When it comes to summer dressing, there’s nothing easier than throwing on an unfussy, coordinated outfit, which is why matching sets are currently a leading trend on the streets and in stores, spanning from mass market coords at Zara and Mango to advanced contemporary market sets.
Elevated sets uphold the pulled-together look of a suit without the formality or weight of one. Think matching solid or printed tops and bottoms à la pajamas as worn in seasonal white by Anne Hathaway last month in New York City; the matching black knit cardigan and shorts set Laura Harrier chose for the launch of her Reformation collaboration in L.A., or polished jacket alternatives like the tie-front floral top matched to a short skirt that Natalie Portman wore last week to promote her upcoming series “Lady in the Lake.”
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Retailers have seen major traction from the twofer trend, with Moda Operandi, Net-a-porter, Nordstrom, Revolve and more reinforcing matching sets as searchable categories on their e-commerce sites.
Similar to this summer’s surging boxer shorts as pants trend, matching sets can have a lounge-y feel because of their throw-together sensibility and travel-friendly, capsule wardrobe-minded styling. But the look also spans across occasions, with brands and retailers offering a strong variety of matching sets for office meetings, weekend outings and more.
“Year after year, we’ve observed a growing trend in matching sets, with 2024 marking our highest sales in this category,” Revolve’s chief merchandising officer, Divya Mathur, told WWD.
The site’s shopping data reveals matching sets as a top-visited category in terms of both traffic and revenue. “Leveraging our AI-powered site merchandising capabilities, we were able to respond to customer interest by offering highly curated assortments within matching sets. Customers can now shop sets tailored for vacation, everyday, night out, special occasion, work, and bestsellers. This level of curation has significantly boosted conversions across the entire category,” she said.
To match the demand, Mathur said brands have expanded their offering of coords beyond athleisure, sweats or vacation wardrobing and into day-to-night, work-friendly styles with fabrications ranging from poplins, linens and tweeds to crochets and sheers.
Mathur believes the trend has become, and stayed, popular over the last few years because of its ability to “offer a complete and cohesive look without the hassle of shopping for coordinating items, making it an effortless way to explore new trends like hot shorts, monochromatic colors, or sheer dressing,” she said.
This summer, she’s seen the Revolve customer embracing matching sets via tweedy looks, or pastel short sets — she’s even coined this summer “the season of the short.”
“No matter the length, it’s all about a short set in linen, crochet, or an emotional vintage-inspired print,” she said.
“We offer a range of sets in our Helsa collection and cannot keep them in stock despite multiple restocks. The Helsa Elvira Scalloped Cardigan and Hot Short set is the perfect way to capture the ladylike retro trend that we love, and the Helsa sheer top back to a matching maxiskirt has also been a customer favorite in pink, black, and white,” Mathur said of the collaborative Revolve brand 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 by 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 minimal effort,” she said. “Whether you’re going for a relaxed button-down and pants set or a more polished skirt and top look, just add a chunky button earring, slick bun, and woven bag and you’re out the door.”
In New York, advanced contemporary label Veronica Beard continues to evolve its takes on the trend, with matching sets being the “cornerstone” of the 14-year-old brand, cofounders and sisters-in-law Veronica Miele Beard and Veronica Swanson Beard told WWD.
“We’ve always loved a matching set. We started the brand around the idea of a uniform — and the different uniforms that make up the cornerstone of modern women’s wardrobes. Matching sets are such an easy way to guarantee you look chic and polished, no matter what you’re doing or where you’re going. Plus, ideally, you can break the set up and wear each piece with everything else in your wardrobe. We call them a wardrobe MVP,” Miele Beard said.
Over the years, the brand’s uniform approach to sets has expanded from tailored duos into more casual options, like the brick-red denim Anzu jacket and Elijah Patch-Pocket short.
The trend spans across the country to Los Angeles, with Staud cofounder and creative director Sarah Staudinger seeing traction for the trend over the past few seasons.
“Summer sets make it easy to pack for wherever your summer travels take you — people are looking to bring less yet still have more outfit options, so it’s a no-brainer that the trend has really taken off. People are looking for easy ways to build their wardrobe that are still thoughtful and elevated; 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” offering, Staudinger proposes her timeless chino sets for summer travels, such as the white Dover top with London skirt, or moss-green Deck anorak over the Luca pant.
“Pack those four pieces and interchange between the pieces for a variety of looks,” she said of the carryon-friendly duos.
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