ALL ABOUT COMFORT

The joy of staying inside gave birth to one of the most unstoppable fashion trends that the industry has seen so far — kick ass loungewear. What’s the future of loungewear, and where is the trend headed? We find out

- Sanika Achrekar

Necessity is the mother of all invention, the pandemic has shown. The lockdowns proved that staying in is much better than unnecessarily going out. It might sound like bad news for the fashion industry, but the rise of loungewear is legit.

The boom of loungewear is nothing but a story of how a humble pair of joggers became a part of comfort clothing while attending long work-from-home meetings, bingeing TV shows, and DIY everything. Brands that were on the verge of losing everything came back from the dead with collections to cash in on with this booming opportunity. Since then, the loungewear curve is only moving upwards.

“The pandemic has made people rediscover the joy of shopping from the comfort of their homes. It has accelerated the rise of demand in the loungewear category. The category, a part of the essential fashion segment, has grown by 300 per cent in the last year, and promises to gather more steam. This indicates a strong consumer intent in these segments, since the pandemic. Products that are comfortable, easy to wear, durable, and have multi-purpose utility have grown in prominence. Trends like co-ord sets, colour blocks, solid tapered lounge pants, flared bottoms, and side stripes have been driving this growth. There also has been a growth in demand for value-added finishes for better hygiene and comfort,” says Myntra’s spokesperson.