There’s nothing better than being comfy, especially when you’re working from home like many of us still are. From wearing joggers on your bottom half during meetings to not caring at all and rocking your kudd.ly hoodie blanket full time, being comfortable and cosy has taken over.
With loungewear rising in popularity, we looked to the future to see where cosy wear might take us in 50 years. We spoke to an expert, Rohina Kumar, a director at Whispering Smith to see what she thinks the next few decades of loungewear hold for us.
What is cosy wear?
Cosy wear, also known as loungewear, is a concept as much as a type of clothing. A step up from pyjamas but a step down from jeans, cosy wear prioritises comfort and is the perfect style to rock at home or even while you’re running errands. With the recent shift towards more people working full-time from home, the focus on looking stylish while staying snug is at an all-time high.
The future is looking bright
In about 50 years, Rohina Kumar predicts that although some colours will always be popular, other brighter trends will emerge.
“Certain colours stand the test time – like blacks, greys and browns,” she says, “but, over the last couple of decades, we’ve definitely seen a move towards more tie-dye – and this will only accelerate between now and 2073.” She accredits this to the fact that more people are opting for comfy clothes in bolder shades to wear at home and care less about what others might think.
She also explains that people will want to look as good as they feel, opting for more sustainable materials, natural fibres, soft textiles, and fabrics that are non-creasing to make that seamless transition from bed to the outside world.
Individualistic styles over trends
The future of clothes shopping habits is likely to change as well. Rohina predicts that our descendants will be designing their own clothes, which will give everyone a more individualistic style and help cut down on fast fashion, keeping clothing out of landfills.
She says that they will also be wearing more garments that are adjustable. We’re already seeing built-in zippers and internal zippers which allow you to adjust your garments as you need to.
“These will be big in cosy wear in the future,” she states.
Smart cosy wear
“Wearable tech is a big thing now,” Rohina says and goes on to share that she wouldn’t be surprised to see SMART tech making its way into cosy wear at some point in the future.
We’re already seeing SMART watches being used to track wellbeing so “perhaps we will see heart rate monitors built into cosy clothing too so people wouldn’t have to wear an additional piece.” she says.
“There will also be a lot of temperature cooling regulating features as we see in sportswear.”
Infrared sauna blankets are big at the moment, so Rohina muses that “perhaps they could be built into clothing” as well.
Safety is a big topic on many people’s minds too, so maybe we will see more reflective details, solar-powered features or glow-in-the-dark additions to the cosy wear of the future. Kudd.ly is already one step ahead with our glow-in-the-dark hoodie blanket!
Unethical & unsustainable practices are out
Gen Z is already making waves in the sustainability scene, so we can expect the following generations to carry on this trend as well.
This environmentally conscious generation will be banishing unethical practices and unsustainable materials and instead opting for natural fibres and temperature-regulating features to cope with the unpredictable weather and self-washing technology to save water.
“Cheaply produced items which aren’t eco-friendly will hopefully be a thing of the past,” says Rohina.
Two-in-one lounge and workwear will become the norm
Raise your hand if during lockdown, you attended a digital meeting with your pyjamas under a smart jumper, jacket, or shirt.
“Home working could be the norm for all of us, so having access to cosy wear which can double up as work attire will be all the more important,” she says.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the work-from-home culture that has stemmed from it has changed our ways of dressing – both at the office and at home.
As we want to be more comfortable when at home, it has become more acceptable to dress down at the office as well.
Rohina thinks that this will be the future of working from now on and that loungewear will follow suit (pun intended).
Conclusion
The future of dressing comfortably is looking good.
Lots of SMART features, temperature-regulating fabrics, and the ability to custom design your outfits are all amazing features that we’re super excited to see.
“The sky’s the limit in terms of what inventors and designers can come up with,” says Rohina, “I think the key thing is that the way we are living our life is constantly changing, and in 50 years’ time, the world will obviously look totally different to how it does today.”
In the meantime, the present looks soft and fluffy. Wrap up warm in a kudd.ly hoodie blanket for the ultimate cosy wear, no matter if you’re having a duvet day or working hard from home.
