Founded in California in 1968, Esprit is rooted in the spirit of community and positivity. The brand’s founders affirm Esprit’s raison d’etre: “Delivering joy every day through laid-back tailored, high quality essentials and carefully selected fashion-forward pieces while staying true to its core values of sustainability, equality and freedom of choice.”
Today, Esprit has locations all over the world, with its two biggest markets in Europe and China. They’ve expressed the desire to continue expanding in these markets to young consumers, incorporating innovation and sustainability along the way. As trend forecasters, this got our attention at Heuritech: our experts took a look at Esprit’s current collection assortment in order to get a broader view of the brand’s potential.
Namely, we outline three trends covering material, color, and silhouette with varying predicted behaviors to demonstrate how Esprit could refine their current offering to adapt to the European and Chinese market’s needs for the Winter 2021 season.
Key trends in Europe and China: Forecasting Esprit’s Winter 2021 collections
We’ve picked a few trends from Esprit’s current collection assortment on their e-commerce platform, comparing them with our data to gauge demand for the Winter 2021 season in Europe and China to provide a glimpse on what trends to include and which ones to avoid for Winter 2021 womenswear.
Why? Because Esprit can better refine their design process by knowing in advance which of the key trends to include for upcoming seasons for women in Europe and China to ensure all of the bases are being covered, thus avoiding missed sales. Esprit can also more accurately forecast demand in order to prevent overstock and in turn function more sustainably. Let’s take a look at ribbed knit, khaki, and round neck jumpers to analyze how each of these trends will behave in Winter 2021 in Europe versus in China.
1. Khaki
Khaki is one of those staple colors that seems to live in everyone’s closet. It makes sense, then, that this color is a safe bet for both geographies this Winter. In Europe, khaki has a predicted growth rate of +1%, and in China, of -3%. Furthermore, the magnitude of khaki is the same in both regions. Spring and Winter are the optimal launch seasons for both, as well.
There is one major difference in khaki’s trend behavior between Europe and China: its consumer segmentation. European women of all segmentations will go for khaki this Winter, meaning that this color has indeed reached a universal appeal in this geography.
Interestingly, though, it is only edgy Chinese consumers that will opt for khaki in Winter ‘21, so this could be an indicator of khaki’s continued rise over the next few seasons until it ultimately reaches the mainstream market.
2. Round Neck Jumper
Our next trend is the round neck jumper, a basic essential for hanging around the house and embracing loungewear. What’s interesting about this trend, though, is how varied its forecasted visibility will be in Europe versus in China. In Europe, we predict round neck jumpers to decrease in visibility by -1%, but in China, this garment should rise by +14%. What this indicates is that in China, round neck jumpers will be far more visible on social media posts than in Winter 2020, but in Europe, the trend’s visibility will remain about the same.
With that said, round neck jumpers will have a greater magnitude in Europe than in China: we forecast a massive market demand potential in Europe, a big one in China. When we combine these metrics, round neck jumpers qualify as a fashion bet in China and a safe one in Europe this Winter ‘21.
But these aren’t the only differences. Round neck jumpers will most appeal to edgy female consumers in China, so Esprit should orient their designs and campaigns toward this audience. In Europe, all consumer segmentations will go for this trend, signalling a universal appeal within Esprit’s European consumer base.
3. Ribbed Knit
Ribbed knit has been a major hit over the past year, in the form of garments ranging from outerwear to dresses. In Europe, this fabric will continue to find success in womenswear this upcoming Winter. We’ve qualified ribbed knit as a fashion bet in this geography, meaning that Esprit should absolutely include this trend in their Winter ‘21 collection in Europe. This trend status is due to ribbed knit’s positive dynamics and magnitude — in other words, ribbed knit is predicted to have an increase in visibility of +12%, as well as a big market demand potential.
As for its consumer segmentation in Europe, we predict trendy and edgy consumers to be most drawn to the trend: these are consumers that catch onto trends ahead of or right at their peak in trendiness. Finally, Esprit should push ribbed knit during Spring and Winter, as these are the seasons we predict to procure the most demand for the fabric, most likely due to its appeal during colder months.
In China, on the other hand, ribbed knit will find slightly less success than in Europe with a growth rate of +3% compared to Europe’s +12%. With that said, we nevertheless consider that Esprit would do well to include ribbed knit in their Winter ‘21 collection in China, because it’s one that’s safe to bet on.
Indeed, the trend’s medium market demand potential lends itself well to its steady growth rate. Esprit should also keep in mind ribbed knit’s edgy consumer appeal, which may actually give more creative room to the designers who can experiment with edgier looks and styles. Regardless of Esprit’s iteration of ribbed knit, its high seasons are identical to Europe.
Trend forecasts for Esprit’s Winter 2021 collection
To summarize, we compared a few key trends taken from Esprit’s e-commerce platform with Heuritech data to provide a glimpse of how they will behave in the European and Chinese markets for the Winter 2021 season.
- Khaki is a safe bet for both European and Chinese women
- Round neck jumpers are a safe bet for European women and a fashion bet for Chinese women
- Ribbed knit is a fashion bet for European women and a safe bet for Chinese women
With trend forecasting, Esprit can better anticipate their assortment mix to prevent overstock and waste and continue their commitment to sustainability. Esprit can also heighten desirability among younger consumers by digitally transforming consumers’ shopping experience, as well as pushing the respective trends for Europe and China.
