Last year, animal print made a big comeback with leopard print at the forefront of the budding movement. Zebra print rode the wave of the success of the leopard print trend as its visibility multiplied by 4 between March 2018 and 2019, quickly becoming the next it trend for fashion designers to keep on their radars. Looking forward, the question is predicting whether or not zebra is a fad or a fixture.
So how do you predict if the zebra print trend is here to stay?
Zebra print was defined as a “rising star” trend by Heuritech’s algorithm last year in our 2019 forecast, with its booming visibility confirming the success of the trend. Additionally, skirts, dresses, and tops proved to be the most promising bearers of the print across the board in the trend forecast. So what’s the best move for designers in 2020?
In 2020, designers already on the zebra wave should further push the envelope, and those not yet on board would be smart to hop on. And at the benefit of both the designer and the consumer, Heuritech’s Artificial Intelligence technology will forecast how this trend will evolve over time, giving key insight among the most edgy to the most mainstream fashion consumers.
2020: The year of zebra skirts, dresses, and tops
Looking forward, Heuritech forecasts the zebra print trend at a continued rise in popularity. By applying this trend forecasting technology it is evident that zebra print is highly desirable on the market and promises high commercial potential. Yet the question still remains: how can you build greater product assortment surrounding this trend?
Put simply, fashion players would do well to note the particular pieces that show evidence of more success within different categories of customer bases.
If you are a trendy brand, your customers are likely more actively in-tune with what designers announce and produce, and will be most inclined toward fashionable skirts and dresses this upcoming year. As a bonus, these specific shapes give more creative leeway to the designer. Fashion players in 2020 should likewise pay attention to the fast-paced growth rate of dresses and skirts which submit these pieces into the star category.
If your consumers are more mainstream, while still keeping to skirts and dresses, they will be more receptive to tops in zebra print as this provides a safer venture into fashion. It is worth noting that tops are classified as a sustained riser, as their growth rate is steady but not fast.
Fashion players would also do well to take into account color combinations. The prevailing color mix will remain black and white; this is a guaranteed success for tops, skirts, and dresses alike. That isn’t all, though: regarding skirts, 10% of posts featuring zebra print were of a white-and-cognac color combination.
With the trend forecasting advantage of Heuritech, designers will be able to apply this year’s zebra print trends to their own fashion DNA, a combination sure to please their customers.
With its visual recognition technology, Heuritech is able to evaluate how relevant particular trends have been, and thus how likely they are to either rise or decline in success.
Heuritech analyzes over 3 million images per day from Instagram alone, and with the help of image recognition technology it is possible to pinpoint trends through identifying patterns, colors, textures, shapes, and more.
The forecast: Generation Z-ebra
Zebra print is clearly working for customers. At the hand of fashion players big and small, those funky stripes are making a splash for both the underground fashionista and the popular influencer. Designers and consumers alike are embracing the trend in 2020, with particular features attracting more attention than others:
- Thin rather than thick stripes
- Black-and-white stripes for skirts, tops, and dresses
- White-and-cognac stripes for skirts equally
- Tops for the mainstream and skirts and dresses for the more fashion-forward
At this year’s fashion weeks, it is forecasted that your followers would be happy to sport zebra on and off the runway.
