Shopping has gotten pinpoint precise. Going to a celestial-themed wedding on the Amalfi Coast? There’s a dress for that. A meta-thematic tank for the cottagecore gal in your life? Sure, why not. Hair clip for your ska-loving friend? Naturally.
And now, a farmers-market-centric textile trend that has been culminating for years finally has its own name: Enter “Farmstand Graphics.” Subscription clothing site Nuuly, which allows members to rent pieces before they decide to buy, has many niche filters to help users find the perfect ‘fit (a trip to Copenhagen or a hip-hop show are both options). This summer, it has officially bestowed a title onto that increasingly visible category of clothing emblazoned with the edible: fruits, vegetables, seafood, bread, and beyond.
“Two years ago, we had some styles from [designer] Rachel Antonoff that did really well, and we noticed picnic fabrics like gingham picking up,” says Sky Pollard, Nuuly’s head of product. “So this year we spoke about it a little more loudly and decided, this is it. These food prints are our summer seasonal story.”
Eater took note of this trend when designers like Antonoff, Lisa Says Gah, and Susan Alexander started incorporating caviar and seafood towers into their designs, with these lines taking off following the pandemic. “We were fully prepared to go out of business,” Antonoff told Food52 in 2023. “But that’s when something just changed, there was a major attitude shift…so we pushed the line further with things like our seafood tower dress. That was one that we were like, this is going to be very insider baseball, this is just for us. Now it’s a best-seller.”
In fact, the pandemic itself could be credited as a springboard for the popularity of these patterns. After years of embracing athleisure and function over fashion, we were all a little hungry for clothing that told a story. Or, as Pollard puts it: “A lot of the things that we all did during the pandemic, like cooking at home or gardening, now you can take those to the street.”
New York-based designer Tyler McGillivary started her business in 2019, and noted it was a minimalist time, one where you didn’t see food prints outside of children’s clothing or high-end fashion. “It hadn’t proliferated into different brands yet, and people weren’t ready,” she notes. “But as a maximalist person, I’m happy to see people get more playful when getting dressed.”
Indeed, we’re seeing a menagerie of farmers market finds splattered onto dresses, coats, and blouses. Produce of any kind is everywhere, but especially cherries and citrus, which can be seen on a ruched camisole or used as not-so-subtle chest placement, respectively.
“Cherries alone have such a sensual context,” McGillivary says. “They feel flirty — with the cherry stem of it all — but the key is you want people to feel cute without it being kitschy or overly sexual.” McGillivary says her best-selling item is this tomato tee, which screams summer fun in a totally different way. (“A tomato is inherently more silly; it could never be sexual.”)
So why have we gravitated towards these gourmet garments? Sure, they are a way to convey to the world that, yes, we love food. But this is different than repping your favorite restaurant or food brand — it’s more wearable, aspirational art. Maybe I can’t be on the New England coastline right now, but I can live vicariously through my two-piece lobster set.
Tropical fruit signals vacation, too, and Jell-O mold patterns have become a nostalgic subsect of their own. For her latest collection, McGillivary took inspiration from Economy Candy in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, staring at all the vintage candy wrappers on the shelves. “The key is finding something that feels very familiar and placing it in a different context,” she says. “I see potential prints everywhere — my camera roll is truly deranged.”
“It’s about meeting the moment,” Pollard adds. “Whether you want to be in Portugal eating tinned fish or you’re attending a rooftop get-together serving spritzes, you can find that perfect outfit that will tell a story to friends and through social media.”
Customers embracing these prints has opened up the possibilities for designers. Pollard says that the number-one pattern at Nuuly will always be stripes, but farmstand graphics will be a solid runner-up this year. Looking forward, McGillivary says martinis will be a big part of her fall collection and Nuuly is looking to continue the food trend into the holidays.
“Not to quote everybody’s favorite movie, but sometimes florals just aren’t very groundbreaking, right?” Pollard says. “This is a way to do what a floral does but give it more personality. You will start a conversation as the girl at the party with the sardine sweater.”
