With unprecedented early spending power and disproportionate influence on the preferences of older generations, young consumers are reshaping the US fashion market. In fact, we project that “Fashion’s Next Gen”—the cohort of consumers 28 and under who make up Gen Z and Gen Alpha—will account for 40% of the US fashion market over the next decade. But few apparel brands have cracked the code for how to win today’s youngest customers. It’s time for a new playbook.
Women’s Wear Daily and Boston Consulting Group recently set out to explore what really matters to young consumers and how leading brands are adapting to win over Fashion’s Next Gen. The resulting inaugural Future of Fashion Report charts a course for competitive success in a redefined fashion and apparel market, drawing insights from more than 9,000 consumer responses and 50,000 social media conversations. It also features five in-depth executive interviews that detail how some brands are winning favor with younger generations.
Decade-old predictions about Fashion’s Next Gen have proven to be incorrect, and Gen Z and Gen Alpha follow different rules than prior generations of shoppers did. (See Exhibit 1.) These younger generations tend to be experimental rather than brand-loyal, prioritize cultural relevancy, and lean toward social-first storytelling. Their discovery-to-purchase journeys are predominantly trend- and product-driven, rather than brand-driven. Moreover, the journeys are fragmented, with AI playing a powerful role. (See Exhibit 2.)
Traditional marketing approaches fall short with these consumers, and the brands that succeed with them are pursuing five strategies:
- Determine the target consumers that the brand wants to acquire, and create clarity, targets, and KPIs.
- Obsess with youth culture, building authenticity through creators, collaborations, and products.
- Shift from brand control to creator energy to activate the social commerce engine.
- Prepare for agent engine optimization by prioritizing AI search to protect traffic.
- Focus on the fundamentals on pricing, discounts, and quality, and invest in critical
conversion factors.
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Fashion and apparel are entering a new consumer era in which Gen Z and Gen Alpha wield remarkable spending power. Cultural relevance is table stakes, which puts creator influence at a premium. Meanwhile, AI is fast becoming a new arbiter of success and a commerce channel itself. Perhaps more than in any previous era, the youngest generations today are setting the course for the future of fashion.
Brands aiming to win with these youngest shoppers must rethink conventional wisdom around brand loyalty and consumer priorities while rewiring strategies for omnichannel discovery and marketing. Fashion industry players that adhere to the status quo will find themselves left behind because today’s youngest consumers aren’t taking their cues from brand legacy. Instead, they’re setting the trends in a dynamic, interconnected world and are keen to discover brands that are willing to join in.
We thank Emily Sunderland, Danielle Cerepnalkovic, Morgan Doyle, Allegra Berger, Joel Nelson, and Amy Tey for their contributions to this article.
