by When it comes to summer outfits, nothing is easier than wearing a mismatched coordinating outfit, which is why matching sets are a key trend right now on the streets and in stores, ranging from mass market co-ords at Zara and Mango sets the market for contemporary advances. .
Raised sets look pulled together without the formality or heaviness. Think matching solid or printed tops and bottoms à la pajamas like Anne Hathaway wore in seasonal white last month in New York City; the black knit cardigan and shorts that Laura Harrier chose for the launch of her Reformation collaboration in LA, or glossy jacket alternatives like the tie-front floral top with a short skirt that Natalie Portman wore last week to her upcoming series come to promote “Lady in the Lake.”
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Retailers have seen great traction from the twofer trend, with Moda Operandi, Net-a-porter, Nordstrom, Revolve and matching sets boosted as searchable categories on their e-commerce sites.
Like this summer’s burgeoning boxer shorts as pants trend, matching sets can have a lounge-y feel thanks to their throw-together sensibility and travel wardrobe-minded capsule styling. But the look also transcends occasions, with brands and retailers offering a strong variety of matching sets for office meetings, weekend trips and more.
“Year after year, we’ve seen a growing trend in matching sets, with 2024 marking our highest sales in this category,” Revolve chief merchandising officer Divya Mathur told WWD.
The site’s shopping data reveals match sets as a very popular category in terms of traffic and revenue. “By leveraging our AI-powered location merchandising capabilities, we were able to respond to customer interest by offering highly curated variations within match sets. Customers can now purchase sets tailored for holiday, everyday, night out, special occasion, work and best sellers. This level of curation has significantly increased conversions across the entire category,” she said.
To match demand, Mathur said brands are expanding their co-ord offering beyond athleisure, sweats or holiday wear and into work-friendly day-to-night styles with fabrications from poplin, linens and corduroy. to crocs and logs.
Mathur believes that the trend has become, and has remained, popular over the past few years due to its ability to “offer a complete and cohesive look without the hassle of shopping for coordinating items, making it a way to it’s easy to explore new trends like hot shorts, monochromatic colors, or tight dressing,” she said.
This summer, she’s seen Revolve customers embrace matching sets through looks, or short pastel sets – worthy of what she coined this summer as “the season of the short.”
“It doesn’t matter how long it is, it’s a short set in linen, crochet, or a sentimental vintage-inspired print,” she said.
“We offer a range of sets in our Helsa collection and we cannot keep them in stock despite multiple restocks. The Helsa Elvira Scalloped Cardigan and Hot Short is the perfect way to capture the retro ladylike trend we love, while the Helsa full back top to matching maxiskirt is also a customer favorite in pink, black and white,” said Mathur . of collaborative brand Revolve by model Elsa Hosk.
Additional labels with matching sets that perform well on Revolve include Alexander Wang, Simkhai, Self Portrait, Zimmermann, Alexis, Fleur de Mal, L’academie, and Agua le Agua Bendita.
For Bloomingdale’s, the top brands for matching sets are Farm Rio, Staud and Aqua, ready-to-wear fashion director Janelle Lloyd told WWD.
“Matching sets are a shortcut to looking thoughtfully pulled together with little effort,” she said. “Whether you’re going for a relaxed button-down and trousers or a more polished skirt and top look, just add chunky earrings, a slick bottom, and a woven bag and you’re out the door.”
In New York, the contemporary high label Veronica Beard continues to develop its trend, with matching sets as the “cornerstone” of the 14-year-old brand, said co-founders and sisters-in-law Veronica Miele Beard and Veronica Swanson Beard . WWD.
“We’ve always loved a matching team. We started the brand on the idea of a uniform — and the different uniforms that are the cornerstone of the modern woman’s wardrobe. Matching sets are an easy way to ensure you look chic and polished, no matter what you’re doing or where you’re going. Plus, ideally, you can break up the layout and wear each piece with everything else in your wardrobe. We call them wardrobe MVPs,” said Miele Beard.
Over the years, the brand’s uniform approach to sets has expanded from tailored duos to more casual options, like the brick-red Anzu denim jacket and Elijah Patch-Pocket short.
The trend crosses the country to Los Angeles, with Staud co-founder and creative director Sarah Staudinger pulling off the trend for the past few seasons.
“Summer sets make it easy to pack wherever summer takes you – people want to bring fewer outfit options but have more outfit options, so it’s great that the trend has really taken off. People are looking for easy ways to build their wardrobes that are still thoughtful and uplifting; A set is the simplest way to do that because it can be worn so many different ways,” Staudinger told WWD.
Within the “Summer of Staud” offer, Staudinger recommends its timeless chino sets for summer travel, such as the white Dover top with a London skirt, or a moss-green Deck anorak over the Luca pant.
“Pack those four pieces and interchange between the pieces for different looks,” she said of the transport-friendly duos.
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