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The humble detail has long been embraced by NZ fashion, and a US chain store is placing their bets on them helping slumping sales.
*Zoe Walker Ahwa is Stuff’s style editor, and co-founder of fashion and culture website Ensemble.
OPINION: ‘It has pockets!’ has become a repeated comment of delight from those who like their dresses to be both practical and lovely – a small design detail that can make a big difference.
A place to put your hands to keep them warm, or deal with anxiety, and to store things to be hands free while on-the-go, the pocket is a purely functional element that fashion has long embraced.
At recent fashion shows in Paris, New York and Milan, oversized pocket details were a feature; a throwback reference to the utilitarian trend of the early 2000s. They’ve also been the target of debate: menswear gets them, womenswear often does not (or they’re ‘fake pockets’, the devil’s work).
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Is the humble pocket also a potential saviour of fashion retail? US brand Old Navy is placing its bets on it.
CNN recently reported that the fashion giant is doubling the number dresses with pockets for spring, because that’s what shoppers want. Giving the customer what they want? Groundbreaking!
It is true that many women love pockets. According to CNN, the retailer surveyed 500 women over the age of 18, and more than half said their favourite dresses have them.
Their pocket strategy is also a response to slumping sales, reflecting wider economic uncertainty and the various attempts by brands to incite excitement with their consumers. Fashion retail is in a challenging spot locally too. Retail NZ’s Aimie Hines recently told Stuff that the economic outlook did not look good for retailers, and that the first quarter of spending was “not great”.
“Retailers are expecting that consumer spending is going to drop, and will continue to drop this year. They are preparing themselves for that by thinking about how they operate and what hours they will offer or what they are offering,” said Hines.
Adding more pockets is probably not the answer for the local market, like it may be for Old Navy – New Zealand designers and fast fashion stores have long loved pockets, no doubt speaking to the practicality demanded by the New Zealand consumer. Walk into any store, whether at the mall or on Auckland’s Ponsonby Road, and you’ll find many options.
Anjali Burnett, co-founder of the Wellington-based brand Twenty-seven Names which often features pockets in their designs, says that the small detail is considered at all stages.
“That starts from the first person that tries it on, whether the model or [co-founder] Rachel’s trying on the samples. Right off the gate, people ask, ‘does it have pockets’. I think that’s a comfort thing, if you can put your hands somewhere, you get a sense of ease: my hands are somewhere, I’m comfortable. You can see the change in someone’s face when they rest their hands.”
Sometimes a design or delicate fabric means pockets aren’t feasible. “It’s a functionality issue,” she says, “but if we can put it in, we will put it in.”