As fashion executives look to 2026, they are contending with a fundamentally new reality. US tariffs have redrawn trade maps and forced brands and their suppliers to rapidly adjust. Consumers continue to rethink their spending, seeking value and devoting more of their budgets to achieve other goals, including their own well-being and longevity. The swift onset of AI, meanwhile, means fashion businesses find themselves in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
While the ongoing disruptions may feel daunting, they are in fact part of a wider set of longer-term systemic shifts. The Business of Fashion and McKinsey have been tracking global economic dislocations, shifting consumer preferences, and changes to the fashion system in The State of Fashion reports for ten years now. The publication of our first report in 2016 coincided with the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and the first election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Since then, we have examined the impact of a once-in-a-generation pandemic, global supply chain upheaval, and the industry’s track record on sustainability, among many other macro themes.
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