Retailers Missguided and Boux Avenue report lockdown loungewear boom

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 3, 2020

​Two UK retailers have highlighted the ongoing importance of loungewear this year with Missguided on Thursday saying it saw a 70% surge in sales of the category while Boux Avenue said most consumers are wearing it.

Items such as joggers and leggings have been rising in popularity in recent years on the back of the athleisure trend, but it’s significant that ultra-comfort has been key this year.

Boux said that based on Google data, searches for loungewear are up 162% this year as consumers embrace joggers, oversized sweaters, velour co-ords, fleece sweatshirts and more for wearing outside as well as for wearing at home. Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow are the cities where searches are highest.

And in a survey of 6,000 people, it said 60% bought new loungewear in in the last month alone. Some 75% also admitted that when making video calls for work, even if they look smart above the waist, they’re usually in loungewear from the waist down.

And while loungewear was an understandable option during the spring lockdown when people were stuck at home, the habit appears to be continuing with online demand for hoodies, tops, joggers and luxe sets up 200% in October. The second English lockdown also sent searches up even more with a 215% rise in the latest week.

Consumers seem to be prepared to wear these pieces more often when out of the house with eight in 10 people perfectly comfortable going shopping in loungewear. Half of all respondents would also eat out with friends during the day wearing ultra-comfort pieces, and one in five would even opt for loungewear on a date.

Meanwhile Missguided echoed these trends and said that compared to 2019 when athleisure was already strong and boosting certain gym-to-street items, leggings sales are up 264% in 2020. And joggers have risen a giant 700%, fuelled by the work from home/comfort trend. “Joggers have overtaken leggings as the comfiest clothing option,” the company said, highlighting that extreme comfort is key today.

It added that “people finally started accepting the switch to loungewear in June and July when there was the biggest peak in transactions for joggers and leggings alike”. That’s interesting given that the lockdown was eased in June so, as the Boux data also showed, consumers were clearly continuing to buy these comfort pieces when they were allowed out, having got used to wearing them while stuck at home.

One of Missguided’s bestsellers was its oversized grey washed 90s-style joggers at £20.