“The trends move on really quickly,” Professor Niederhoff said.
The supply chain is not well equipped to handle trends, especially when a show or image becomes unexpectedly popular overnight - “Ted Lasso,” for example, the resurgence of Britney Spears or Kim Kardashian’s Balenciaga Met Gala full black bodysuit. What exacerbates this problem is the difficulty of know what will be the hip and cool costume of the day. This year, with supply chain woes keeping shelves empty, topical trick-or-treating is harder than ever.Ĭoncern for stores that survive by selling holiday wares, including costumes for Halloween, particularly after a year of lost revenues that will never be made up, is entirely understandable.
It was already getting hard to predict and procure an of-the-moment costume, since viral trends often outpace manufacturing timelines. Then there are the festive ways to embody the zeitgeist, a socially acceptable method for donning an outfit that says “look at me, I am clever” - a meme costume, an obscure reference or a Netflix phenomenon nobody saw coming (looking at you, “Tiger King” and “Squid Game”). There’s the pop culture homage - Marilyn Monroe, Tony Soprano, The Matrix. The problems with the supply chain are big and serious.
