancy dresses should expand considerably. At the same time, brands will have to be much more careful not to appear hypocritical in the face of a generation of consumers much more attentive than in the past.