The 2020 It dress that's so last season!
It’s flying off the shelves ... even though it’s been around for a YEAR
Last summer it was the Zara polka- dot midi. the year before was a leopard-print shirt dress worn by Holly Willoughby for M&s. but it’s rare that the ‘It’ dress of the season is an old favourite — one that has been around for 12 months and costs just £55.
Yet given the growing concern about fast fashion and the damage it is doing to our planet, perhaps it should be less of a surprise that the must-have dress of 2020 is one many of us will already have in our wardrobes.
the design in question is boden’s ‘amelie’ dress. More than 100,000 have been sold, bringing in over £5 million to date.
the amelie is loved by women from their 20s to their 70s.
‘It’s a wardrobe staple that is the answer to all-age dressing,’ says Mariam boutorabi, design director of boden, when asked to explain its success.
‘It’s just so flattering. the fitted shape through the bust and waist creates a great silhouette — and combined with clever waistline ruching detail, the drapey jersey just skims over the body and suits every figure type.
‘Jersey is also a supremely comfortable fabric and suitable for both warmer and cooler weather.’
Ideal, then, for our increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
amelie’s strength comes not from the material — it’s made of a lightweight viscose elastane mix — but from its chameleon-like versatility.
It takes on a completely new personality in different prints: choose block colour in navy and black and it’s ideal for work, while a busy, colourful print makes it the perfect casual holiday dress to throw into a weekend holdall, safe in the knowledge that it won’t crease. Little wonder some women end up buying four different colourways.
boden realised it had a winner within months of its first appearance in the spring of 2019, and quickly expanded the selection of amelie dresses to 11 different prints and colours. every amelie dress comes in sizes 6-22, while the petite, regular and long options offer different hem lengths to suit shorter and taller customers. there is even a ‘mini-me’ version, launching on March 23, for mums who like to ‘twin’ with their daughters.
With its shorter length (it sits on the knee) and lack of frills, it’s not an ‘on trend’ fashion buy but something you will wear again and again.
tellingly, boden have dropped Icons, their more expensive, trendled range that attracted raptures of admiration from the fashion pack when it launched in 2015. Instead, they have returned to clothes that prioritise functional, practical style and offer just a nod to fashion.
Yes,it may be safe but it’s also very sensible. after all, look what happened to ailing M&s. While the fashion pack may praise the ruffles and new-trend details, the loyal customer isn’t impressed.
Chasing fashionistas’ approval is all very well, but keeping true to the brand’s ethos has been the key to boden’s success.
so often the embellished pieces that look stylish on a page don’t work in real life. We look at them, we are seduced by the desire for something new, we order and try them on . . . and then send them back.
the returns rate for the amelie dress is low — and if you’ve got time to read nearly 500 customer reviews on the website, you’ll see why.
‘Perfect’ shouted the first I saw. ‘thank you for giving us what we really want,’ said another.
‘Understanding the customer is key to making sales,’ says Clare bailey, an independent expert on retail and consumer matters, with 25 years’ experience in the industry.
‘sales success for retailers is often down to luck in the first place but then it becomes a self- fulfilling prophecy. once it starts to do well, sales build.’
the boden team have a big customer database they can refer to in order to analyse what’s working — such as amelie.
‘It not a surprise hit,’ says Mariam boutorabi. ‘It is the result of careful planning and building trust with the customer.’
It is a basic product, and Clare bailey explains that retailers need to have plenty of those key quality items and fewer of the exciting, trend-led pieces that draw us in to start shopping in the first place, but don’t keep us buying.
It’s the jeans and easy-to-wear dresses that make up our wardrobes, and there is no denying that founder Johnnie boden is navigating these difficult times by hitting the mark.
no, the amelie isn’t going to get its own fashion following and Instagram account, like the Zara polka dot. but you’re sure to spot more than one amelie on the school run for years to come.
‘ Next month there will even be a mini-me version