ARRIVAL OF MEN'S PREMIUM LOUNGEWEAR ERA

Formal wear and jeans took a backseat in the wardrobe and the demand for items suitable for working comfortably from home saw an unprecedented surge. An April 2020 report by management consultants Wazir Advisors had predicted that loungewear will be one of the first categories to recover from the economic impact of the lockdown.

- Yogesh Kabra

The last year has brought about a huge change in not only our day to day lives but also about how we perceive fashion. In the pre-COVID world, men’s fashion was restricted to formal blazers and collared shirts and loungewear never went beyond those much-loved, lived-in items that, under no circumstances, could be worn while being productive.

Loungewear as a category has started gaining acceptance across the world only in the past decade. The young generation believes in working hard and relaxing well. They want to feel and look relaxed while they wind down and thus began demanding high-quality, affordable loungewear. The pandemic changed it all. The lockdowns and resulting work from home norms meant nearly everyone was at home 24x7. Formal wear and jeans took a backseat in the wardrobe and the demand for items suitable for working comfortably from home saw an unprecedented surge. An April 2020 report by management consultants Wazir Advisors had predicted that loungewear will be one of the first categories to recover from the economic impact of the lockdown.

Reinventing Wardrobe Classics

An intriguing way to look at loungewear is to think of it as a revamp or reinvention of current sleep and home wear. Customers are taking what they feel the most comfortable in - boxers, track pants, pyjamas, t-shirts, vests etc and are looking for means to upgrade them. Perhaps a great example of this is the resurgence of pyjamas as loungewear. Not just India, but countries worldwide have registered a huge increase in pyjama sales since last March. According to stats released by Amazon about its operations in India with a focus on Prime Day 2020, summer wear and home/ loungewear were among the most sought after in apparel.