The 2020s for ASOS: face masks, activewear, bucket hats and "above keyboard dressing"

During a team conference by Vanessa Spence and Nikki Tattersall, respectively design director and buying director of the UK retailer, ASOS presented its Trend Report 2020, showing the buying behavior and social habits of its 20-year-old clients. We discover what the 1.8 billion users of the site have searched and shopped for in the last 12 months. 

The first data celebrates the company's internal successes, such as the app's Style Match function, used by 16 million customers looking for the perfect outfit. There was also a boom of interest in the brands created by ASOS, ASOS DESIGN, which proved to be the most loved brand globally with 273 million views, and COLLUSION with the AMATO jersey top, which was worn by 1.5 million people. 

The ending was definitely a strange year that, due to the pandemic, forced everyone to change habits and, as a result, needs and tastes. With much more time to spend at home, thousands of people visited ASOS Marketplace to choose easy and comfy clothes from a wide selection of independent brands and vintage boutiques. During the lockdown, jogger sales rose 156%, sweatshirts 88%, tracksuits 83%, and tie-dye socks 2,281%. Together with leisurewear, the other great highlight of the year was activewear. Even with gyms closed, people didn't give up training, but chose to do it in style, preferring leggings, especially the ASOS 4505 (188,000 models sold in spring!) and Nike sneakers (bought by 3 million customers).

Smartworking, on the other hand, has helped to establish a new trend in men's wardrobe: "above keyboard dressing". ASOS has sold 2 million men's accessories to wear "from the waist up": hats, necklaces, earrings and shaving products. For example, thanks to the hype generated by Connell Waldron's style from The Normal People and his chain, which also has a dedicated account Instagram with over 140,000 followers, sales of this accessory increased 70 percent. Other menswear must-haves were skater style jeans (222% more research than last year) and The North Face puffers; while for girls, the success of Emily in Paris, which arrived on Netflix in October, has increased sales of hats by 48%. 

The most emblematic item of 2020 was, definitely, the facemask. Since last May, ASOS has sold 1.2 million of them.

More and more people focused on wellness and bought, between March and August, over 290,000 face masks, 278% of hair products, 94% of skincare products and 332% more bath/body products. In the summer, however, there was a boom in sales of tanning gloves (a total of 44,000 tanning gloves) and nail polishes (2.9 million milliliters!). The most popular brand? The Ordinary. Every 2 seconds a cream or other product leaves the ASOS shelves.