Catwalk Analytics A/W 20/21

Trousers, Jumpsuits
& Denim
Ease of movement drives the design of trousers
and denim for A/W 20/21, aligning with an
accelerated need for relaxed, comfortable
silhouettes that work as well inside the home as
they will do outside.

N eher a
 Hover for more detail
Overview
A/W 20 Trouser Silhouettes
Prepare for above-the-
keyboard dressing 200
192%
• Above-the-keyboard wardrobes will shake up
trouser silhouettes and denim. Prioritise comfort Test Boyfriend, Flare & Boot
150
and functionality to lead design decisions, as

% change YoY
shapes in small volumes
consumers look to add cosy pieces to their stay-at-
home wardrobes. WGSN Barometer has tracked a
100
decrease of intent to purchase jeans by three points
Despite not having a presence on
YoY over the last 28 days to March 19, while the Catwalks, comfortable
categories such as sleep/lounge and jumpsuits 65%
silhouettes will surge with
50
were more protected 38%
#stayhomestyle

• Trousers sit at 14% of apparel (-13% YoY), while Leggings/

Sweatpant
denim falls by 32% YoY to a 1.9% share and 0 2% Straight Wide Tapered
jumpsuits remain stable at 1.7%. Topweights thrive,
Boyfriend Flare Boot Skinny -3% -6% -8%
increasing 25% YoY to hold a combined 26% of the
-20%
mix, benefitting from layering trends and stay-at-
home dressing
• Invest in straight legs in volume across jeans
(30% mix) and trousers (29% mix), and test 1970s
% Trouser mix

classics such as flare and bootcuts to satisfy the

fashion-forward consumer. Trousers must
transition between lounging and living; play with
soft velvets (+75% YoY) to tap into the
#elegantcomfort trend 2% 7% 5% 12% 29% 6% 20% 15%

• Prints decline across trousers (-8% YoY, 23% mix),

jumpsuits (-11% YoY, 24% mix) and denim (-42%
YoY, 10% mix), however, florals uptick (+31% YoY
across trousers and +46% YoY across jumpsuits) WGSN Catwalks
 Trousers: Silhouette, Materials & Details
21% YoY     17% YoY     75% YoY    
Pleats and soft Glitter/Sparkle Pleats Velvet

velvets provide
comfort and ease
• Continue to favour straight (29% mix) and wide
(20% mix) legs, as they top the A/W 20/21
silhouettes mix. Tapered trousers decline (-20% YoY,
15% mix), leaving room for flare (+65% YoY, 7%
share) and bootcuts (+38% YoY, 5% share) to
emerge, tapping into the #seventiessoul trend
• Despite not having a presence on the catwalks,
expect a demand for leggings (2% mix) and
sweatpants (3% mix) as searches for at-home
workouts surge. Opt for functional drawstring
(+36% YoY, 2% mix) and waistband details (+45%
YoY, 3% mix), and drop hardware features (3% mix)
• As comfort becomes a priority, draped and tried-
and-tested pleat (+17% YoY, 11% mix) details on
loose fits (three-fold YoY, 2% mix) are key for ease
of movement and a roomier fit
• Apply soft-touch fabrics such as velvets (+75%
YoY, 5% mix) and leathers (+23% YoY, 9% mix) in
place of glitter (-21% YoY, 2% mix) to tap into
the All-Night Lounge trend

Bo t t ega Venet a Dr o me Gio r gio Ar mani

 Jumpsuits: Silhouette, Materials, Details & Print
93% YoY     26% YoY     73% YoY    
Design unstructured Fluid Pleating Special Occasion Playsuit

all-in-ones in cosy
textures
• Jumpsuits have reached maturity and continue
to hold 1.7% of apparel. The rise of working from
home drives a need for structureless, easy shapes.
Trial playsuits and jumpsuits (+73% YoY, 7% mix) to
tap into The Home Hub style
• An increasing demand for minimal styles pushes
special occasion jumpsuits (-26% YoY, 11% mix),
hardware details (-10% YoY, 6% mix), and cutouts
(-29% YoY, 3% mix) off the catwalks. Opt for
structureless wrap silhouettes (+93% YoY, 2% mix)
to create a flattering look in soft jerseys or rich
velvets (+52% YoY, 6% mix) for easy day-to-night
dressing that taps into All-Night Lounge
• Use fluid pleats (+93% YoY, 9% mix) to create
volume and movement instead of ruffles (3% mix)
• Proving successful at online retail, add draped
puff sleeves (+49% YoY, 8% mix across A/W 20/21
shows). Check the #voluminoussleeves trend on the
Fashion Feed for more inspiration
• Printed jumpsuits (-11% YoY, 24% mix)

Gabr iele Co langelo Dr ies Van N o t en Dio n Lee

 Hover for more detail
Denim: Silhouette, Materials & Details 

Back timeless high-rise, Boyfriend 6%

Other 5%

straight-leg silhouettes Flare 6%

+140% YoY
Straight 30%

• Jeans take 62% share of the overall denim mix,

growing 20% YoY and eating into skirts and Boot 8%
dresses, which decline by 32% and 43% YoY, +58% YoY
respectively. Denim jackets hold a stable (19% mix) A/W 20 Jeans Mix
• Straight and skinny cuts lead jeans assortments
across catwalks (30% & 21% each) as well as retail. Wide 11%
Test retro flares (+140% YoY, 6% mix) and bootcuts
(+58%, 8% mix) for the fashion-forward consumer.
High rises (+21% YoY, 29% mix) should be your go-
Skinny 21%
to, as called out in our A/W 20/21 Buyers' Briefing, Tapered 13%
to complement the return of throwback shapes
• Build in soft handles to add stretch to boyfriend
fits (five-fold YoY, 6% mix) as consumers put
10 A/W 20 Key Denim Details
comfort first

percentage point difference

8
• The rise of dramatic silhouettes impacts design
6
details. Pare-back all-over prints (-42%, 10% mix), 5
sequins (-79%), pleats (-46%) and raw edges (-31%),
and instead use clean cuff (7-fold YoY, 10% mix) 3
and stitch and seam (+63%, 15% mix) details
• Sustainability remains top of mind for new denim 0
brands, as called out in our Brands to Watch report,
as consumers are buying less but better, in line
-2 -2
with The End of More. Add value by creating denim -3
that can be remade, reused and resold -5
Cuff Features Stitch & seam Waistband Raw edges Sequins Pleats
details
WGSN Catwalks
 Methodology
• WGSN is supplied with images covering all
the major catwalk shows and pre-season
collections. Each look is classified with its
individual garments, allowing us to get
accurate counts for each product classification.
This ensures the tags apply at a garment level,
not to the whole look
• The garments are then given further keywords
for style, silhouette, neckline, length, print and
pattern, detail, embellishment and fabric. This
process is completed by our panel of fashion-
trained image taggers. Each image is quality
checked for accuracy by our in-house team
• This report uses data based on London,
Milan, Paris and New York collections tagged
as of March 15th 2020
Definitions
• Product, assortment or category mix:
proportion of a set of products over a larger set.
An example is volume of dresses over the whole
volume of apparel:
• % Dresses within apparel = (volume dresses /
volume apparel) *100
YoY: abbreviation for year-on-year
Chlo é
• YoY changes: % difference between the % of
each category or keyword within its larger set,
which is calculated by the following formula:
(new % mix / old % mix) – 1
or
(new % mix – old % mix) / (old % mix)
Hence, 40% 44% would be ((44.0/40.0) –
1)*100 = 10%
• In the copy, % of the mix is rounded to the
nearest integer (44.8% 45%, or 44.2% 44%),
but YoY changes are calculated including one
decimal point
• Percentage point (pp): percentage point must
not be confused with percentage. A percentage
point computes the arithmetical difference
between percentages; going from 40% to 44%
is a 4pp increase, while percentage change is
calculated by the formula specified above
• Apparel mix contains the following
categories: coats, blouses and woven tops,
dresses, knits and jersey tops, jackets,
jumpsuits, skirts, sweaters, shorts, swimwear,
trousers and intimates