These are just a few sites that can be used by those looking to understand the business end of the fashion industry.
These sites are good for general understanding but also for understanding particular issues. We have not included all market research firms that cover the apparel industry though Euromonitor and Grand View are two. Searching the Internet generally is also good for niche issues, trends, products etc. If you are doing research on the internet generally, use phrases and terms like
You may also find it helpful to look to the companies and see what information they may produce about the market more generally. This is particularly true of ecommerce companies who can use the data they can gather from their systems to produce insight that you might not get from trade publications. For example, in 2024 Vestiaire Collective produced the "2023 Impact Report." It was their first sustainability report that provides a unique perspective on the luxury resale market. Websites like ThreadUp and the Real Real also publish data and reports like the "Resale Report," based on website activity.
It is also important to research the companies themselves. While we have a guide that goes into more detail there are a few quick things to mention. Look for what is written about the company, but also look at their web sites for the corporate information and what they write about themselves. If the company is a large publicly traded company, go their investor relations page and dive deep into the company financials - particularly the 10K (see the U.S. Public Companies section) and also look at the press releases and other reports.
Below are the relevant modern associations, but there may be older association that are relevant though they may no longer be active and material from them may not be widely available. For example, there was a Corset and Brassiere Association of America External that wrote a report Why Corsets and Brassieres Are Essential: A Report From the Corset and Brassiere Association of America. External
These are just a few of the resources that are available. Other resources are the web pages and social media of the magazines themselves. Much of their content will be pure fashion and less fashion business, however, they do increasingly cover the business end of fashion particularly as it relates to sustainability. For example Vogue, started Global Conversations External in the early COVID-19 quarantine, that included discussion on the "Future of Sustainability" "The Future of E-Commerce" "The Future of Brick and Mortar" on their YouTube channel. You can also find individual podcasts through regular news channels like the New York Times which had an episode "Sweatpants Forever" External as part of their The Daily podcast.
Fashion Forecasting has been a part of the industry since the beginning but in the later part of the 20th century "trend books" became common. These books were not just about the designers, but also for the fashion magazines. This “Trickle Down,” being told what is fashionable and “Bubble Up” where fashion houses look to individuals they see as trend setters has developed into an important part of the fashion industry and has become a sizable niche area where firms specialize in this activity. The fashion industry has looked to street wear or street style for the trends but that has become its own category of fashion. Now fashion forecasters are using social media channels like TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, as well as looking to popular fashion bloggers and Street Style blogs like The Sartorialist and The Cut's Where Did You Get That column to understand what is coming next.
Obviously these sites are helpful for those looking at the fashion trends, but these companies are a niche industry that can itself be researched. While there are a number of firms and sources for tracking fashion trends and using for fashion forecasting, that forecasting can be helpful for those trying to understand the industry. Below is a list of just a few that have only been included to illustrate this type of business. One to mention that may not be as obvious is the Pinterest 100 where they annually report on the top trends they see reflected through what is being posted on Pinterest. Some topics may be obviously fashion oriented, while others like those with an interest in sustainability, are less so.
