As consumers sought to refresh their wardrobe post pandemic, they mostly shopped for denim, reflecting their desire to retain comfort in their ensembles. Comfort will continue to be a dominating factor in consumers’ clothing choices, says Elizabeth Spaulding, CEO, Stitch Fix. However, they may also add new styles in office wear. Hence, ‘business comfort’ is likely to emerge as the new office style, adds Spaulding.

Over 70 per cent consumers to opt for jeans as office wear

Consumers’ eagerness to restock their wardrobes offers brands and retailers significant opportunities to cater to changing preferences, avers Spaulding. As per a Stitch Fix survey, denim sales increased 30 per cent Y-o-Y this year. Sale of straight jeans increased 30 per cent while wide leg denim sale rose 79 per cent. The company also recorded a 23 per cent rise in sale of men’s relaxed fits while sale of straight leg jeans grew 21 per cent.

In the next few months, over 76 per cent consumers surveyed by Cotton Incorporated said, they plan to wear jeans more often than they do now. Titled, ‘Coronavirus Response Survey’, it showed, in the last one month, around 44 per cent consumers wore jeans to work.

Future dressing style to be hybridized

The survey also revealed, only 16 per cent consumers wore sweatpants at home last month. On the other hand, 39 per cent wore denim to office. The pandemic has casualized officegoers’ dress code with 25 per cent opting of less formal clothes to office. Employees capable of working remotely plan to adopt the hybrid style of dressing to office in future, shows a research report by Gallup. Stitch Fix also indicates a growing preference for denim, dresses and a combination of knit and woven garments in offices.

Denims to top purchases in next three months

Around 30 per cent respondents to the Coronavirus Response Survey said they plan to prioritize denims as their top clothing purchases in the next three months. This will followed by sweatpants at 27 per cent, activewear at 25 per cent and athleisure at 21 per cent.

Pent-up demand for denim jeans was highlighted when consumers returned to their offices and social gatherings, states the NPD Group. In 2021, sale of classic bottoms in the US increased 36 per cent to $18.4 billion. Sale of women’s jeans grew 9 per cent while men’s jean sale went up 12 per cent, as against 2019 figures. Jeans manufacturers continue to be leading innovators as they offer new styles and options to consumers to up their comfort quotient.

Kim Glas, President and CEO, National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) representing the full spectrum of U.S. textiles from fiber through finished sewn products, issued a statement on the US Trade Representative’s statutory four-year review of the China 301 tariffs.

According to this statement, NCTO has long advocated for the 301 penalty tariffs to remain on finished textile and apparel products from China. Not only do they increase the government’s negotiating leverage to address the Chinese government’s serious predatory trade practices that have hurt our domestic manufacturing sector and that of its free trade agreement partners for decades; they also send a strong message to China that the United States is committed to addressing systemic predatory trade practices that have undermined domestic industries and their workers.

For decades, China’s illegal actions have undermined virtually every domestic manufacturing sector and contributed to the direct loss of millions of U.S. jobs. These devastating state-sponsored practices, which include intellectual property theft, pervasive state-ownership of manufacturing, industrial subsidies, and abhorrent labor and human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, have allowed China to dominate the global marketplace, which has had severe ramifications on American workers and our Western Hemisphere trade allies. As sourcing executives seek to de-risk out of China for these products, our sector is experiencing massive investment in the U.S. and Western Hemisphere supply chains. In fact, we expect approximately $1 billion of investment announced in the United States and Central America this year alone, as penalty tariffs have played a key role in sourcing shifts.

Tariffs are a reasonable and necessary mechanism to support U.S. jobs, offset unacceptable practices, and strengthen the national economy. They help partially level the playing field for American manufacturers and workers trying to compete against unfair and illegal trade practices – ranging from intellectual property theft, forced labor, to state-sponsored subsidies – that have been perpetuated by the Chinese government. These products have flooded the U.S. market and put our domestic producers and their jobs at risk and have significantly contributed to offshoring and the destruction of the middle-class jobs. It’s critical we maintain key negotiating leverage to address these predatory trade behaviors.

NCTO has also strongly advocated for a fair, transparent process to remove tariffs on certain limited textile machinery, chemicals and dyes that cannot be sourced domestically to help U.S. manufacturers compete against China.

The review process, which is required by statute and being undertaken by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, will allow domestic manufacturers to weigh in on whether removing the tariffs will be harmful and trigger USTR to do a further review.