It has been a tough few years for fashion, and retailers have been battling to lead on style, value and quality despite skyrocketing return rates, competition for customer loyalty and bold sustainability targets.
But in a highly competitive space, which fashion retailers are growing the fastest? And who is set to grow the most over the next five years?
Tracking the growth of fashion retailers in 2021/2022 and forecasting their growth over the next five years, Retail Week’s analyst team have the answers.
The ranking is based on the year-on-year increase from 2021 to 2022 and includes all fashion retailers with UK sales above £100m and who sell and report their UK sales. Shein could not be included in this ranking due to missing sales figures for the comparable trading period.
The chart is topped by Yours Clothing, closely followed by Inditex and The Foschini Group at numbers two and three respectively. The top 10 fastest fashion growers reveal a mixed bag and a vibrant market.
“The presence of top 10 retailers from various segments, including fashion, department stores and specialty stores, indicates a diverse market where different types of retailers can thrive,” says Retail Week data analyst Hanna Hua.
“They have demonstrated resilience and adaptability in the face of changing market conditions.”
One obvious leader missing from the pack is fast-fashion giant Shein*.
Shein’s UK arm, Shein Distribution UK, reported £1.1bn in sales and a pre-tax profit of £12.2m for the 16 months to December 2022, but the British company was incorporated in September 2021 and therefore has no sales directly comparable to this filing; as a result, it could not be included in our ranking.
Had Shein been included it would have likely made it into the top 10 ranking.
Inclusivity is key
The importance of sizing inclusivity is made apparent by the retailer at the top of our ranking – Yours Clothing. As a fashion brand offering sizes 14-40 and with a specific focus on being “designed to fit curves”, Yours is proving to be a hit with shoppers.
Retail Week data and insights director Lisa Byfield-Green says that Yours is winning against the other fashion retailers as its plus-size offer helps it stand out from the crowd and build brand loyalty.
“Yours Clothing has ambitions to become Britain’s biggest plus-sized fashion retailer. It tops the table of fastest-growing fashion retailers, having enjoyed a 79% surge in revenue in FY2021,” says Byfield-Green.
“This was largely due to a strong post-pandemic recovery, but it continued to grow sales by more than a third (34.2%) in its most recent financial year to January 29, 2023.
“It has not been a completely trouble-free time for the retailer, which has reviewed leases and reduced its store portfolio over the past three years. However, its clear brand proposition to make ‘fashion that fits’ in a range of inclusive sizing gives it a clear point of differentiation.”
The rise of Yours is not looking to slow down any time soon and is anticipated to grow the strongest within the next five years with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9%.
Reasons for this projected growth include its international expansion potential due to the gap in the market for plus-size fashion both online and in-store in other demographics, as well as the “reserve in-store” service it is reportedly developing.
Pureplays vs department stores
Among the pureplay retailers, Asos came in at number 16 while rival Boohoo took spot number 23 on our chart. All the pureplays have faced the fierce competition of Shein, as well as rising costs, high return rates, a reduced demand for fast fashion and the rebound of post-pandemic in-store shopping.
Retail Week analyst Kate Doherty says that Boohoo’s current growth challenges mirror those of its competitors, emphasising that it doesn’t come as a surprise that the company isn’t higher up the chart.
“Previously hailed for its agility and customer-centric approach, Boohoo now needs to balance a focus on profits, cost savings and organisational efficiencies with flexibility to serve customer demand, particularly as price-driven shoppers are being lured away by dynamic disruptors like Shein and Temu,” says Doherty.
“And although its acquisitive behaviour has allowed the Boohoo group to expand its breadth of products and target audience, it should be careful not to derail its focus on its core demographics and overly dilute its main youth-driven proposition.
“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and economic uncertainty, the UK fashion market has displayed resilience, with many retailers rebounding with strong growth”
“Prospect expects that challenging trading conditions and the ongoing shift of people returning to physical stores could mean any return to double-digit sales growth will take time, particularly while Boohoo’s newly acquired brands bed in.”
Meanwhile, of the luxury department stores, Fenwick came in as the fastest-growing, closely followed by Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, while Harrods was down at number 17.
Despite Fenwick’s number five ranking in the 2021/2022 financial year, sales are forecasted to slump in 2023/2024 as the department store exits London after the sale of its flagship store on Bond Street.
And while Harrods may have fallen behind its fellow department stores in our ranking, it has the highest growth forecast for the next five years with a CAGR of 12.4%.
In its most recent trading update, chief financial officer Tim Parker emphasised that driving growth was a continued priority, with a particular focus on “exclusive products and experiences that can only be found at Harrods.” This includes the launch of its loungewear and lingerie “universe” and the evolution of H Beauty.
What’s next for fashion?
While the current economic climate has certainly presented challenges for fashion retailers of all types, our ranking demonstrates resilience across the board with a particular spotlight on some of the smaller retailers who also experienced higher growth rates during the period.
“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and economic uncertainty, the UK fashion market has displayed resilience, with many retailers rebounding with strong growth,” says Hua.
“The average year-on-year growth among the top 30 UK fashion retailers for 2021/22 is 43%. Seven out of the top 30 achieved growth rates of over 50% in 2021/22.
“A noticeable trend is the rapid post-pandemic recovery of department stores like Selfridges and Harvey Nichols in the top 10. Additionally, the ranking shows there’s a rising demand for specialty needs, such as sportswear and plus-sizes.”
Hua also notes the continued dominance of big players in the industry, including Inditex, Primark, JD Sports and Next.
With an eye to the next five years, it is likely to be a positive growth period for most of the fashion retailers. Hua highlights that this growth is likely to be driven by both sustainability and technological innovations.
“Emphasis will be placed on the rise of resale and circular fashion, diversity, inclusivity and tech-aided personalised shopping experiences,” she says.
“By embracing these changes, fashion brands will thrive and remain relevant in an evolving market.”
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