Australian streetwear retailer Culture Kings has just revealed its top-growing categories month-on-month, with jerseys topping the list at a 25 per cent average month-on-month lift over the last 12 months.
This comes as the FIFA World Cup ended over the weekend, with the retailer citing this as one key driver for the strong uplift in the jerseys category.
Denim shorts, trackpants and jeans are also strong leads, with average sales across these categories growing by 21.5 per cent, 19.5 per cent and 16.4 per cent respectively.
The retailer's findings are also reflected in wider search trends. Pinterest search data shows searches for polo shirts have jumped 76 per cent year-on-year, while track pants are up 53 per cent month-on-month over the past four weeks and flip flops have increased 68 per cent over the same period.
Meanwhile, Pinterest searches for zip-up hoodies have surged 80 per cent year-on-year across Australia and New Zealand, while basketball shorts are up 42 per cent.
Culture Kings ANZ president Justin Hillberg said the growing popularity of jerseys shows how closely fashion and sport are becoming intertwined.
"The World Cup has brought football culture into the spotlight, but what we're seeing at Culture Kings goes beyond support for a team or tournament,” Hillberg said. “Jerseys have become genuine fashion pieces that people are styling as part of their everyday wardrobe.
Hillberg added that a lot of the pieces driving growth right now don’t belong to one gender. This also includes hoodies, oversized tees and even bomber jackets.
At Culture Kings, short-sleeve tees account for more than half (51.5 per cent) of all unisex sales, while hoodies and pants remain among the retailer's strongest-performing categories.
“They're versatile items that can be styled in completely different ways depending on the individual, which is a big reason they're resonating with younger consumers,” Hillberg said.
Joggers and pants lead in terms of average month-on-month growth, up 35.2 per cent and 40.7 per cent respectively.
Culture Kings' unisex sales data also reveals that black-coloured items account for almost half (47.6 per cent) of all unisex sales, followed by grey (19.1 per cent) and white (12.3 per cent).
"Consumers are taking inspiration from sport, music, social media and street culture all at once, then creating looks that feel personal to them,” Hillberg said.
“Traditional fashion categories matter far less than they once did. People are choosing pieces based on how they want to wear them, not which section of the store they came from."