“After a couple of years of no parties there has been an influx of sales.' Colour has returned to the festivals with sales of clubwear soaring. Now other labels are joining the beat by encouraging dancing in the streets.
After languishing in sweatpants, designers assured us that dopamine dressing would satisfy major fashion withdrawals but for young customers millennial pink andSearching for something stronger to wear at revived festivals and reopened nightclubs, instead of dancing at home with nobody watching, has encouraged strong sales of lurid coats and psychedelic printed T-shirts.
Doofs are outdoor dance events, requiring doof coats, fluffy, multi-pocketed items that can cover metallic vinyl bikini tops or golden hot pants in early morning Uber queues. Imagine the sound you hear standing next to a speaker playing psytrance music at deafening levels while you sway beneath the gum trees and the doof description begins to make sense.
For Matthews renewed retail optimism fits the store’s mission to make people feel comfortable expressing themselves in ways that grey hoodies and sensible slacks won’t allow. While they compete with other club specialists in the digital market space the in-store experience encourages personal growth alongside sales.
“We were surprised at how popular colour and print stayed during lockdown,” Nolan says. “I think people needed a lift of some sort. Since then, we have turned it up a notch in celebration of a more free world. With the return of travel, festivals and clubs, this is just going to continue.”