Denim is hot — and fast-fashion is not — with teens, and they’re also continuing their love of athletic brands.
And although overall spending by teens is lower, those with higher incomes spent more on fashion apparel, according to the semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens research survey conducted by Piper Jaffray.
The survey keys into the” spending trends and brand preferences” of over 9,400 U.S. teens in 46 U.S. states. The findings showed that overall teen spending is down from the spring survey, but “spending on fashion is up among upper-income teens.”
“Denim brands are inflecting positively for the first fall since 2010 and the category is up substantially from last year,” they added. “However, this is not coming at a cost to athletic brands —rather, we are seeing a declining rate in fast-fashion retailers as a percentage of overall upper-income females.”
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When it comes to athletic brands, which would include Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, “there is a clear divergence between performance athletic and peripheral athletic brands,” the report stated. “Nike and comparable brands are strengthening in view of their mind share dominance and authenticity.”
For females buying accessories, the poll showed a deceleration in spending by 4 percent on a year-over-year basis. They also don’t plan on buying any handbags.
Regarding where they shop, the survey showed a preference for specialty stores. The sector is “replacing broader merchandise/department stores among affluent females by consuming 33 percent of their shopping time,” which is a 5 percent more over last year.
Neely Tamminga, senior research analyst at the firm, said the survey showed “fashion choices are moving back to authenticity across denim brands, performance athletic brands and independent cosmetic brands.”
Other findings in the survey revealed Amazon gaining in the mind share of teens as it garnered 38 percent of all votes as a preferred Web site. “Furthermore, Amazon Prime membership expanded 400 basis points versus just six months ago,” the report said, adding that teens are spending more time on Netflix and YouTube versus traditional TV and cable.
With movies, the teens survey said they were most anticipating “Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2” followed by “Star Wars, The Force Awakens” and then “Divergent: Allegiant, Part 1.”