The celebration and empowerment of womanhood is key for SS22. Social media is filled with dresses that resonate femininity and notions of nostalgia while focusing on evoking all the summer daydreams of holidays spent in a blossoming nature. Looking at this Instagram Trend, Summer Romance certainly is not dead. When we look at the successful influences of lingerie, vintage styles and consumer desires to celebrate and seduce, the new must-have dresses feel more than appropriate. A majority of successful styles feed into a Midsommar Trend Story. This theme incorporates a peaceful yet social mood and is looking towards garden parties post-lockdown. The visual aesthetic of light nuances, ditsy florals, effortless sexiness and  laid-back glamours is providing rays of hope for consumers .

Woven dresses were losing visibility since the first trimester of 2020, giving place to pants  and knit sets. Now,  they are back on a growing dynamic. Driven by a taste for romanticm and nostalgia, floral dresses have grown by +44% in visibility from last month and gained +2% compared to the last year. Livetrend’s Retail Analytics have determined floral dresses as leading in  dress assortments, representing a share of 31% of all print-dresses within the assortment. Take a look the next Summer Must-Haves with growth perspectives, high commercial potential and quick adaptation properties.

Brands to watch

The Key Styles

The Skinny Mini is fusing the desires to feeling sexy again and being able to show  skin with a taste of soft feminine notions. The must-have style incorporates a slim-fitting silhouette with volume on the top. Puffy sleeves are the detail of choice and find intricate interpretations in long and short versions. Both sleeve lengths are equally impactful when balancing the top volumes  with a general slim fit silhouette. Intelligently placed gatherings are used as an almost universally flattering solution to create a body-con silhouette. Statement ruffles and volants across the hemlines can enhance the youthful and female spirit.The prominence of  rose-pinkish palettes and different floral interpretations in prints also add to the highly feminine notion. This silhouette is  perfect for summer evening-styles when made in satins or with exuberant details but cotton and slightly looser silhouettes can transform the piece into a daywear appropriate look.

The Volume and A-Line silhouettes of the babydoll dress have swept over social media as a more commercial style now. The trend has already begun to emerge throughout the past season and is about to reach a peak momentum. Whether super-mini or modestly finishing around the knees, the flattering style is resonating a youthful femininity and a feeling of dressiness. Playing with volumes, gatherings and pleating is offering an endless array of unique interpretations here. The Babydoll Style is the perfect transitional day-time to occasion wear piece. It embraces comfort while resonating a naive sexiness. Chose materials that create structure within the soft volumes, like comfortable cottons. Opting for taffeta or  layered sheers and tulle will work for full evening looks.

The Cottage-core Trend has made prairie styles a classic. Now, Long Volume Shapes that still feel like the countryside and resonate a vintage vibe are becoming an Instagram must-have. These soft-volume and free-flowing  dresses are answering to the needs of new normal lifestyles. With uncertainty about re-opening leisure and social life, flexibility to go from indoor-to-outdoor or leisure-to-party is provided by these easy silhouettes. Tired of sweatpants, the dress still offers the same comfort and ease-of-movement. With delicate details like gathers and openwork, the large silhouette maintains an overall feminine look. Cuts underneath the bust or body-shaping darts also help to put focus on the female shapes of the body, already within the construction of the piece. Colorful palettes, which focus on energizing pastels, also contribute to a distinctly youthful tone. In terms of materials, printed cottons are the fabric of choice. Through boldly-colored checks and retro florals, the look is ready to balance an effortlessness with urges to go out and grab attention on the streets and on screens.

Easy-breezy silhouettes with minimalist and flattering cuts are a trending staple across Social Media. The Minimal midi style has become a trans-seasonal staple and demonstrates wearability as it continues to spread across Instagram. The new contemporary staple is perfect for any occasion and flattering on several body shapes. It embraces a more timeless and sophisticated look without being boring. Details of subtle draping, gathering or wraps are elevating the piece. The simple silhouettes set a focus on soft waistlines which create a more feminine look within the minimal piece. Tap into vintage-inspired details for updated retro styles or go more sleek for an upgraded and high-end contemporary appeal. Consider darts, volume sleeves, peek-a-boo slits and buttoning tabs to introduce a more seductive appeal. Whatever aesthetic suits your brand best, the easy-wearability is crucial for the success of this new must-have.

The slip dress is a reoccurring trend-piece on instagram. It currently appeals to the consumer’s appetite for luxe-lounge styles that come along an appetite for bringing sexiness to the upcoming summer holiday season. Mostly favored are slip dresses that incorporate strappy details and create a soft and subtle upgraded look. The straps are playing with femininity and add a slightly subversive element. Chose squared necklines for a more contemporary look and waterfall or lingerie cuts to add a more glamorous and vintage-inspired feel. Fabrics of choice are luminous and fluid satins, but also linen and cotton qualities that have a more nature-driven shine.

Still present on social media, despite the saturation of the cottage core trend, is the Nostalgic Dress. It explores classic notions of femininity and heritage styles that resonate familiarity and romanticism. Interpretations range from updated shirt dresses with enlarged collars to more intimate styles with soft buttoning tabs and lace trimmings. For the upcoming seasons, more ancient, Victorian-inspired looks will be explored to update the traditional cottage-core dresses.Openwork, lace and ruffles are slowly shifting the countryside look towards more dressy styles and slowly begin to replace the trend of enlarged collars.

The success of sets is not making hold for the dress category. On the contrary. Instagram is already celebrating the versatile qualities of matching tops and skirts which create dress-like silhouettes. There are two main directions for this trending style. The first one embraces bubble hems and gathers to create soft volume and easy-breezy silhouettes, perfect for summer. The second one follows a more girly and sexy route through bra-inspired crop tops and/or mini skirts. The latter is mainly aimed at a younger audience. However,  the cropped styles can also be adapted for a broader audience when more considerately designed.

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