The key points
- Consumption will have to deal with the increase in prices (due to the increase in energy and raw material cysts)
- Fashion, also under the pressure of consumers, is implementing circularity on several levels
- The investments of the brands in 2022, then, will be increasingly focused on the metaverse between NFT, games and virtual shows
Price increase; easing of restrictions (and resumption of events and travel); economic and political choices that will have an impact on large markets such as China. But also sustainability (in production and especially in consumption: with the resale boom). And, finally, the metaverse: a parallel digital universe that has entered the sphere of interests (and investments) of brands. If 50% of fashion brand executives (according to McKinsey and Bof’s The State of Fashion 2022 report) believe that the upcoming year is “challenging” and therefore challenging, those listed are five of the many challenges facing the fashion industry will face in 2022.
Recovery between high prices and political choices
The forecasts speak of a new year in the name of economic recovery, with the luxury segment that has already reached pre-Covid-19 levels at the end of 2021 and the premium and mass segments that should cross the milestone during the year: the return to social life, in fact, will push people to buy clothes and accessories to renew their wardrobe. However, rising prices could be discouraging customers, driven by rising costs of raw materials, energy and logistics.
A complex scenario which, moreover, is not exempt from the influence of political choices and the economic moves of individual countries: if the tax reform, for example, in Italy (where sales are affected by the lack of international tourists) should bring a few euros in more in the pockets of a middle class that has lost purchasing power in the last 20 years, in a country like China, where the middle class is getting rich, the government has launched a policy like that common prosperity which weighs on the outlook of the luxury market, at least for Goldman Sachs.
Sustainability and metaverse
When it comes to challenges, however, we don’t always refer to bitter battles to defend against the consequences of unpredictable events. But also to paths (difficult and sometimes tortuous, of course) of growth and change. This is the case of sustainability: fashion, even under the pressure of consumers, is implementing circularity on several levels. Consumption too, with the resale phenomenon that is not only growing, but is beginning to interest and involve brands (as evidenced, among others, by Valentino’s Vintage project).
The investments of the brands in 2022, then, will be increasingly focused on the metaverse that already in 2021 catalyzed debuts and important projects: from the research center Brave Virtual Xperience just inaugurated by Otb (Diesel) to the rivalry between the sports giants Nike and Adidas which was also deployed in a virtual version, passing through the sale of seven of the nine NFTs of the Dolce & Gabbana “Genesi” collection for 5.6 million dollars. There is no doubt that the future of fashion will be made up more and more of Nft, games and virtual shows.