Today’s consumers are increasingly passing over fast fashion in favor of luxury resale, and many are focused on streetwear.
That’s according to the newly released Luxury Resale Report 2019 from The RealReal, which made clear that when it comes to streetwear, it’s all about the label.
“Streetwear is seeing triple-digit year-over-year growth, most heavily driven by millennials, women and Gen X,” said Rati Levesque, COO of the luxury goods marketplace.
Resale is essentially built into streetwear’s culture—limited supplies and exclusive collaborations are common within the category—so it’s no surprise that it’s dominating search engines. Since last year, searches for streetwear have increased 281 percent, with millennials making up the majority of that number, the report noted.
The RealReal sneaker and streetwear expert Sean Conway attributes the explosive year-over-year growth to the growing trend of gender neutrality and statement pieces most commonly worn by women and younger shoppers. Women, for example, are purchasing more men’s streetwear than ever—95 percent more than last year.
And the items they’re searching for don’t fall within the confines of one gender. Top trending items include bucket hats, which have seen a 365 percent increase; sneakers, which have increased in popularity by 213 percent; and cargo pants, searches for which are up 111 percent. Yeezy and Prada are the top brands for sneakers, with Yeezy seeing a 662 percent increase in search, and Prada 437 percent.
When it comes to other streetwear fashion, Yeezy, Off-White and Nike take the top three spots, with Supreme and Adidas following behind. Palm Angels experienced 1,720 percent growth since last year, making the brand the highest growth streetwear company this year. Right behind it is Off-White x Nike, which saw 1,660 percent growth from last year—and the collaboration is likely what made both brands two of the most commonly searched streetwear companies of the year.
One of the most popular brands among streetwear enthusiasts is not much of a streetwear brand at all. Gucci takes the role of common denominator of luxury and streetwear fanatics. The number of streetwear shoppers purchasing luxury fashion is up 56 percent from last year, and they’re most likely to enter the pool of luxury with Gucci, followed by Louis Vuitton and Prada.
“As streetwear demand rises, it’s having a ripple effect across all of men’s fashion,” said The RealReal’s menswear and archival expert Dominik Halás. “Luxury brands are embracing collaborations and new creative heads to broaden their appeal. It’s paying off in strong luxury demand among streetwear buyers, particularly with Virgil Abloh’s artistic direction for Louis Vuitton and Alessandro Michele’s bold collections for Gucci.”