Europe’s leading designer outlet group, McArthurGlen, has launched its ‘Wonders of Autumn’campaign, heralding the iconic pieces from the new season collections. In the campaign, McArthurGlen picks the ‘Perfect 10’ items that encapsulate autumn/winter 2015 fashion essentials – from the little black dress and designer handbag, to the best pair of jeans and the cosy chunky knit.

Shaeren McKenzie, Group Marketing Director, McArthurGlen Designer Outlets, comments: “This season McArthurGlen is celebrating the true wonders of an autumn wardrobe. A combination of timeless investment classics and desirable trend-led pieces helps create a signature style which will stand the test of time. Now more than ever, the perfect 10 capsule wardrobe items for autumn/winter is within reach.”

The campaign will run across all nine countries that are home to McArthurGlen’s 21 designer outlets: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. It will also be rolled out in China, South Korea, Russia, Brazil and Southeast Asia, where some of the world’s highest-spending international travellers are based.

To coincide with the launch of the ‘Wonders of Autumn’ campaign, McArthurGlen spoke to 5,000 shoppers, both men and women, across Europe about their investment pieces and their ‘dream’ items. The interviews were carried out in Britain, France, Germany and Italy – with the overall findings revealing more similarities than differences.

As an average across all four countries, women chose the knee-high boot as their top investment piece, followed by the wool overcoat and the ankle boot. The men went for the jacket – first outdoor and then high-performance – followed by jeans.

When it came to what type of clothing men and women enjoyed wearing most, the unanimous answer across all four nationalities – and among both sexes – was the classic t-shirt and jeans combination.

Further survey results include:

Women

• British women are most likely to own a little black dress; and German women least likely. Italian women are most likely to own a designer handbag, and French women least likely.
• Jeans are the most important fashion item for all four nationalities as they are for men.
• Overall, knee-high boots are the favoured investment piece, although the top choice for Italian women is a designer handbag, and for British and German women, and those earning more than €75,000 a year, a wool overcoat.
• Top dream items for women are all designer items, from handbags, evening dresses to footwear.  German women’s top dream item was a leather jacket.
• Women from all four nationalities most like to see their partners wearing jeans and a t-shirt – and this is what the men most enjoyed wearing.
• Almost half of women (44%) enjoyed wearing a t-shirt and jeans – more than any other items. This was followed by casual and sportswear.
• Fashion-guilty pleasures: 49% of women remain elusive about how much they’ve paid for an item of clothing – not wanting to confess the price.
• Fashion envy:  30% of women are envious of the style of someone they know.

Men

• British men are most likely to own ‘formal’ clothes, such as a tailored suit, or brogues/formal shoes. German men are most likely to own a really indulgent chunky cardigan; and French men least likely. Italian men are most likely to own ankle boots.
• Jeans were the most important fashion item for all four nationalities – like for women.
• For the British and Germans, the top investment piece was an outdoor jacket. For the French and Italians, it was jeans.  High-performance jackets also have a high overall score, particularly among the over 34 year olds.
• Top dream items for men are luxury watches and suits (both made-to-measure and designer), although in Germany, the men’s dream item is a leather jacket.
• Overall, men most like to see their partners in jeans and a classic t-shirt.
• Almost half of men enjoyed wearing a t-shirt and jeans followed by casual and sportswear.
• Fashion-guilty pleasures: 49% of men – the same percentage as for women – have not confessed the price of a clothing item that they’ve bought.
• Fashion envy:  28% of men – only two percentage points less than for women – in Europe are envious of the style of someone they know.

McArthurGlen carried out its latest shopping habits survey as part of its ongoing consumer insight programme which talks with 40,000 consumers each year. The survey sample was equally split between men and women across four markets – Britain, France, Germany and Italy.