UK-based Pretty Little Thing is a women’s apparel brand known for offering each season’s must-have trends at an affordable price. With 13 million followers on Instagram, their social media presence and collaborations with public figures is the brand’s way of reaching millions of women and responding to their fashion wants. Since its creation in 2021, Pretty Little Thing has become a dominant player in the fashion industry.
Keeping Pretty Little Thing’s identity and segmentation in mind, we’ve perused the brand’s e-commerce platform and reviewed the product assortment. Upon comparing this information with our data, we have suggestions on how Pretty Little Thing’s product assortment for Autumn 2021 can be refined with the help of trend forecasting.
Trend forecasting to create a better Autumn assortment
Knowing trends in advance can be of great assistance during the collection planning process to help Pretty Little Thing ensure that consumer demand is being met for upcoming seasons, and that all of the major trends are included in a collection.
Moreover, trend forecasting can be an essential tool to avoid overstock by gauging which trends will not be in high demand for a given season.
The Autumn 2021 season calls for timeless class: with that said, timeless doesn’t have to mean trendless, and building a collection in tune with current consumer desires will allow Pretty Little Thing to produce more efficiently and sustainably by avoiding overstock and fashion misses. In this sneak peek, we will zoom in on three trends: velvet, yellow-orange, and checked prints have wildly different behaviors predicted for Autumn 2021, demonstrating how trend forecasting can help establish an efficient collection plan.
1. Velvet
Velvet is a luxurious fabric is perfect for Autumn, which each year announces cold weather, cozy comfort, and holiday gatherings. Logic follows that the trend’s high seasons will be in Spring and Winter this year, perfectly sandwiching the Autumn season. For women in Europe, velvet will indeed be on their radar. Velvet’s medium magnitude — in other words, the trend’s forecasted visibility on social media images during the season analyzed — pairs well with its flat growth rate to classify velvet as a safe bet for Autumn 2021.
Those most excited to see velvet in Pretty Little Thing’s Autumn 2021 collection will be the trendy consumers, or those who tend to adopt trends a season or two prior to reaching the mainstream. As such, the brand would do well to create a product assortment that fits the trend’s visibility on social media: dresses, pants, skirts, and outerwear are the biggest hits, leaving lots of room for creativity to Pretty Little Thing’s designers.
2. Checked Print
Checked print has been a hit trend over the last few seasons, particularly during Spring/Summer ‘21 where top designers the likes of Molly Goddard and Celine featured the print in their collections. Pretty Little Thing can — and should — jump on the checked print wave this Autumn 2021 to satisfy all of their consumer segments in Europe this season.
This print is indeed a fashion bet with a +10% growth rate and a big magnitude. Skirts are by far the top product category for checked print, but Pretty Little Thing should also venture into outerwear, shorts, and dresses to address their customer’s different styles. There’s no denying the appeal of checked print, and it should particularly be pushed in Spring and Winter this year during its high seasons.
3. Yellow Orange
Yellow-orange radiates summer-y, joyous vibes no matter how it’s styled. And that’s just it — while this color is perfect for summer, it’s less so for Autumn. We forecast yellow-orange at a -10% growth rate in Autumn 2021 compared to the same season last year, and coupled with its medium magnitude, the color is considered a last call for Autumn collections. Its high seasons of Summer and Fall signal that Pretty Little Thing should sell off their remaining inventory in this color rather than creating new pieces, particularly skirts and dresses.
Trend forecasts for Pretty Little Thing’s Autumn 2021 collection
To summarize, this report compares a few key trends taken from Pretty Little Thing’s e-commerce platform with our data to provide a glimpse of how they will behave in the European market for the Autumn 2021 season. In apprehension of Autumn, Pretty Little Thing can keep these trend insights in mind:
- Velvet is a safe bet, with dresses and pants as the top garments in this fabric.
- Checked prints are a fashion bet with a high growth rate and big magnitude, with skirts as the most represented garment category by far.
- Yellow-orange is a last call, and should not be included in an Autumn 2021 collection.
As a brand who focuses so heavily on social media, our technology is the perfect solution for Pretty Little Thing to best gauge their consumer’s changing desires. With trend forecasting, Pretty Little Thing can help its brands better anticipate their assortment mix and ease their path toward a sustainable future.
