As we get ready to close the book on 2020, there’s a natural temptation to want to get a peek at what’s coming up. 2020 was full of unique challenges, exciting opportunities and unexpected curveballs, but there’s a whole new book waiting. Can we just glance at the summary on the dust jacket and see what’s next?
The story of 2021 is already taking shape, and it’s not a self-help book or a post-pandemic thriller novel. Surprisingly, it looks more like a book about making wise investments. Some ways that we’ll be looking to invest our time and effort are to find better ways to connect with one another, to communicate more meaningfully, to conserve our resources, and to build communities that support these ideals.
Let’s take a quick look at how what really matters to us is changing and how that will affect upcoming trends.
Our Globe is Our Yard
If there’s any trend whose value was re-affirmed in 2020, it’s sustainability. This affects far more than just apparel—it’s a trend we see as more people have turned to raising livestock and growing their own food in their own garden. This move toward a more self-sustaining lifestyle is known as “hipsteading” and it’s rooted in the idea of conscious consumerism and prioritizing necessities over luxuries.
When we see the world this way, we understand how what we do in our backyard has an effect on those around us and on the world as a whole.
This of course means that we’re going to be looking for our clothes to be made sustainably, but there’s even more to it than that. We want clothes that we can live in while we’re growing our own gardens, cooking our own food and working toward improving our own homes. We want them to be adaptable, affordable and fun.
Our Home is Our Shire
If you’re like me, just hearing the word “shire” evokes the early scenes in The Fellowship of the Ring, when we get our first glimpse of the verdant, picturesque hills and little cottages of the Hobbit village. The second developing trend we’re going to explore shares this same vision of small, close-knit neighborhoods with everything in easy, local reach. This community approach reshapes cities on a human scale and reimagines the shopping mall into something much more meaningful.
When we look more closely at this trend, we’re seeing an emphasis on the essential. It’s a celebration not of status but of the everyday heroes who have stepped up this year and who continue to do so. Versatile activewear and reliable workwear rule the day, with elevated core apparel that transitions from indoors to outside easily and styles that just bring us joy.
Our Health is Our Spark
A healthy society needs healthy people to live in it. This means connecting with and taking care of ourselves is the spark that gets the engine of society running. 2020 has been the year that people started running or cycling for the first time in response to the pandemic which threatened both lives and livelihoods. With the fitness industry itself going through dramatic changes, choosing to make the time to take better care of our bodies becomes an act of self-preservation.
As we take better care of ourselves, we seek out clothes that help us feel good about how we look. Multi-functional pieces are especially valuable: simple lifestyle apparel that looks great on the golf course and as an “above-the-keyboard” appearance in a conference call. Sueded fabrics with light insulation can also add a cozy, protective layer to this picture.
We’ve shared quite an experience in 2020. It’s the connections and communities we’ve fostered this year that act as a solid investment into the year to come. The trends we’re already seeing as the year ends highlight what really matters to us now and we’ll be there with you to explore them in the bright future ahead.
See you next year!