People shop at H&M on Thanksgiving Day in New York
Alison LePard, a 19-year-old college sophomore from Wellesley, Massachusetts, says that when she shops for clothes and accessories, her goal is a look that is uniquely hers. So she does a lot of mixing and matching.
“I don’t blindly follow what they put out,” LePard said of store displays. “I don’t want to wear just one brand. I don’t want to be a stereotype.”
She’s hardly alone. Recent surveys have found that members of the U.S. Millennial Generation – the roughly 80 million Americans born between 1977 and 2000 – pride themselves on their individuality, and shop accordingly.
Compared with their parents, millennials are far less likely to identify with a political party or to formally affiliate with a religion – key indicators of an independent streak – according to Pew Research Center. As shoppers, they are less attached to brands and more willing to create their own style, surveys by Nielsen, The Boston Consulting Group and other researchers have found. Read more.
