Though Tuesday marks the first day of fall, consumers yearning to hold onto the final moments of summer are doing so with their skin-baring fashion choices.
Global search platform Lyst published data showing increased interest in summer pieces such as crop tops and bike shorts, a stark contrast to consumers’ perceived shift to fall fashion just last week.
Searches for crop tops—even in the form of men’s styles and hoodies—are up 37 percent this month, Lyst reported. Their common bottom half options, bike shorts, are also rising in popularity despite the approaching cooler weather, with shoppers opting for black or natural colors. Searches with the words “biker” and running” went up 43 percent collectively.
Though temperatures are dipping, these lightweight pieces are on track to become the foundation for many consumers’ at-home fall wardrobes.
Consumers are slowly adapting their footwear to the fall season as well, but with comfort in mind. Enter Ugg, a footwear brand that helped coin the indoor/outdoor footwear category. After a summer full of Ugg slides and slippers, shoppers are transitioning to Ugg boots, Lyst reported, with demand increasing by 24 percent week-on-week. Ugg’s top-searched shoe is its classic ultra mini boot style, a cropped take on its most popular style, and what could be the season’s staple footwear piece.
Leather blazers are also emerging as a fall staple, with searches up 71 percent from this time last year. Specifically, searches for oversized leather blazers—an iconic ’90s look—are up 140 percent month-on-month. The findings point to leather’s impending takeover in the next few months.
Leather also shows up in one of the most popular boots of the season, which catapulted to fame thanks to the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The Stuart Weitzman 5050 Vote boots were the subject of many search queries after Jill Biden, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, was photographed wearing them after voting in Delaware’s primaries. Page views spiked by 488 percent in the day following the appearance, Lyst stated. Featuring a knee-high silhouette and black leather upper, the boots display the word “Vote” in prominent lettering down the length of the leg.
Voting merchandise in general is seeing an increase in popularity in the U.S.—most commonly in the form of a white T-shirt—with searches including the word “vote” growing 29 percent week-on-week. Brands such as Gap, Levi’s and most recently H&M, have all issued their take on voter fashion, often debuting collections with an accompanying donation to voter organizations throughout the U.S.