Embroidery Trends in 2021
As the world experienced a pandemic, and people were stuck at home, we observed a great shift in trends worldwide, in every field. Within the fashion industry, we’ve seen a shift in design preferences. Life within the pandemic meant mostly staying at home, so people began preferring minimalistic and easy-to-carry fashion, hence brands that boasted designs that utilized monogramming or other simple digital designs became the go-to option for many. Within all realms of embroidery, including threadworks and beads, minimal designs are now preferred on plain solid-colored bases.
In addition to this, within the last two years, designs close to nature have gained much traction. Sustainable fabric with close-to-nature designs embroidered onto them has been very popular among customers which had a lot to do with people’s desire to get their calm and normalcy back after the pandemic (and nature was valued more). In recent times, floral patterns and wildlife scenes have been intricately added to modern designs through sewing, knitting, and digital printing. Dark winter autumn shades were brightened up with pastel shades of embroidery to make them look minimal, close to nature, and chic. Alienation effects are used to interpret natural designs using geometric shapes and grids, reducing established rigidity. A trend featuring huge feather designs on bed covers and throws was seen this year.
Cross stitch made a comeback this year with imperfect incomplete designs adding to the abstractness of the art. It has been popular among people craving nostalgia, wanting authentic designs that look like they are straight out of the past. Glow in the dark thread has also been a favorite this year, which adds to the cool factor of the item. Improvisation has been preferred compared to perfection with upcycling products through layering, coated fabrics, and a combination of natural and artificial materials. Embroidered tote bags have been very popular for shopping instead of plastic bags promoting a green sustainable environment.
Diversification and assortment were important aspects of fashion this year. Pieces are torn apart and sewn again, destroyed, and made again to freshen up already existing looks. Fabric rejuvenation has been popular this year with embellishments added to destroyed patches of garments, recycling them as new and it seems like this a trend that will be popular moving into 2022 as well.
Embroidery pieces have been seen making bold statements, using clothing as a form of art to impart strong powerful messages. Alternatively, digitized embroidery techniques have also been quite popular this year which have resulted in greater efficiency of work, longer-lasting threads, tighter stitches, and better-looking patterns. They have been used to foster large-scale production of items, especially by companies for their logo-endorsing merch. But even though it started with brand merch, many other mainstream garment companies have shifted to digitizing their embroidery techniques as they are better and more efficient.
Hence in 2021, as the world was recovering from the pandemic people have shifted to a fast-paced, more digitized world where they try to incorporate as much nature as they can, and the same trends were followed within the fashion industry as well, where the keywords for embroidery are minimal, chic, sustainable yet modern. These trends have been prevalent throughout the U.S, but most of the data collected for this analysis was based from Woodbridge, Prince William County Virginia (VA).
As always we are here if you want to test out or look at any of the design trends for help and support. Reach out to us today so we can help you “Imagine the possibilities.”