Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The UK fashion industry is worth £26 billion to the UK economy
The UK textile industry employs approximately 93,500 people
In 2022, UK online fashion sales totaled over £29.5 billion
The fashion sector in the UK accounted for 890,000 jobs in 2019
The UK has over 800 fashion colleges and courses
London Fashion Week generates an estimated £269 million in revenue yearly
The UK exported £7.9 billion worth of clothing and textiles in 2022
Over 350,000 tonnes of clothing end up in UK landfills each year
UK consumers buy more clothes per person than any other country in Europe
The average UK consumer spends £526 annually on clothing
Second-hand clothing sales in the UK grew by 149% between 2016 and 2022
60% of UK consumers say sustainability impacts their fashion purchasing decisions
About 49% of millennials in the UK say they prefer to buy from sustainable fashion brands
Consumer Behavior & Market Influence
- UK consumers buy more clothes per person than any other country in Europe
- The average UK consumer spends £526 annually on clothing
- Second-hand clothing sales in the UK grew by 149% between 2016 and 2022
- 60% of UK consumers say sustainability impacts their fashion purchasing decisions
- About 49% of millennials in the UK say they prefer to buy from sustainable fashion brands
- Approximately 35% of UK consumers have purchased fashion items via social media ads in 2022
- British shoppers spend around £3.5 billion on fast fashion annually
- The second-hand fashion market will be worth £15 billion in the UK by 2030
- 25% of UK clothing purchases are made during promotions or discounts
- The gender clothing gap in average spend shows UK men spend £82.99 per month vs. women’s £91.36
- The majority (55%) of clothing shoppers in the UK are influenced by peer reviews
- TikTok drives 35% of Gen Z fashion discovery in the UK
- 41% of UK households donate used clothing regularly
- The UK vintage clothing market has grown 58% since 2019
- On average, UK women own 95 items of clothing
- Nearly 40% of UK consumers report impulse buying clothing items online
- 55% of UK fashion shoppers consider brand ethical ratings before making a purchase
- 20% of children’s clothing sold in the UK is now second-hand
- 69% of UK consumers want fashion brands to provide clothing repair services
- The average UK family has £1,200 worth of clothes they never wear
- Sportswear accounts for 29% of UK fashion spending
- Men’s fashion is growing 3% faster than women’s in the UK
- The majority (54%) of UK shoppers read online reviews before buying clothing
- Streetwear is the fastest-growing fashion segment among UK Gen Z
- The pet fashion market in the UK has increased by 27% since 2020
- 30% of UK millennials have rented clothing
- 88% of British adults think brands should ensure ethical labour practices
- 25% of UK online fashion orders are returned
- Christmas is the peak season for UK fashion sales, making up 34% of annual revenue
- TikTok fashion hashtags receive over 13 billion views in the UK annually
- London is the 3rd most influential fashion capital globally
- 46% of British consumers say they discover fashion trends through influencers
Interpretation
In a nation where Brits buy more clothes per person than any other Europeans, spend billions on fast fashion, yet increasingly thrift, rent, return, and demand ethics from brands—all while discovering trends on TikTok and dressing their dogs—UK fashion is less a wardrobe and more a chaotic catwalk of contradiction.
E-commerce & Digital Trends
- In 2022, UK online fashion sales totaled over £29.5 billion
- 82% of UK adults shopped for clothing online in 2022
- Subscription fashion boxes generated £461 million in revenue in the UK in 2023
- ASOS is the UK’s largest online-only fashion retailer, with revenue over £3.5 billion annually
- Boohoo reported £1.9 billion in revenue in the financial year 2022
- 65% of UK fashion retailers implemented AI in 2023 to improve customer experience
- 70% of fashion retailers in the UK offer a “buy now pay later” option
- Sustainability fashion apps rose by 42% in UK usage from 2021 to 2023
- 38% of British fashion shoppers have used AR features when trying clothes online
- Virtual fitting rooms decreased UK online clothing return rates by 27%
- Fashion brands using UK influencers grew website traffic by 37%
- The resale clothing app Depop has over 6 million UK users
- 87% of UK digital fashion brands offer free return shipping
- UK online fashion conversion rate averages at 2.7%
- 49% of UK fashion brands now use 3D design tools
- Nearly two-thirds of British fashion brands store data in the cloud
Interpretation
In a world where virtual fitting rooms beat changing rooms, AI tailors your shopping cart, and nearly every Brit’s wardrobe starts online, the UK fashion industry proves that style waits for no one—especially not in a queue.
Economic Impact
- The UK fashion industry is worth £26 billion to the UK economy
- London Fashion Week generates an estimated £269 million in revenue yearly
- The UK exported £7.9 billion worth of clothing and textiles in 2022
- The UK fashion rental market was worth £923 million in 2023
- More than 100 fashion startups are based in London, UK
- 78% of UK retailers experienced supply chain disruptions affecting fashion stock in 2021-22
- The UK shoe market was valued at £10.6 billion in 2022
- Clothing retail in the UK decreased by 25% during the first COVID-19 lockdown
- UK fashion exports to the EU fell by 22% post-Brexit
- UK fashion shows and events contributed £500 million to tourism in 2022
- UK fashion retailers lose over £60 million annually due to online fraud
- Topshop sales dropped by 17% after store closures
Interpretation
From billion-pound catwalks and booming fashion exports to rental revolutions and Brexit-induced wardrobe malfunctions, the UK fashion industry struts a fine line between economic powerhouse and high-stakes balancing act.
Employment & Education
- The UK textile industry employs approximately 93,500 people
- The fashion sector in the UK accounted for 890,000 jobs in 2019
- The UK has over 800 fashion colleges and courses
- The UK is home to over 5,000 fashion designers
Interpretation
Dressed for success, the UK fashion industry stitches together nearly a million jobs, thousands of designers, and hundreds of colleges—proving style isn’t just an art, it’s a serious economic fabric.
Sustainability & Innovation
- Over 350,000 tonnes of clothing end up in UK landfills each year
- The average lifespan of a garment in the UK is only 2.2 years
- Only 13% of clothing is recycled in the UK
- Fashion is the second most polluting industry globally, and the UK is among the top five clothing consumers in Europe
- 12% of fashion returns in the UK are resold as new
- Major UK retailers plan to cut fashion-related carbon emissions by 30% by 2030
- More than 350 UK charities resell clothing and textiles
- 24% of UK clothing brands use recycled textiles as part of their production
- M&S leads UK high street sustainability rankings
Interpretation
In a country where fashion turns fast and fades faster, the UK’s wardrobe woe is clear: we’re buying more, binning quicker, and recycling less—leaving the planet to pick up the tab while only a fraction of brands stitch sustainability into their seams.