Author: BoF Team, McKinsey & Company

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.The fashion industry is heading for a reality check. By the end of 2024, self-regulation of sustainability may no longer be an option. Many new rules around the world are set to mandate action on everything from textiles production and chemicals use to recycling and waste.While some industry progress is evident, the pace of transformation falls short of what is needed to prepare for impending regulations. Across the industry, the polluting use of fossil fuels continues to dominate production while circular business models…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.Capturing consumers’ attention online isn’t about to get any easier for fashion businesses.On Instagram, engagement rates have fallen, by roughly 30 percent year on year in 2022, while the reach of posts has diminished. Consumers are showing signs of fatigue towards traditional influencer marketing after years of being bombarded with product promotions and brand announcements. The BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2024 Consumer Survey found that 68 percent of respondents were unhappy about the high volume of sponsored content on social media platforms and…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.In 2023, fast fashion accelerated. Following in the footsteps of e-commerce giant and market leader Shein, a cohort of challengers has upended the competitive landscape by producing fashion quicker and cheaper than before. The first generation of fast-fashion heavyweights, like H&M and Zara, that introduced the concept of trendy runway-inspired fashion at affordable prices has before been challenged by a second generation of digital-first fast-fashion players like Asos and Boohoo. Now, a third generation of companies is making its mark. Rising players include…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.Disruptive technologies in the workplace generally fall into three categories — those that enhance existing skills while creating new ones; those that replace skills while reducing the need for others; and those that fall somewhere in between. So where does one of 2023’s buzziest technologies — generative artificial intelligence — fit? For creative teams in the fashion industry, the year ahead could help them find the answer.Gen AI — algorithms pre-trained on large volumes of data such as text, images and code, often…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.One lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been soaring consumer interest in healthier lifestyles and nature-focused activities, like camping, hiking and boating. In the US, 82 percent of people said they had participated in such outdoor activities, compared to 60 percent in 2020, while nearly half of survey respondents in the UK report spending more time outdoors than prior to the pandemic. In China, by the end of 2021, more than 400 million people were taking part in outdoor sports, and between…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.Far from resolving in 2024, the fashion industry’s supply-chain volatility of the past few years is set to continue. Upstream apparel suppliers and manufacturers have undergone significant disruption, where changes in consumer demand have resulted recently in a sharp decline in factory utilisation, widespread layoffs, and delayed investments. As brands and retailers look to scale up capacity to meet renewed demand, they may start to feel the repercussions of recent upstream strains.This turmoil is known as the “bullwhip effect,” a phenomenon where changes…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, consumers around the world have embraced travel with a new fervour. Despite cost-of-living pressures and economic uncertainties, global travel flows (calculated as the total number of kilometres travelled by paying airline passengers) are projected to return to 100 percent of pre-pandemic levels in 2023 and reach between 105 percent and 110 percent in 2024, according to McKinsey analysis.A fundamental change of lifestyles adopted in recent years is helping to fuel this rise. For example, remote and…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.Brand-building isn’t what it used to be. After years of leaning heavily on instantly trackable performance marketing, the fashion marketing landscape is shifting. A convergence of factors, including pressures on discretionary spend, is sharpening consumer appetite for entertaining brand storytelling that captures their aspirations and interests, well beyond the products on offer. Spurring this change are the increasing costs of performance marketing alongside new data privacy regulations restricting customer targeting, forcing marketers to find different ways to engage with shoppers.Many fashion leaders now…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.For many fashion businesses, addressing climate-related risks is often a priority that is eclipsed by other challenges they deem more urgent or imminent. However, due to the geographic footprint and structure of fashion’s supply chains, it is especially vulnerable to extreme and increasing climate volatility. In 2024, a mindset shift is needed across the industry to acknowledge that maintaining the status quo is no longer an option and climate risk cannot be viewed as a long-term project to be tackled further down the…

Read the latest version of The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company and BoF Insights here.Emboldened by the celebrities and designers they admire, a growing number of consumers are buying across gender-specific categories. Silhouettes, fabrics and colours no longer need to conform to traditional dress codes to sell to these consumers. For brands, the shift may be at an inflection point, prompting industry leaders to consider how to best act on changing consumer expectations.Gender has long influenced fashion and, even amid the shift to casualisation, gender is embedded in today’s merchandising practices. Introducing gender fluidity into product collections…