Retro Is 'In' With a Passion, For Better or for Worse!

As flagged up by our Tier Two male consumer, ‘Retro is in with a passion, and the 1980’s and 1990’s are back.’ (Associated Content 2011: Online). Spring/Summer 2011 is seeing a return to the 80’s and 90’s retro trend for sneakers, and from bloggers images it is clear that the bolder the better. Hightops have been predicted to be hot this season, with Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin reintroducing this style on their Spring/Summer Fashion Week catwalks, and with the likes of Agyness Dean and Rihanna already endorsing thse. 

Natalie Hartley, senior editor at InStyle says that ‘with so much street style influences around, high tops give a nod to that [nineties grunge era] without feeling too try hard.’ (Telegraph.co.uk 2011: Online) Shoeblogger’s ‘Shorty Loves Shoes’ predicts that ‘sneakers in Spring are celebrating colourful funky 80’s and 90’s fashion- for better or for worse.’ (Shoeblogger 2011: Online)

‘Tier Two’ consumers are also beginning to recognize this as an appealing trend; ‘I get my inspiration from films. I have recently seen ‘The Firm’ which is set in the eighties. It reminded me how cool the chunky eighties look is.’ (Si Mason, Focus Group participant: 2011) This initial awareness of the trend marks the beginning of the ‘Trickle Down Theory’ from the ‘Tier One’ early adopter to the ‘Tier Two’ high street shopper.

When talking to Si our Opinion Former and his flat mates about their purchasing decisions, 19 year old Tobias came up with a very interesting answer. Tobias is our BIG Adidas fan. He said that he did not read magazines and did not feel that TV adverts made him go and buy something, although he would remember a cool advert for years.

Tobias said Adidas have started to focus more on their Trimm Trab style, and he currently loves the 80's chunky, colourful trainer vibe. Below are images of Adidas' Trimm Trabs, the soles are thicker, the colours more old school than fluroescent and have a definite nostalgia of when we were young.

"I love them because they are retro without being predictably retro. They are old but not old enough that everyone is wearing them as 'retro' is in. I don't like to be the same as everyone else with my shoes, I like to stand out. I get bored of things when everyone starts to get them, and I think that 80's retro is something that could really hit off."

WGSN reports that 1990’s sportswear inspired labeling is a key aspect of this trend. This involves block fonts, capitalized typography and ‘go faster’ stripes. (Farrar, C and Rutherford, K. in WGSN 2011: Online). 

For high impact designs a monotone colour palette is required, which can be seen in Adidas’ recent 2011 eighties inspired trainer. (Nike Tick 2011: Online) 

Researched by Caroline