Recession Indicator Fashion Has Never Been Hotter
Though revenues are no longer plummeting at as steep an angle, the fashion industry remains in a pickle. Consumers are only very cautiously falling back into old spending habits, if even, and not without a change in perspective on what they deem worthy.
Vis-à-vis the Labubu craze, a general movement toward decidedly wearable clothes, and an economy in crisis, fashion is under the lipstick effect. This is when the finer things in life grow so beyond reach that smaller indulgences provide the endorphins once released by actual splurges.
A $50 undershirt or mischievously grinning key chain suddenly becomes as cherished a treat as a costly bag or jacket or leisure purchases, at a more reasonable sacrifice.
Following Q1 2025's focus on thin-soled ballerina sneakers and flared jeans, the second quarter of LYST's trend report sees pieces even further sanded down.
Specifically, The Row's controversially simple Dune Flip-Flop took top honors on LYST's hottest product index. It's a red rubber sandal with black cotton straps retailing at close to $700.
Skims’ white tank top and adidas’ Sprinter shorts round out the winner podium, with Miu Miu's suede boat loafers just below in fourth place.
Basic much? What does it say about the climate of getting dressed when the spiciest mention on this list is Vibram's dorky-cool toe steppers? Is the sartorial pendulum swinging back to full normie? Is the exotification of the most ordinary of classics the recession indicator?
Just take to the brands generating heat. The Row's sixth place out of the trendiest 20 labels makes for the Olsens’ highest score to date, echoing a lust for and symptom of restraint that similarly keeps its equally understated (but far more affordable) high-street counterpart COS on the ranking, the lone representative of its category.
All across the price spectrum, shoppers are fetishizing a kind of bare-bones attire.
These are universal Walmart-y products reflective of the moment when financial volatility repositions the seemingly banal as luxury. When every dollar is precious, a nicer-than-Hanes undergarment, and all-purpose bottoms scratch an itch with little need of justification.
Even exorbitantly expensive shoes can feel logically sound if one actually wants to wear them, no less for how their maximally minimalist design ultimately disguises said expense. Because evidently, cool-tempered quotidian is all the rage.
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit the HS Style Guide for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.
