2021 proved an eventful year for everyone, and certainly unpredictable - but that’s where we step in.
Looking back at a year of weekly pulses, many of our correct predictions come as no surprise, such as the continued rise in the popularity of oat milk (shocker, I say as I sip my oat milk latte), while others revealed hidden insights that no one (except our AI) saw coming. Our algorithm first flagged changing sentiment towards Evergrande eight months before the Evergrande Chinese housing meltdown, and while the German federal election proved to be a tight race in September, we were able to forecast Olaf Scholz’ close win.
Curious about the signals we’ve flagged for 2022?
Gathered here are trends we’ve spotted this year that we expect exponential growth from in the coming months. Between omicron, changing geopolitical tides, and the rise of the metaverse (keep an eye out for our dedicated issue next month) we predict another year of change, opportunity, and yes, coronavirus.
Eco-friendly by day, budget-friendly by night
Prediction Date: September 2021
Newsletter: Used Luxury: Is Re-commerce the Future of Fashion Retail?
How did we do?
While influencers and brands were all about sustainable fashion this year, it seems that fast fashion was the guilty pleasure of quarantined shoppers who turned to online retailers for a quick, cheap fashion fix. Fast fashion brands featured heavily on TikTok, where “Shein hauls,” (sometimes sponsored and sometimes not), featured creators trying on the brand’s affordable and trendy items, often priced in the single digits. Fashion Nova and Zara continued to strengthen their share of the fast fashion market, while AllyLikes, a brand new Alibaba-backed fast fashion company based in China, has shown exponential growth and is forecasted to only become a bigger player in the cheap clothing market. Simultaneously, as predicted in our September newsletter, sustainable luxury brands such as Poshmark and Depop (both of which offer a platform for users to sell and trade second-hand clothing and items) found footing with TikTok and Instagram audiences where shoppers snatched up "Y2k pieces" and micro-influencers built up followings for their "shops" on the platforms.
