Discover 118 Fascinating Style, Fashion and Clothing Stats for 2024

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Explore a treasure-trove of impactful fashion statistics that bring to life e-commerce trends and attitudes about business casual, athleisure, sustainable clothing, re-commerce and more.

  1. Global sales of apparel is estimated to be $1.74 trillion in 2023 and is expected to grow annually by 2.76% from 2023-2027, according to Statista. Global sales in the apparel industry totaled $1.9 trillion in 2019, according to Harvard Business School.
  2. A broader measure of the value of the global fashion industry is estimated to be $3 trillion, according to Fashion United.
  3. In the United States, in 2021, sales of women’s apparel totaled $132.7 billion and revenue from men’s apparel was $76.5 billion. [NPD Group via the New York Times]
  4. The largest apparel retailer in the world is LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, followed by Nike, French sustainable luxury group Kering, Industria de Diseno Textil, Fast Retailing Co, Rongsheng Petrochemical Co., Adidas, TJX Companies, Hermes International, and Hennes & Mauritz. [Forbes]
  5. The global streetwear market was roughly $187.5 billion in 2022, and it’s predicted to grow to $230.8 billion by 2028.
  6. From 2020-2026, Men’s clothing is expected to grow 5.7% annually to $705 billion by 2026. Women’s apparel is expected to grow 5.4% on average. Children’s apparel is expected to grow 5.6% annually. [Statista Apparel Report 2021]
  7. 67% of fashion executives expect retail prices to increase in 2022 by an average of 3.2 percent. [McKinsey 2022]
  8. Fashion executives most frequently identify “supply chain, logistics and inventory management” as the biggest challenge ahead. Supply chain disruptions “ranked at the top of the agenda for 84 percent of executives.” [McKinsey 2022]
  9. Global sales of clothing and footwear will recover to reach 96-101% of 2019 levels by 2021 and 103-108% percent in 2022. [McKinsey 2022]

Gen Z and Millennial Fashion and Clothing Stats

  1. Fashion is one of three top categories that Millennials splurge or treat themselves. [McKinsey 2022]
  2. 52% of teens say Amazon is their number one favorite e-commerce site. Fast-fashion clothing site SHEIN is in second place. [Piper Sandler Taking Stock with Teens Fall 2021]
  3. Gen Z and Millennial social media users are predicted to drive the growth in social commerce purchases and will account for 62% of global social commerce spending by 2025. [Accenture 2022]
  4. 92% of Gen Z consumers use discount codes when shopping online. [UNiDAYS 2021]
  5. Nike is the number one apparel brand for teens, and LULU is gaining rapidly in popularity. [Piper Sandler Taking Stock with Teens Fall 2021]
  6. 40% of Gen Z consumers have purchased secondhand clothing, shoes or accessories, which is double that of Gen X and Baby Boomers. [via Forbes]
  7. 90% of Gen-Zers and 86% of Millennials believe companies are completely or somewhat responsible for reducing carbon emissions. [Salesforce State of the Connected Consumer]
  8. For teens, clothing makes up of 22% of their wallet share, and ranks as their number 1 priority for the first time since the fall 2014. (Food is number 2.) [Piper Sandler Taking Stock with Teens Fall 2021]
  9. Gen Z comprises the largest generation of consumers globally, amounting to 40% of the total. [UNiDAYS 2021]
  10. Fashion brands Crocs, PacSun, Hey Dude, Zara, SHEIN, and Gymshark were gaining mindshare with teens in 2021. [Piper Sandler Taking Stock with Teens Fall 2021]
  11. There was a 7.7% increase in fashion sales and 8.4% increase in total order value among Gen Z consumers, according to a 2020 analysis by UNiDAYS.
  12. 60% of consumers under 30 years old say they make “no distinction between the clothes they wear in-office or outside of work hours.” [Stitch Fix 2022 Survey]
  1. E-commerce sales make up 30% of total sales of apparel and footwear globally, compared to 19% in 2019. [Euromonitor 2021]
  2. 47.5% of clothing sales will be via e-commerce by 2024, according to Forrester Research. [via Retail Dive, July 2021]
  3. 50% of fashion industry insiders believe that COVID-19 has turbocharged their companies’ digital transformation. [Euromonitor 2021]
  4. American retailers that offered the option to “Buy-Online-Pick-Up-In-Store” (BOPIS) grew nearly two times faster over the last two weeks of the holiday season than those that did not offer the option. [Salesforce 2021]
  5. Even though overall apparel and footwear sales declined in 2020, clothing, accessories and footwear combined were responsible for 19% of overall e-commerce sales growth in the United States. [via Retail Dive, July 2021]
  6. In December 2020, e-commerce represented 28% of global apparel and footwear sales by value. [Euromonitor International Apparel and Footwear research December 2020 update]

Fast Fashion Clothing Statistics

  1. The global fast-fashion market was estimated to be $68.6 billion in 2020 and is predicted to reach nearly $212 billion in 2030. [Researchandmarketing]
  2. 48% of Americans don’t want to be photographed in the same outfit twice, according to a survey. [OnePoll]
  3. 54% of Americans think “fast-fashion” is going out of style. [OnePoll]

Stats on the Impact of the Pandemic on Fashion and Retail

  1. “Global retail value sales declined by 19% in 2020, with a return to the pre-COVID-19 level of sales not expected until post-2025.” [Euromonitor International, July 2021]
  2. Interestingly, 40% of consumers say they have a stronger preference for shopping in a brick-and-mortar store now than compared to before the pandemic. [Cotton Incorporated 2021 Coronavirus Response Survey (Wave 9)]
  3. While 57% of Stitch Fix’s clients expressed excitement about putting together outfits again for work, 22% aren’t sure what to wear to the office now and 48% believe they “need a new work wardrobe because their pre-pandemic work clothes feel out of date.” [Stitch Fix 2022 Survey]
  4. 73% of consumers say the COVID-19 pandemic will alter the way they shop for clothes in the future. [Cotton Incorporated 2021 Coronavirus Response Survey (Wave 9)]
  5. Pajamas were the fastest-growing apparel category during the pandemic. Sales of pajamas more than doubled in 2020 compared with 2019 levels. [Harvard Business School 2021]
  6. Retail sales at Simon Property’s holdings returned to pre-pandemic levels in the summer of 2021. Simon Property Chief Executive David Simon told analysts in an earnings call that sales at Simon’s properties in June were comparable with June 2019 figures and rose 80% compared to 2020.
  7. Simon Property CEO David Simon told analysts in a 2021 conference call, “Read my lips, physical retail is here to stay and people really like to shop in the physical world. So don’t believe everything you hear on TV. We’ve got the evidence.”
  8. Following the declaration of the pandemic, online clothing resale platform Poshmark saw a 50% increase in listings and orders and a 40% rise in new sellers from the year prior. [via Forbes]
  9. eBay sold nearly double the number of secondhand tops than bottoms in 2020. [eBay data]

Business Casual Clothing Statistics

  1. Half of Stitch FIx’s clients indicated their workplaces became more casual post-COVID. [Stitch Fix 2022 Survey]
  2. 40% of men indicate they will wear fewer suits in the post-COVID office. [Stitch Fix 2022 Survey]
  3. Even before the pandemic, casual business dress codes were on the rise. According to a 2018 study by SHRM, 50% of workplaces permitted business casual attire. [SHRM, 2018]
  4. 84% of women will wear more flats instead of heels as part of their post-pandemic office outfits. [Stitch Fix 2022 Survey]
  5. 81% of workers in a global survey say that they perform better at work when dressed comfortably. A whopping 92% of U.S. Millennial men said that they performed better at work when they were dressed comfortably. [2021 lululemon study]
  6. 76% of workers claim that dressing more casually at work improves connections between colleagues. [2021 lululemon study]
  7. 31% of consumers would prefer to take a 10% cut in pay rather than having to dressed up for work every day. [Stitch Fix 2021 survey]
  8. 38% of Millennials indicated that they might leave their job if their bosses enforced a professional dress code. In the United States, more than half of Millennial men said they would consider looking for another job over rather than abide by a professional dress code. [2021 lululemon study]
  9. According to a survey of employees by Randstad US, 79% of employees’ dress code policy is either business casual (26%), casual (33%) or non-existent/don’t know (20%). [Randstad US, August 2019]
  10. 50% of senior office managers say that employees dress less formally than 5 years ago. [Robert Half Talent Solutions, 2016
  11. 47% of senior office managers think their employees dress “too casually” for the workplace. 32% think that employees showed “too much skin.” [Robert Half Talent Solutions, 2016

Athleisure, Workleisure and Comfortable Clothing Statistics

  1. 69% of consumers indicate they are wearing comfortable clothes more frequently than before the pandemic. [Cotton Incorporated 2021 Coronavirus Response Survey (Wave 9)]
  2. 96% of consumers said comfort was their top priority when it came to choosing clothes. [2021 lululemon study]
  3. 47% of women say they plan to wear elastic-waist pants as part of their return-to-work wardrobes. [Stitch Fix 2022 Survey]
  4. Revenue for men’s “performance pants” increased more than 180% from 2021 to 2022. [Stitch Fix 2022 Survey]
  5. 41% of Americans think wearing Athleisure is “chic.” (48% think it’s sloppy.) [Tommy John, 2019]
  6. 84% of respondents hope that casual clothing will become more prevalent in the workplace. [2021 lululemon study]

Sustainable and Ethical Clothing Statistics

  1. Returns for merchandise purchased online were 17.6% in 2023. [NRF]
  2. It is estimated that returns of clothing and shoes purchased online are as much as 30% or 40%, and can reach as high as 50% in the post-holiday period.
  3. Clothing is the most-returned category of goods, according to an NRF survey.
  4. The sustainable clothing industry is worth over $6.5 billion. Sustainable fashion is expected to grow to $9.81 billion by 2025 and to $15 billion by 2030. [The Business Research Company]
  5. 86% of consumers say environmental change is real and requires a change in how we behave. [Cotton Incorporated October 2021 Sustainability & Concerned Consumers Report]
  6. While consumers are increasingly seeking out organic cotton clothing, organic cotton production represents only 1% of total cotton production worldwide. [Textile Exchange] Though that’s up from 2006, when organic cotton production represented just 0.1% of total production. [National Wildlife Federation]
  7. 95% of an estimated 36 billion items of clothing that are thrown out each year in the United States could be reused or recycled. [ThreadUp]
  8. Products that were marketed as sustainable grew 5.6 times faster than those that were not [Harvard Business Review]
  9. Textile trash has increased nine-fold since the 1960s. [via Forbes]
  10. In 2021, 66% of consumers indicate that sustainability influences their clothing purchases, a jump from 61% in 2017. [Cotton Incorporated October 2021 Sustainability & Concerned Consumers Report]
  11. A majority of consumers think that sustainable clothing is higher quality (59%), better for their family’s health (58%), better value for money (57%) and function better (54%). [Cotton Incorporated October 2021 Sustainability & Concerned Consumers Report]
  12. 59% of American shoppers say that “more sustainable production” would have an effect on whether to buy denim jeans. [Cotton Council International (CCI) and Cotton Incorporated November 2021 Global Denim Study.]
  13. 89% of customers expect companies to clearly state their values, and 90% expect them to clearly demonstrate those values. [Salesforce State of the Connected Consumer]
  14. 61% of consumers have stopped buying from a company whose values didn’t align with theirs. [Salesforce State of the Connected Consumer]
  15. Globally, 47% of Gen Z and millennials believe climate change will have a greater impact on their lives in the future than the present. [Euromonitor 2021]
  16. Although 69% of Americans are concerned about environmental issues, just 44% “always” or “often” take into account environmental impacts of their clothing purchases. [OnePoll]
  17. The fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water annually, which is enough for 5 million people to survive. [United Nations]
  18. The fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global wastewater. [United Nations]
  19. 87% of fashion fabrics wind up incinerated or in landfill. [World Bank]
  20. Each second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned. [United Nations]
  21. The total greenhouse gas emissions from textile production, estimated to be 1.2 billion tons annually, are more than the emissions from international flights and maritime shipping combined. [Ellen Macarthur Foundation]
  22. Between 1,800-2,000 gallons of water are used in the production of one pair of jeans. [United Nations]
  23. A whopping 30% of clothing produced is never sold [via Hasmik Matevosyan]
  24. Way back in 2015, 73% of Millennials indicated they were willing to pay more for sustainable brands. [Nielson via Georgetown University]

Resale, Re-Commerce and Second-Hand Clothing Statistics

After digesting the statistics below on resale and secondhand clothing, discover Modern Fellows’ guide to the best online vintage clothing stores:

  1. The market for secondhand clothing is poised to double from 2021-2025, reaching $77 billion in 2025. [ThreadUp]
  2. The “most prolific” member of Vestiaire Collective has bought an astonishing 3,579 items and sold 594 pieces since the vintage online clothing platform launched in 2009. [Vestiaire Fashion Report]
  3. The resale clothing market is predicted to grow 11 times faster than the overall clothing market by 2025. [ThreadUp]
  4. Almost 2 out of 5 thrift clothing shoppers say they are replacing fast fashion purchases with secondhand clothing. [ThreadUp]
  5. Online searches for wedding dresses which include the words “vintage”, “second hand” or “pre-owned” rose 38% from 2019 to 2020 on UK fashion search platform Lyst. [Lyst 2020 Wedding Report]
  6. Online secondhand marketplace Poshmark doubled its community from 2019 to 2020 from 30 million members to 60 million participants. [via Forbes]
  7. Purchases of “pre-loved items” on eBay’s UK platform increased a whopping 1,404% from June 2018 to June 2020. [eBay data]
  8. From 2017 to 2020, purchases of pre-loved fashion on eBay increased 31%. [via Cosmopolitan]

Black Friday and Holiday Sales Statistics

  1. 79% of clothing retailers began their Black Friday sales no later than the Monday prior to Thanksgiving in 2021. [Analysis by Modern Fellows]
  2. In another sign of the decline of Black Friday as a standalone day, in 2022, 20% of consumers indicated they would shop on Black Friday, compared to 60% who said they would in 2015. [PwC Holiday Outlook 2022]
  3. 35% of clothing retailers offered better deals on Cyber Monday than on Black Friday in 2021. [Analysis by Modern Fellows]
  4. 78% of shoppers say that inflation will have some or a great deal of impact on their 2022 holiday shopping plans. [Walmart 2022 Holiday Insights Guide]
  5. While 25% of consumers will start holiday shopping in early November, many (41% percent) plan to wait until the Thursday through Monday of Thanksgiving weekend to conduct most of their holiday shopping. [PwC Holiday Outlook 2022]
  6. November-December 2021 retail sales rose 14.1 percent, to $886.7 billion, over 2020. [National Retail Federation]
  7. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, November-December 2020 retail sales rose 8.2 percent, to $777.3 billion, over 2019.  [National Retail Federation]

Labor Day Shopping Statistics

  1. 45% of consumers plan to shop in physical retailers during Labor Day weekend. [Vibenomics, 2023]
  2. Labor Day generates the second-most sales among holidays in the United States, behind Christmas. [Finical, 2022]
  3. 44% of consumers say they will shop Labor Day weekend sales and spend an average of $166. Twenty-nine percent of those consumers plan to shop for end-of-summer clothing and shoes, while 23% intend to buy fall apparel and footwear. [Retailmenot survey, 2023]

Suits and Professional Clothing Studies and Statistics

  1. Clothes can have a “systematic influence” on a wearer’s psychological processes. A 2012 study found that wearing a lab coat described as a doctor’s coat increased attention of subjects. This principle of “enclothed cognition” is based on both the physical experience and symbolism of wearing specific clothing. [Enclothed cognition study, July 2012]
  2. A 2015 study indicates that wearing a suit was found to influence a person’s cognition and impact their ability to process information. [The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing study, March 2015] “Putting on formal clothes makes us feel powerful, and that changes the basic way we see the world,” observed Abraham Rutchick, one of the study’s authors.
  3. 43% of people think their choice of outfits affects their performance at work. [Tommy John, March 2020]

Social Commerce Statistics

  1. In 2025, clothing is expected to make up the largest number of social commerce purchases globally, accounting for 18% of all social commerce transactions. [Accenture 2022]
  2. Snapchat ranks as teens’ favorite social media platform (35%) followed by TikTok (30%) and Instagram (22%). [Piper Sandler Taking Stock with Teens Fall 2021]
  3. The social commerce industry was valued at $492 billion in 2022. [Accenture 2022]
  4. The global social commerce industry is predicted to increase three times faster than traditional ecommerce, to $1.2 trillion, in 2025. [Accenture 2022]
  5. Nearly two thirds (64%) of social media users indicated they completed a social commerce purchase over the past year, which amounts to almost 2 billion social customers globally. [Accenture 2022]

Digital Fashion Statistics

  1. 32% of fashion executives identify digital is the biggest growth opportunity ahead for fashion. [McKinsey 2022]
  2. DressX, a digital fashion retailing platform, quantifies the digital fashion market at $31 billion. [McKinsey 2022]
  3. The total global digital ad spend on social platforms is estimated to reach $517 billion in 2023. [UNiDAYS 2021]

Men’s Attitudes Towards Shopping Statistics

  1. Nearly half (43%) of men think that shopping for a new wardrobe is more of a hassle than doing their taxes. [Stitch Fix April 2022 Survey]
  2. Around one-third of men are intimidated when dressing for important events like first dates (34%), weddings (36%), and funerals (27%). [Stitch Fix April 2022 Survey]
  3. 60% of men say that dressing up for a work-related activity like a job interview, company party, or for the office following teleworking is intimidating. [Stitch Fix April 2022 Survey]
  4. 40% of American men say throwing out old clothes is difficult than ending a relationship. [Stitch Fix April 2022 Survey]
  5. 28% of men regularly wear items more than 10 years old. [Stitch Fix April 2022 Survey]
  6. Nearly 80% (78%) of men feel they have stood out socially because of their attire. [Stitch Fix April 2022 Survey]

Statistics About Men’s Skin Care and Personal Care

Men’s attitudes towards a skin care regime have changed over the years and the personal care market has evolved as a result. For more background, see Modern Fellows’ Guide to the Best Men’s Skincare Brands for Every Budget and Complexion.

  1. The global market for men’s personal care products is estimated to be $30.8 billion in 2021 and will grow 9.1 percent annually until 2030. [Grand View Research Men’s Personal Care Report]
  2. The global men’s skin care products market is estimated to grow from $12 billion in 2020 to $16.3 billion by 2026. [Global Industry Analysts]
  3. The market for men’s shave care products is estimated to rise to $5.9 billion by 2026. [Global Industry Analysts]
  4. The U.S. market for men’s skin care products is estimated to be $3.4 billion in 2021. [Global Industry Analysts]
  5. China’s market for men’s skin care products is predicted to grow to $3.3 billion by 2026. [Global Industry Analysts]

Even More Interesting Fashion and Clothing Stats

  1. 42% of shoppers look at customer reviews to gauge a garment’s size and fit. [Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor Research, 2020]
  2. 42% of Americans admitted in a survey conducted by Tommy John they don’t wash outer apparel like pants or shirts before wearing them the first time. [Tommy John, December 2019]

About Jake

Jake is an expert on men’s style and fashion based in Washington, DC. He founded Modern Fellows in 2012 to get to know the entrepreneurs and innovative clothing and lifestyle brands helping men dress sharp in the digital age. He has published hundreds of articles on style and apparel, and regularly interviews small business CEOs and startup founders about industry trends. Jake has written about entrepreneurship, international business and fashion for outlets including Business Week, Forbes, Inc., Details Style Syndicate and Primer Magazine.

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