A lot can be said about using fashion as a form of protest but one thing’s for certain, since the onset of the #MeToo movement and now #TimesUp, a sexual harassment prevention initiative introduced in January by some of the industry's biggest heavy hitters, including Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, Emma Stone, and America Ferrera, there has been a noticeable uptick in the ubiquity of black dresses, and not just on the red carpet either, but in real life as well.
Edited, a retail analytics firm, analyzed more than 500,000 products, and found that the amount of black dresses sold in January 2017 versus the amount of black dresses sold in January of this year, is up by 225 percent, Glossy is reported. The firm attributes the black dress sellout appeal to the Golden Globes earlier this month where celebrities wore black on the red carpet.
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“We now live in a culture with increased demand for products that identify with wearers’ beliefs and interests,” said Katie Smith, retail analysis and insights director at Edited tells Glossy. “Celebrity influencers have a great power to use fashion to express opinions and raise consciousness of social and political issues that are impacting people’s everyday lives.”
Interestingly enough, the data firm, also found retailers are responding to the demand for black dresses by increasing their offering by 57%, as well as what Edited is calling “feminism apparel” or products marketed as feminist, which is up by 234%. “This, combined with retail’s ability to be flexible on assortment and get trends to market fast, means fashion is acting as a greater mirror for social mood than ever before,” Smith explains.
And for once it seems, retailers and consumers seem to be on the same page, which proves it's really true what they say, the customer is always right.