Semrush head of media UK and AU Laura Morelli crunches the numbers on which designers gained traction online following AAFW.
One thing working from home has transformed is Australians (if not the world’s) approach to workwear.
Over the past year, fashion retailers have seen a massive uptick in the popularity of activewear and loungewear as many workers swapped out the tie for a t-shirt and tracksuit pants.
Following this year’s 2021 Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, Semrush analysed which designers were “trending” with Aussies, and it appears this newfound laid back style has made its way out of home and onto the runway.
With the majority of businesses encouraging employees back to the office, it seems people aren’t quite ready to go back to traditional corporate fashion.
Instead, Austrtalians are looking for a more laid back look with men’s fashion designer Christian Kimber receiving the highest spike in searches following the major event.
Known for his traditional menswear items such as coats, suitwear and dinner shirts, Kimber saw a 900% growth over the week following his collection of more comfortable classics.
His signature style seemed to be the right fit for Aussies, with Kimber recently telling the AFR that, "it doesn’t matter, really, what you do. It’s how you approach it."
In second spot was Croation-born, Sydneysider Karla Spetic, who again proved casual-chic is “in'' in an iconic show that made flip flops fashionable.
Each model stepped out onto the runway sans stilettos and instead sporting an Aussie summer beach staple.
Other fashion designers making it into the top five most-searched were Macgraw, Auteur and Dyspnea.
This year’s fashion week event was also a historical event for the industry, as it was the first time that the show opened with a Welcome to Country and a collective show by First Nations designers.
As a result, Indigenous labels such as Grace Lillian Lee, AARLI and Amber Days experienced a significant uplift in searches online.
While many mainstream labels have been leaning into reviving the nineties crop tees, it was modest fashion label, Asiyam, that gained traction online ahead of AAFW, with searches up 300% month on month.
Show opener and fashion week debutante, Jordan Dalah, also created a stir online with an increase in searches of 247% month on month.
Overall, 2021’s Australian Fashion Week proved that even high fashion was embracing comfort-chic, and if the search data is anything to go off, Aussie’s were still not quite ready to trade out of the tracksuit just yet.
Semrush analysed 79 fashion retailers which were listed as designers on the Afterpay Australian Fashion Week website.
The data provider was unable to source data for five of these designers: Future of Fashion Runway, Indigenous Fashion Projects, Iordanes Spyridon Gogos, Saski Collective and Wardribuan.
Semrush uses data that comes from its unique panel of over 200 million panelists worldwide and regions to determine search volume and website traffic estimates. Semrush is one of the most accurate tools on the market to aggregate this data.
Top Fashion Designers from AAFW 2021
- Christian Kimber
- Karla Spetic
- Macgraw
- Auteur
- Dyspnea
- Christopher Esber
- Shona Joy
- Bailey Nelson
- St Agni
- Oroton
Note: Designers have been ranked based on percentage growth during Australian Fashion Week from growth May 31st to June 4th.