PrettyLittleThing sees surging dress demand on lockdown-easing roadmap

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 25, 2021

‘Going-out’ clothing may have tanked during the various lockdowns of the past year, but with the UK’s lockdown-easing roadmap now published, demand seems to be surging, a major fashion e-tailer said Thursday.

On Monday the government announced its plans for ending the current lockdown in England and it has openly stated that it wants Lockdown 3 to be the last following a vaccination program that appears to be hugely successful. 

As a result, travel companies have reported a surge in holiday bookings and now it seems that fashion firms are also feeling the benefit. Boohoo’s PrettyLittleThing label said that searches for going-out dresses have increased a giant 62% since Monday's announcement. 

That’s a spike that’s likely to have been seen across many other online shops, and it must be some relief after a number of categories have struggled badly since March 2020, including office clothing and fashion for events and parties. 

Now, in order to maximise the impact of its special occasion offer for post-lockdown socialising, PLT has launched a collection that it's dubbed ‘June 21st’. That's the date at which the final lockdown easing is currently scheduled to happen with mass events such as weddings and festivals able to go ahead from that point after several months of gradual easing that starts in March. 

PLT said the collection includes “everything you need to look your best post-lockdown, from essential dresses in silhouette sculpting fits to dress you for date night and beyond, to the must-have denim for every day and everything in-between”.

And it's interesting that the company is also including denim in its special edit given that the category has had both its ups and downs during lockdown, taking a back seat to star category loungewear. But with life set to get back to almost normal, we could perhaps expect a denim boom as well as a party dress boom.