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UK shoppers to spend £10.2bn in Black Friday sales, Gen Z embrace tech but like to shop physically

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November 25, 2025

UK shoppers are set to spend £10.2 billion in the Black Friday sales, a new prediction from Barclays has claimed. It said almost half of consumers plan to shop in the sales, spending £430 each on average.

Ansa

That said, a majority of UK adults are sceptical about whether Black Friday deals are real, while 44% no longer look forward to seasonal sales as much as they used to.

Other attitudes are changing too with more consumers embracing tech and Gen Z in particular intending to use AI to deals, three times higher than older generations.

In fact, overall UK consumers seem to be somewhat conflicted about their attitude to the giant sales event, with their enthusiastic use of technology going alongside an interest in physical shopping and scepticism about deals running concurrently with a determination to find the best ones and dedicate extra cash to them.

The Barclays Consumer Spend report combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with consumer research, and says the predicted per capita spend of £430 is £91 more than last year. And with 43% on the hunt for deals, that’s up from 37% in 2024), rising to 76% among Gen Z.

One in four (26%) have been saving money to spend during the Black Friday/Christmas sales period, which, combined with pre-Autumn Budget jitters, contributed to weak spending in October, (Barclays spend data shows retail recorded its steepest fall since November 2024).

As for what people will be buying, it looks like many are being fairly sensible with their cash. Of those participating in Black Friday, 45% plan to pick up Christmas gifts at a discount and 19% will prioritise essential purchases over luxury items. Popular planned purchases include clothing (39%), electronics (28%), and beauty products (24%), which could suggest both a focus on finding everyday essentials at a discount as well as splashing out on some non-essentials.

Barclays said its own data shows that Black Friday 2024 (29 November) was the busiest day of the year for transactions, with retail volumes up 83.7% in comparison to the daily average. Will this happen again in 2025? It’s hard to say. While 29% still consider the annual event as the best time bag a bargain, “sales scepticism is beginning to set in”. 

We’ve already said that 44% don’t look forward to the seasonal sales as much as they used to. Some 43% plan to shop but as many as 68% are doubtful about the real value of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, and 65% believe such sales events encourage unnecessary spending. We still don’t know whether the scepticism will overcome their interest in bagging a bargain if the right price and the right product converge.

So what about that trend towards using AI to find the best deals? Overall, only 8% of UK adults will use tools such as Gemini and ChatGPT to source and compare deals, but for Gen Z, it’s 17%. And across all age groups, 13% believe AI tools are more effective than traditional search engines when it comes to deal hunting. The mainly young age of its proponents suggests use of this technology as an aid to sales shopping will increase as each year goes by, especially as the technology self improves.

But while Gen Z is in the vanguard of those using AI, they’re also the ones who are most fond of shopping old-school — that is, in physical stores.

Across all age groups, 69% of those shopping this Black Friday plan to shop online, compared to the one in three (34%) who plan to shop in-store. Younger shoppers are most likely to shop in-person, at 40% for those aged 18-27. By contrast, Baby Boomers (aged 60-78) are the most likely generation to browse the sales online, at 81%. And even though they like physical stores, social e-commerce platforms such as TikTok shop, are set to be a popular choice for Gen Z shoppers, at 45% – three times the 15% for shoppers aged 28 or over.

Of those planning to shop in-person, over half (55%) will visit shopping centres, 39% local high streets, and 28% their closest major city. The most popular reasons for shopping in-store on Black Friday are assessing product quality in person (35%), discovering unexpected deals (27%) and avoiding delivery costs (25%).

Barclays also said the physical destinations that saw the biggest Black Friday boost in 2024 (a week-on-week uplift in spending) during last year’s season were Gunwharf Quays, Merry Hill and Bluewater among shopping centres; Livingston, Worcester and Colchester among local high streets; and Bath, Exeter and Leeds among cities.

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Warped begins worldwide debut in Italy with its menswear line

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January 21, 2026

Warped, a proudly Australian menswear brand, made its debut at the recent Pitti Uomo 109, unveiling its first-ever collection for Autumn–Winter 2026/27. Warped channels a strong, functional and authentic masculinity, free of artifice: a man capable of moving with equal ease through the Australian outback or a metropolis, without ever betraying himself. This vision translates into a collection that combines ready-to-wear, streetwear and active-functional pieces, underpinned by rigorous material research, responsible production, and a strong connection to Australia’s history and identity.

Jack Cassidy Williams, right, wearing Warped alongside one of his sons

The brand is so steeped in the free-spirited, authentic ethos of Mitch “Crocodile” Dundee, a cult figure of 1980s cinema who helped shape the image abroad of the no-nonsense Australian, that even the founder- who arrived in Milan with his two sons, aged 18 and 15, already active in the company- looks like the very character created by Paul Hogan.

“Crocodile Dundee is not just a film to us; it’s a way of being in the world. It’s about a man who hunts crocodiles with his bare hands in the outback and stays true to himself even under the dazzling lights of the metropolis,” Warped founder Jack Cassidy Williams explained to FashionNetwork.com. “It’s the story of a man who enters a sophisticated system without changing who he is. Functional, direct, honest. This is who we are. We’re not here to bend to fashion’s unwritten rules, but to bring our own way of doing things: less artifice, more reality.”

Warped

“Everything in the collection is handmade by my family. We design it, select the fabrics, create the patterns, and develop everything together- my children and I- in Australia. Traditional garments with modern finishes, in terms of handle and functionality; we even offer waterproof clothing, such as GOTS-certified waterproof cotton. Then there’s denim. All the fabrics are 100% made in Italy,” Cassidy Williams continues. At the heart of the collection is extensive fabric research: 100% RWS wool; high-stretch scuba fabrics and bi-stretch wool; cotton denim with a 3D weave effect; water-repellent cottons, viscose and viscose/linen blends for suits, jackets and trousers; high-performance, ultra-comfortable fabrics; and kangaroo-leather laces- a material five times as strong as cowhide- hand-finished with raw edges and authentic details.

“The collection is, in a way, a tribute to America, because the theme is the so-called ramblin’ man, or the free man; it’s basically about my whole life,” says the Australian entrepreneur. “All those people who decided to forge their own journey, to walk the path of life without following someone else. Like Hank Williams, Jack Kerouac, Duke Ellington, Bird, Muddy Waters, Pinetop, or Woody Guthrie- men who honoured life. Nowadays it’s so difficult to be free that freedom really is a state of mind. It’s our first collection through and through; we practically finished it before boarding the plane,” Cassidy Williams laughs heartily, then slips on a floppy wide-brimmed hat, slings a kangaroo hide over his shoulder and, as he pretends to crack a whip in the air, looks even more like Mitch Dundee- all after letting us taste a kangaroo salami and crocodile snacks…

Warped

“Our family has a textile tradition of great depth- more than sixty years- so Warped also works with the best global manufacturers in the mid-luxury segment: lace from France, fabrics from Italy, and other high-quality materials sourced from factories in Turkey, Japan and Korea,” Jack Cassidy Williams continues. “These factories were chosen not for trend’s sake, but because they’re unique- each one different from the next.”

Warped’s menswear collection for Autumn–Winter 2026/27 comprises around 40 looks spanning ready-to-wear, streetwear, and active-functional pieces. Jackets, suits, trousers, shorts, shirts, and T-shirts sit alongside a street and sportswear offer that includes hoodies, joggers and technical garments, all designed to be comfortable, durable, easy to care for, and genuinely wearable day to day.

Alongside the Warped men’s line, the company presented the Golden Age Sportswear (G.A.S) label in Milan, while the Warped Woman, and G.A.S Woman’s Street collections will debut in Italy from next Spring/Summer.

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Paris Menswear Tuesday: Études Studio, Auralee

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January 21, 2026

Two indie fashion brands, Auralee from Japan and Études Studio from France, staged highly contrasting collections on Tuesday, the opening day of Paris Fashion Week Men, testifying to the dynamism of the season in the French capital.
 
Auralee: Purist fashion with polish
 
A moment of grace on Tuesday evening at Auralee, where Ryota Iwai’s deceptively understated designs never fail to impress.

Auralee’s answer to its question: “What makes winter joyful?” – Luca Tombolini

 
Staged in the Musée de l’Homme facing an illuminated Eiffel Tower, the show was the latest pure statement by a designer whose clothes blend subtlety with refinement.
 
Whatever fabric Iwai plays with always seems just right: whether speckled Donegal tweeds seen in brown knit pants for guys, or a frayed hem skirt for girls in this co-ed show. Leather or lambskin jerkins and baseball jackets, all were ideal.

Semi-transparent nylon splash vests or wispy trenches had real cool. While Iwai’s detailing was also very natty- like the flight jacket trimmed with fur.

A women's look by Auralee
A women’s look by Auralee – Luca Tombolini

 
He is also a great colourist- from the washed-out sea green of a canvas ranger’s jacket to the moody Mediterranean blue of a caban. Though his finale featured a quintet of looks in black. Most charmingly a languid, deconstructed double-breasted cashmere coat worn on a shirtless model- the picture of perfection.
 
There were perhaps not that many sartorial fireworks in the show, but there didn’t need to be. This was a purist fashion statement of polish and precision that this audience could only admire.
 
Backed up by a great soundtrack – Sounding Line 6 by Moritz. Von Oswald or the cutely named Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo- the whole display won Ryota a loud and long ovation. Fully deserved too.
 
Études Studio: Resonating in IRCAM

Études Studio certainly know how to stage a show. The design duo invited guests into the bowels of the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music, or IRCAM a unique French concept dedicated to experimental sounds.

A look by Études Studio
A look by Études Studio – Collective Parade – Gaspar J. Ruiz Lidberg

Which we enjoyed a lot of thanks to Darren J. Cunningham, a British electronic musician known professionally as Actress. It made for a dramatic mood, as keys and chords swelled and raged throughout this show.
 
As a result, the design duo of Aurélien Arbet and Jérémie Egry titled this Autumn/Winter 2027 collection ‘Résonances.’ Terming it in their program: “A medley bringing into dialogue the minimalist experiments rooted in John Cage’s philosophy with the emergence of intelligent Dance Music in the early 1990s.”
 
The result was a rather moody series of clothes, made in a sombre palette of muddy brown, dark purple, black, black, and even more black.

Muted tones at Études Studio
Muted tones at Études Studio – Collective Parade – Gaspar J. Ruiz Lidberg

 
What stood out were the bulbous, off-the-shoulder puffers, worn over corduroy shirts or roll-necks- topped by some great rancher hats courtesy of Lambert. One could also admire sleek raingear; cool cocoon shaped jerkins and fuzzy mohair sweaters.  And appreciate a sleek A-Line coat and zippered knit safari jacket in a rare women’s look in this show.
 
Photoshopped faces in black and white scarves all looked very appealing, as did the brand’s debut bag, a satchel in tough canvas. And one had to applaud one great dull gold, wildly deconstructed puffer.
 
That said, the collection lacked proper kick and rarely resonated as the show title suggested it would. A decent statement about the mode, but far from a fashion moment. 
 

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Animer launches as French citizen-led union championing regenerative fashion

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January 21, 2026

Not a label, not a lobby, not even a legal entity. That is how Arielle Lévy, president of the Une Autre Mode Est Possible (UAMEP) collective, characterises this nascent union. Animer, an acronym for “Acteurs Nationaux Indépendants Mode Engagée Régénérative,” aims to shine a light on all the initiatives undertaken by fashion stakeholders, from producers to brands, who are advancing responsible, regenerative fashion in France.

The union was founded by eight collectives involved in regenerative fashion – UAMEP

The union was officially launched on Monday January 19, following the petition initiated by Arielle Lévy against Shein in response to the watering down of the anti–fast fashion law. Titled “Paris deserves better than Shein,” the petition drew nearly 140,000 signatures. “I wanted us to unite because I realised how strong the civic voice was,” explains Arielle Lévy. “These collectives are doing superb work and, at a certain point, there is a desire to close ranks, to make society together,” she says.

“Breaking the isolation of initiatives across the regions”

In addition to UAMEP, a number of other collectives are behind Animer, including Fashion Revolution France, L’Âme du Fil (Angers), Collectif Baga (Marseille), Café Flax (Clermont-Ferrand), Le Comptoir de la mode responsable (Poitiers), Le Conservatoire de la Mode Vintage (Isère), and La Grande Collecte/Textile Lab (La Rochelle). “It’s a union of independent collectives, committed to their local areas and sharing the same societal project,” Arielle Lévy emphasises.

The union hopes to represent all French territories
The union hopes to represent all French territories – Collectif Baga

The union plans to focus its efforts on the ground, working across supply chains, regions, practices and even our shared imagination. With “hundreds” of stakeholders already on board via the various founding collectives, Animer is built on ten key ideas: dignity, value-sharing, traceability as a common language, less and better, circular design, smart re-localisation, carbon sobriety, inclusion and plurality, cooperation rather than “sterile competition”, and proof through action.

Animer’s founders plan to bring together all the initiatives active in regenerative fashion across the country. The union hopes to become a preferred interlocutor in defending a societal project focused on respect for the earth, and for men and women. With the help of Fashion Revolution, it aims to act in the national interest by engaging the general public and the country’s institutions.

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