ROS /CATEGORY SPECIAL: Outdoors reinvented
The trend for outdoor wear, propelled by postpandemic customer behaviour change, is likely to accelerate further in 2024.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought many changes in consumer behaviour. One lasting impact has been soaring interest in healthier lifestyles and nature-focused activities, such as camping, hiking and boating. This is definitely good news for outdoor sportswear brands, many of which have also been riding the ‘gorpcore’ trend that has picked up steam over recent years.
‘Gorpcore’ is a fashion trend in which outerwear typically designed for outdoor recreation is worn as streetwear. It has been described as ‘wearing functional outdoor wear in an urban, trendy style’. Outdoor enthusiasts and young urbanites alike have been gravitating to gorpcore’s functional, outdoors-inspired fashion, such as shell jackets and hiking-style sneakers. In 2022, revenues for the outdoor category were 24% higher than pre-pandemic times, as reported by BoF and McKinsey & Company’s latest ‘The State of Fashion 2024’ report.
In the year ahead, brands are expected to forge ever-closer ties between style and utility. As an example, The North Face and Gucci collaboration, unveiled in 2021, was one of the first major tie-ups between luxury and outdoors. Since then, a wave of similar footwear collaborations have followed, including those from On and Loewe, Hoka and Moncler as well as Vibram and Balenciaga. This tendency shows how more outdoor brands will likely launch lifestyle collections while lifestyle brands embed technical elements into collections, further blurring the lines between functionality and style. The challenge here will be to establish relevancy among diverse customer segments, while staying true to the brand’s core.
Utility, durability and performance may prove to be a good match for consumers’ budgets, increasing the appeal of the outdoor category. We have seen the first signs of this customer trend across the Designer Outlets managed by ROS, which have experienced high customer demand for the outdoor category. For example, the Polish Designer Outlets have recorded a significant jump in the outdoor category performance in both January and February, with Designer Outlet Sosnowiec leading the way with sales up +48.7%, followed by Designer Outlet Warszawa with +23.7% and Designer Outlet Gdańsk with +20.9%.
To stay ahead, brands should get ready to embrace the outdoors in its new, blended form and find a place in the shifting competitive landscape.
An additional factor contributing to the demand for outdoor wear is travel. For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, travel levels in 2024 are forecast to surpass those of 2019. As other groups of shoppers return, there is a growing desire for brand experiences and traditional shopping trips in both destinations and second-tier cities. Alongside a return to travel, this will also bring an increasing shift towards spending more time outdoors.