Pushing the envelope: designer stationery is the hottest fashion trend | Stationery

Forget designer sneakers. Nowadays, you’re more likely to find Gen Z and Millennials raving about their latest stationery finds.

TikTok reported a spike in interest, with the hashtag #stationeryhauls garnering over 300 million views. Meanwhile, retailers including John Lewis say there has been a surge in demand, with fashion designer Anya Hindmarch recently introducing a stationery pop-up shop in Belgravia, central London.

Neil Whittington, founder of Present & Correct stationary boutique near East London’s Clinkenwell, believes the growing interest of these age groups is a rebellion against digital needs against old-school pen and paper habits.

“It’s up to them to be more aware of screen time and try to combat it. They don’t want to be online all the time, doing everything on their laptop or phone. Now there are specific products targeted at them, like health magazines,” he says.

During the first lockdown of 2020, retailers reported an increase in sales of stationery. British-based e-commerce stationery startup Papier says notecards and writing paper have grown 300%. In the year A spokesperson for the brand said: “Sales indicate that analogue practices such as writing letters and keeping paper notebooks are obsolete. The desire for tangible, physical objects continues.

Italian luxury paper maker Moleskine is also focusing on younger customers. CEO Daniela Riccardi recently established a Gen Z panel to help her leadership team better understand a different generation.

Meg Parker, a 25-year-old law graduate from Devon, has turned her stationery hobby into a full-time job. At first, she joined Tik Tok to see if anyone wanted to buy her aesthetically pleasing study notes. But what “opened up a whole new world” was her creation of bullet journals (color-coded notebooks where users record everything from emotions to work).

As of January, she has amassed over 120,000 followers on YouTube and regularly works with brands including Paperchase. “There are so many stationery items that you can never get bored. People especially like my ASMR [autonomous sensory meridian response, or tingling sensation]- Motivated. The sound of pens and the noise of coloring is really satisfying.

Of course, the irony of buying stationery is not lost on both the seller and the consumer. The clear pencil holders are the most popular buys in the Hindmarch store, as are the whale-shaped rulers and the giant Pret Stick pencil holder, which are all over Instagram.

Whittington has customers who regularly come to the shop to buy items to create carefully assembled slabs (images carved from stacked objects). Stationery enthusiasts will be proud of the limited edition drops of Kaweko pens and Blackwing pencils. They also photograph the store’s well-stocked shelves.

Given the broader trend of comfort and nostalgia (think retro TV shows and baggy jeans going way back), it’s no surprise that stationery is now in the spotlight.

Former Editor-in-Chief Useless fair, Grayden Carter and his wife Anna recently launched Electrogram. The online stationery company offers vintage-inspired templates based on the original Western Union telegram. “We do things the old way, but deliver them the new way,” reads the tagline.

Whittington celebrates the sensuality of the metal protractors and letter openers he collected on a whim around the 1970s. “Young people ask what things are because they didn’t grow up using them. It’s great but it makes me feel old.