These Are The Summer Dresses People Are Actually Buying
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Instagram will have you believe that everyone is summering in slinky cut-out dresses, but we’re here to debunk this. Not everyone subscribes to the Love Island lifestyle! The top lines from the world’s best buying teams are: long sleeves are in, the viral Skims TikTok moment actually equated to major sales, and kaftans are not just the reserve of Brits abroad holidays.
The stealth brand of the season? Vita Kin. “Exclusivity is very important to our clients,” says Hannah Lewis, fashion director at Threads Styling. “They love these long-sleeved linen dresses as they sit at the top end of the market and [the exquisite detailing makes them feel] one of a kind.” Liane Wiggins, head of womenswear at Matchesfashion.com, agrees that the quality of the Ukrainian designer’s linen is so incredible that customers often stock up on the floral-embroidered kaftan style in several colours.
The craft-centric nature of Gabriela Hearst dresses also means they out perform their peers, despite the often eye-watering price tags. “The relaxed and elegant silhouettes are perfect for the warmer months and can be easily styled with flat sandals or flatforms for an evening vacation look,” explains Wiggins. “The lace-trimmed ombré cashmere-blend dress is a great transitional piece and a modern alternative for customers who don’t want to wear head-to-toe print.” For Lewis, the eco-conscious fashion pioneer’s minimalist-yet-modest aesthetic is a guaranteed winner for Threads shoppers who like their wardrobe to have a point of difference.
Another name that consistently crops up across the board is Zimmermann, thanks to the Australian brand’s throw-on-and-go dresses that take holidaymakers from St Tropez to Sardinia while looking nothing but effortlessly polished. “It’s all in the fabric, detailing and shape,” asserts Lewis. “The material needs to be heavy enough to feel luxe, but light enough to keep cool during the hot months when clients are travelling through Europe.”
A spike in sales of Missoni’s signature woven dresses (at Mytheresa.com) and Dolce & Gabbana’s ceramic-print looks (Net-a-porter.com) confirms the fact customers are looking for colour and texture, as well as forever pieces. “People want to travel and dress up again,” notes Tiffany Hsu, vice president womenswear and kidswear fashion buying at Mytheresa. “Vacations are the perfect time to experiment with trends, prints and colours.”
Molly Goddard is cashing in on the colour of the season with her bubblegum-pink shirred taffeta pieces, which are selling like hotcakes at Matchesfashion.com. “It’s been refreshing to see such a strong fashion silhouette in a summer dress,” asserts Wiggins. “It provides just the right amount of drama for summer evenings and events.”
Reformation, a wedding-guest dress mainstay, continues to quietly pump out affordable occasionwear in the background, while keeping Net-a-porter.com’s profit margins steady. Retailers across the board will be enjoying an uptick of sales of the wearable Tagliatelle and Stassie styles after Jennifer Lopez wore them on her honeymoon with Ben Affleck.
The buyers themselves – remember these are the people who see the work of every major designer first – are purchasing Kika Vargas’s tie-shoulder slip style and Bernadette’s halter-neck sunflower-print midi (Wiggins), and Totême ribbed knit maxis and Tove’s hero dresses (Libby Page, market director at Net-a-porter.com). “For me, a great summer dress is something that is easy, versatile and breathable, but needs a little detail, or something extra to help it stand out,” shares Page. “Tove’s dresses are timeless yet still trend relevant, and that’s a hard combination to achieve.”
Don’t just take their word for it. Stars such as Jennifer Lawrence, who has been doing her best to make August fashion fun again, and Angelina Jolie, queen of the elegant white dress, are proving that classic midi styles with a bit of oomph (a check print there, a cinched-waist there) are the best way to luxe up a summer wardrobe and guarantee it lasts for years to come.
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