During the early 2000’s the fashion industry saw a huge shift towards a simpler style. Everywhere you went you would see people sporting t-shirts, hats, rings, jumpers, and all manner of fashion accessories associated with their favorite bands. Band merch was huge! So much so that people were wearing Nirvana shirts without even knowing it was band merch.

Over the years band merch became less popular. And, thanks primarily to the global Covid-19 pandemic, we saw band merch fade out of the fashion public eye almost entirely. And this isn’t exactly a bad thing. The beautiful thing about fashion is that it is constantly evolving and changing. Trends come and go. New looks are born and old styles remerge.

Over the last two years we have noticed the trend shifting back towards that early 2000’s style. Band merch is on the rise. In a huge way! But how has this come about? Why now? And what does it mean for both the fashion and music industries?

The Brat Summer Of 2024

You might have seen the phrase ‘Brat Summer’ being thrown around a lot recently. If you’re unsure what it means, it is derived from the latest album released by Charli XCX entitled ‘Brat.’ The album was a meteoric success. Releasing at 3rd on the billboard 200 and is her most successful album to date.

The idea of Brat Summer is one of women empowerment. The message in this album focuses on the truth of how women want to live their lives. Empowered, free, and indulging in whatever pleasures or pastimes they want. And, naturally, this also led to people scooping up any merch they could find associated with Charli XCX.

This is just one example of how the years since the pandemic have been heavily focused on musical developments. The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift’s monumental global extravaganza has been plastered on social media non-stop since it started way back in 2023. Dua Lipa was being played non-stop during the months following the release of the Barbie Movie.

All of this hype surrounding musicians, their tours, and albums has also led to the revival of band merch as a primary fashion trend. People digging out their old Taylor Swift t-shirts or rushing to buy the latest merch.

Customizable Clothing

Rapidly advancing technology has been a huge boon for the world of fashion. Not just for the big brands but for the consumer too. The rise of customizable clothing has played a huge role in the revival of band merch.

There are now hundreds of websites offering fully customizable clothes. Allowing consumers to create their own band merch. Up until now, band merch wasn’t always that great. Often band merch hasn’t been verified by the artist and is subpar in terms of design. Whereas the fans are far better at creating stylish and vibrant designs.

Direct To Film transfers, or DTF transfers for short, have also played a huge part in restoring band merch as a fashion staple. Buying easy to apply DTF transfers that are fully customizable is so simple now that anyone can create unique band merch from the comfort of their own home. This has been a huge boon for budding fashion designers with a passion for music.

The Effect On The Industries

So how has this affected the music industry? Well the most obvious change is that artists are now making more money. The truth of modern music is that most famous artists don’t make much money from album releases. Instead they make their money from tours and, most importantly, merch sales.

With band merch coming back into style we are likely to see more artists heading back on tour. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, fewer and fewer artists were going on tours. But, spurred on by the success of the Eras tour and the rise in band merch sales, we are likely to see a lot more artists planning their own global tours very soon.

And what does this mean for the fashion industry? The main thing we will see over the next year or so is a lot more major fashion retailers increasing their band merch stocks. Superstores like Primark, H&M, Wal-Mart. They won’t miss a chance to capitalize on this. And this will only add fuel to the fire.

As more artists start to tour they will also look to create new merch. And some of the larger fashion labels will likely pair up with them to help. We have seen it happen in the past. Many of the most famous musicians even go so far as to launch their own fashion ranges. Madonna, Rihanna, Gwen Stefani. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few new designer labels being created in the few years by some of this generation’s biggest names.