Winter 2021 with Benetton: Forecasting men’s and women’s trends

Benetton is recognized for their expertise in high-quality knitwear, color range, and environmental commitment, creating looks for both men and women. Recently, the brand unveiled a new sustainable store concept in Florence that uses upcycled materials and energy-conserving technologies, indicating that Benetton is moving fast toward not only sustainability, but digital transformation. But have they applied these same ideals and technologies to their collection planning process?

More specifically, Benetton can refine their design process by knowing in advance which of the key trends to include for upcoming seasons for men and women to ensure all of the bases are being covered, thus avoiding missed sales. Benetton can also more accurately forecast demand in order to prevent overstock and in turn function more sustainably.

Men’s and women’s Winter trends: Benetton’s forecast

Planning a collection for Winter 2021 that covers all of the must-have men’s and women’s trends could be what sets Benetton apart from the crowd. Namely, we outline three trends covering color, print, and material with varying predicted behaviors to demonstrate how Benetton could refine their current offering to adapt to the European market’s needs for the upcoming Winter season.

• Ribbed knit is a must-have fabric for Winter 2021 for both men and women
• Stripes are a safe call for both genders
• Yellow has varying behavior between men and women.

1. Ribbed Knit

Ribbed knit is ideal for colder months, and its forecast proves so. For both women and men in Europe, this fabric is a fashion bet. What does this mean, exactly? Put simply, this means ribbed knit should certainly be included in Benetton’s Winter 2021 collections.

This is the case for two reasons: for one, ribbed knit has a big magnitude, meaning that it has a big market potential during the season in question. Secondly, this fabric has a significant positive growth rate — it is forecasted to increase by +12% in visibility on social media for both men and women. Together, the magnitude and growth rate of ribbed knit indicate its success in Winter 2021.

Benetton would do best to launch ribbed knit in men’s and women’s collections during the trend’s high seasons of Spring and Winter, as these are the periods in which consumer demand is highest. The consumer segmentations for yellow this Winter 2021 are:

• Trendy and edgy women: Female consumers that adopt trends before or at the peak of their trendiness
• Mainstream and trendy men: Male consumers that adopt trends right at and along a trend’s popularity

2. Stripes

Stripes are a reliable pattern, fitting to any garment in any style. Because of its adaptability, we consider stripes to be a safe bet this Winter 2021 for Benetton’s male and female customers. For women, stripes are forecasted to remain stable at +1% visibility, and for men, at -2%. While these growth rates are small, the magnitude of stripes for both genders is big, which explains the trend’s safe bet status and thus its relevance for Benetton’s Winter collections.

Furthermore, stripes will appeal to the same consumer segments in both genders: Benetton’s marketing teams should focus on targeting trendy and edgy consumers through styling and campaigns.

3. Yellow

The final trend is yellow, a color we all know for its sunny disposition. And yet, yellow is one of those colors that can be the favorite or the least favorite, depending on who you’re talking to. This may help explain yellow’s very different trend behavior between women and men this Winter 2021: this color is a mark down for women’s collections, and a steady trend for men’s.

For women, yellow is forecasted to decrease by -11% in Winter 2021 — coupled with the trend’s small magnitude, Benetton should exclude this color from their upcoming women’s collection. But to avoid waste due to unsold inventory or overstock, Benetton can push their current yellow assortment during its high seasons of Summer and Fall. In this way, by the time the Winter collection is ready to be launched, Benetton can have more liberty to promote fresh, desirable trends.

For men, on the other hand, yellow is a good trend to include this Winter. Mainstream and edgy consumers alike will be drawn to this color, contributing to its forecasted growth rate of +5%. But because yellow has a small magnitude among men, as well, the trend will maintain a steady status through its high season of Summer and into Winter.

Planning for Winter 2021 with trend forecasting

This article compared a few key trends taken from Benetton’s e-commerce platform with our data to provide a glimpse of how they will behave in the European market for the Winter 2021 season.

With trend forecasting, Benetton can better anticipate their assortment mix to prevent overstock and waste and continue their commitment to sustainability. They can also improve Benetton’s e-commerce site by pushing the most desirable trends at the right time for new and returning customers.