When I was 14-years-old, I remember sitting in the lounge wearing mismatching pyjamas (probably from Farmers) and my older brother came home with a bunch of his friends. Completely mortified that I was in pyjamas, I ran into my room embarrassed. I vowed that day I would never be caught in a bad outfit, and switched out all of my flannelette pyjamas for matching sets of leisurewear. Mostly black silk pyjamas. I also got rid of all my jeans and sweatpants. Fast forward to October 2020, I broke my spine in two places. Not able to bounce around the house in silk anymore, I had to invest in sensible machine-washable loungewear. I couldn't let my husband sacrifice another silk set to the washing machine. Thankfully because of the 2020 lockdowns, many designers had expanded into loungewear.
A year ago the world went into lockdowns for the very first time, loungewear and activewear soared to new heights. Sleepwear, loungewear, athleisurewear, whatever you want to call it - if it was comfy, it was selling out. But is it still selling out?
With hopes to return to normal life, something consumers may take on board is the comfortable workwear lifestyle. Market expectations and surveys show that the global lounge and sleepwear market is predicted to continue to flourish.
Brands like Allbirds have adapted their offerings to include loungewear and underwear. From January 2020 to January 2021, there was a 72 percent increase in women's sweatpants. Meanwhile, men's apparel saw a 34 percent increase across the board for new arrivals. Spiking in this was graphic tees and hoodies.
Retailers and designers are talking about loungewear 213 percent more in 2021 than in 2020. International Fall 2021 runways showcased extensive luxe-leisure and sported a variety of ways to work from home in style. The votes are in: comfort is here to stay. Forget outfits that go from day to night, office to club. 2021 is all about bed to desk.
