As “spot items” tailored to weather changes have become popular, the fashion industry is making as g..

As “spot items” tailored to weather changes have become popular, the fashion industry is making as good as the peak season this summer. “Functional” clothing products, which quickly reflect consumers’ demand, are gaining great response and are driving sales growth online and offline.

According to the fashion industry on the 21st, spot items that modify materials and styles in real time in response to extreme weather changes are increasing. Summer-only outerwear that covers the sun is a representative example of spot items. According to LF, the number of new styles for the summer season of spot items for the brand “Hedges” has expanded significantly from 13 in 2023 to 23 last year and 42 this year. The proportion of spot items input has more than doubled from two years ago. An LF official said, “We are targeting trends and practicalities at the same time by injecting products with different materials and styles in real-time according to weather and customer feedback, not just season plans.”

Usually, fashion companies create seasonal collections and mass-produce them. Unlike this mass production trend, spot items are products that identify consumers’ demand in real time and plan by adding new materials or functions. An official from the fashion industry said, “As the weather continues to fluctuate this year, the importance of strategies to respond to these changes in real time and respond immediately to consumers’ needs has grown.”

LF ‘Hedges’ has recently been operating products focusing on spot items that can immediately modify materials and styles by monitoring weather and consumer reactions in real time. Due to extreme weather that alternates between record-breaking heat waves and heavy rains, spot items that respond immediately to climate change have emerged as a “good son product” in the fashion industry.

Summer-only outerwear or cardigans that cover the sun outdoors while preventing air conditioners indoors are popular. The “Zero-gram Jumper” has been re-ordered three times due to a surge in demand despite a 60% increase in volume this season compared to the previous year. Additional production alone reached 3,000 units. Sales in the first half of the year grew 90 percent year-on-year.

In the shirt market, linen shirts made of cool material received a particularly good response. It has a UV protection function to the extent that it is nicknamed ‘Salantem’, and in addition, it has a refreshing fit. Linen shirts with a patternless design grew 50% in sales during the same period as they expanded their volume by 20%. The demand for summer cardigans that can respond to indoor cooling environments is also increasing rapidly. Hedges’ summer cardigan sales grew 30% year-over-year. Shirts and dresses that can be used as light outerwear were also popular. The volume doubled year-on-year and sales surged about 150%. An LF official said, “In the case of lightweight nylon dresses, there is an increasing demand in recent years to wear them in a neat dress or to open buttons and wear them lightly like outerwear over shorts.”

Spot items are also popular on online platforms. 29CM, a fashion platform run by Musinsa, also said that as a result of expanding customized exhibitions reflecting fashion trends and customer demand from June to August, transactions in women’s fashion categories have more than doubled compared to their goals in the past three months.

The fashion platform “Zigzag” announced that brand fashion transactions increased 40% year-on-year in July, even though it was summer, a representative off-season.

Spot item

Unlike existing spring and summer (SS) and fall and winter (FW) season-specific products, it refers to products that are tried immediately and experimentally.

[Reporter Jeong Seulgi]