Photo: Imaxtree
After marinating in sweats and letting our jeans collect dust for most of 2020, our cravings for conversation-starting clothes reached an all-time high in 2021. By June, buyers and editors had adopted the term "dopamine dressing" to describe the increase in demand for colorful, sunny pieces. Come September, The Cut questioned whether New Yorkers would swap their all-black uniforms for head-to-toe highlighter hues for the fall. Now, Lyst is going a step further, quantifying this growing desire for a brighter closet in its annual Year in Fashion report.
In this data-heavy distillation of the most popular brands, people, products and movements of the past 12 months, Lyst confirmed that from April to August 2021, searches for bold, colorful pieces spiked 191%. The global fashion shopping platform also found that searches for mini skirts and dresses jumped 221% year-on-year, while searches for high heels spiked 233% in May — and have grown consistently since. Plus, searches for "Y2K" were up 389% year-on-year.
With celebratory get-ups taking us out of the pandemic-driven loungewear slump, we're left wondering how long we can ride the dolled-up wave of sartorial fun before some minimalism creeps back in. Well, using data from the 150 million shoppers who visited the platform in 2021, Lyst predicts that 2022 will bring a pared-down sartorial awakening thanks to Phoebe Philo's namesake label launch. But the return to this aesthetic won't happen overnight — in fact, Lyst identified eight fashion brands to watch based on fast-rising search metrics from the past six months, and most of them are connected by a very-2021 thread: a celebration of party dressing.
Read on to learn more about the brands to add to your radar in 2022.
Connor Ives
A look from the Conner Ives Fall 2021 collection.
Photo: Imaxtree
Before he was an LVMH Prize finalist, Conner Ives was a Central Saint Martins student who dressed Adwoa Aboah for the Met Gala and caught the attention of Rihanna all before graduation. His namesake labels uses discarded fabrics and vintage clothing to create truly unique ready-to-wear.
Coperni
A look from the Coperni Spring 2022 collection.
Photo: Imaxtree
Known for its mod-meets-futuristic aesthetic, Coperni had a big 2021, according to Lyst, which reported that searches for its signature structured shoulder bags have increased by 90% year-on-year. With fans like Maisie Williams and Bella Hadid, its star will only keep rising in the new year.
Area
A look from the Area Fall 2021 collection.
Photo: Courtesy of Area
Launched in 2014 by two Parsons students, New York-based Area has made a mark with its high-octane embellishments on everything from mini dresses to slingback kitten heels and its unexpected accessories — like the Crystal Chair Bag, which was the most-viewed product from the brand on Lyst.
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Mach & Mach
Megan Fox in Mach & Mach at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards.
Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Nina and Gvantsa Macharashvili are the sister duo behind the Tbilisi-based brand Mach & Mach, which you might already know from its marquee product: a pair of lustrous bow crystal-embellished pumps. (Megan Fox wore a full Barbie pink look by the brand for the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards, too.)
Peter Do
A look from the Peter Do Spring 2021 collection.
Photo: Imaxtree
Though Peter Do opened his namesake brand in 2018, it made its New York Fashion Week debut this past September. In the 24 hours following the show, page views for Peter Do spiked 376%, per Lyst. Even before that, though, the brand got a bump thanks to Anya Taylor-Joy wearing one of its Fall 2021 dresses on "SNL," leading searches for Peter Do dresses to go up by 128% right after.
ERL
A$AP Rocky at the 2021 Met Gala.
Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Two big celebrity moments this fall put the Venice Beach-based brand ERL on the map — and on Lyst's radar. First, Justin Bieber wore one of its puffers in August, causing searches for the brand's jackets to rise 212%; then, A$AP Rocky arrived at the Met Gala red carpet wearing a colorful ERL quilt, which skyrocketed its pageviews on the platform by 259% in less than 24 hours.
Stefan Cooke
A look from the Stefan Cooke Spring 2022 collection.
Photo: Imaxtree
Another brand that's benefited from an A$AP Rocky endorsement is London-based menswear label Stefan Cooke, which got a major boost this summer when the rapper was spotted in its wares. Since then, month-on-month searches for Stefan Cooke on Lyst have gone up 86%, while year-on-year searches increased 214%.
Ludovic de Saint Sernin
A look from the Ludovic de Saint Sernin Spring 2022 collection.
Photo: Imaxtree
French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin worked at Balmain before establishing his eponymous LVMH Prize-shortlisted label in 2016, which has since been worn by Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, among many others. Since the beginning of the year, searches for the brand have gone up 108% and page views 134%.
You can browse Lyst's full Year in Fashion 2021 report here.
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