Like any group of young people who are constantly online, Ssense employees have strong opinions about the appropriate length of socks.
According to the meme, millennials can’t help but stubbornly defend their no-show socks against a barrage of ridicule from Gen Zers who prefer longer socks. But at the fashion-forward retailer, employees of both generations agreed that ankle-high socks are indeed superior.
But rather than publicly siding with crew socks, Ssense saw an opportunity in the controversy, said Steph Yotka, the online retailer’s head of digital content. The online retailer asked the question on Instagram, “What is the right sock length?” along with a variety of styles available on its website, from no-show socks with Bode’s shorts to knee-high socks with Willy Chavarria’s khaki shorts.
The post received over 300 comments, more than the previous seven posts combined.
“Instead of thinking of it as either/or marketing, we want to ask our audience what they’re interested in and find opportunities to showcase the broader aspects of Ssense,” Yotka said.
As Gen Z hits their mid-20s, the style gap between them and their slightly older peers is widening fast. The battle for the millennial staple skinny jean is all but over, with looser fits becoming the norm. But the battle continues over high-waisted bottoms versus low-waisted bottoms, a Y2K trend championed mostly by those too young to watch Paris Hilton on TV. Many millennials still favor floral prints, ankle boots, and contouring makeup, drawing gentle ridicule from their younger siblings and peers.
For brands and retailers hoping to serve both customers over and under 25, the Gen Z/Millennial divide poses a conundrum: How do you get on board with the latest trends without alienating older, more conservative shoppers? Gen Z may be creating new styles, but millennials still control the buying power. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American shopper ages 35-44 will spend $2,632 on clothing in 2022, more than double that of those under 25.
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Focusing too much on age can be a trap, marketers told BoF: Today’s fashion cycles are so fast that trends appear and disappear overnight, and there’s no longer a dominant definition of what is “fashionable” at any given moment, meaning consumers of all ages can encounter countless trends and fads on the internet.
Trend analysts say brands shouldn’t plan their assortments based on how many of their customers are fashion-conscious Gen Zers and how many are risk-averse millennials, but instead make their products accessible to everyone through merchandising and targeted marketing strategies.
“It’s limiting to think of age groups as defining. [customer behaviour]”Personal style is rapidly evolving and how people present themselves is constantly changing,” says Katie Rubin, vice president of brand and communications at fashion search platform Lyst.
This is the world of Gen Z.
The spending power of today’s millennials is undeniable, and their preferences dictate the most popular styles on the market today, but Gen Z is well on its way to shaping the future.
For example, high-waisted jeans, popular with millennials, remain the most popular jeans among retailers, making up 29% of all styles, but low-rise jean assortments have grown 30% year-over-year, while the number of new high-rise options coming to market has fallen 1% over the same period, according to market analysis data from retail intelligence firm EDITED.
Similarly, Gen Z’s Y2K revival has brought capri pants and bubble skirts back into fashion, with the new styles increasing 178 percent and 247 percent, respectively, year-over-year, EDITED reports.
For millennials, capri pants and bubble skirts may be nostalgic and bring back awkward adolescent memories, but this playful movement can become part of the conversation brands have with their customers.
“Our brand voice is witty and fun, and we’ve always told our customers, ‘When you’re ready to say goodbye to skinny jeans, we have an assortment of baggy jeans,'” says Skye Pollard, product director at Nooly, a women’s clothing rental platform owned by Urban Outfitters. “We want our customers to rent whatever they’re comfortable in.”
The majority of Nuuly’s subscribers are under the age of 35, spanning the older Gen-Z to younger millennials. Like Ssense, Nuuly doesn’t address generational differences between its customers, instead highlighting common characteristics.
“Generally, our customers are open to trying new things, it’s part of their personality,” Pollard said.
Still, Nouri recognizes that some trendy products are more easily embraced than others. The company’s goal is to make new styles accessible to everyone, even the less adventurous customer. Particularly edgy products, like basketball jerseys, are often featured in editorial campaigns that run on the website to offer inspiration.
When old wardrobe staples make a comeback (for example, Miu Miu’s fall/winter 2024 collection features low-rise skinny jeans), Nouri plans to rephotograph product pages to show these items in a more appropriate context (skinny jeans paired with knee-high boots instead of ankle boots).
For all generations
Age and the behavioral issues that come with it may have more to do with how consumers shop than what they buy.
For example, beauty brand Glossier found its first customer base a decade ago among coming-of-age millennials who embraced the DTC model that was shaking up retail at the time. Now, younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha shoppers are discovering the brand through TikTok and Sephora, which began carrying Glossier last year.
“The biggest difference is how and where they encounter the brand,” Glossier CEO Kyle Leahy told BoF in an email. “When we launched in all Sephora stores in North America last year, we opened the brand up to an entirely new generation of shoppers, which really helped catapult Glossier into the consciousness of a younger generation.”
MeUndies also found that a multifaceted approach to marketing was important to reach different segments of shoppers: The most effective channel for Gen Z shoppers was, unsurprisingly, TikTok, while the best channel for millennials was advertising on podcasts, according to Chief Revenue Officer Ariel Stoddard.
Ultimately, the smartest fashion companies realize that all the squabbling between millennials and Gen Z over their respective fashion sense is in good fun.
“My Gen Z intern cooks for me every day,” says Ty Johnson, a 32-year-old DJ and marketing strategist who lives in Brooklyn, “and she’s embarrassed by the things I think are cool, and vice versa. But I’m not going to start wearing Ed Hardy to exude Gen Z vibes.”
