What you need to know

The summer fashion market (predominantly made up of summer-specific clothing and footwear, beachwear and sunglasses) is estimated to be worth £4.2 billion, representing 6% of the total fashion market. Increasing numbers of people are taking holidays and attending summer events such as music festivals, creating more opportunities for retailers and leading consumers to up their spending on summer fashion items. However, the unpredictable summer weather in the UK continues to dictate consumer shopping habits. This has resulted in many retailers entering the summer sales period even earlier than usual – with retailers including John Lewis and New Look starting to heavily discount products as early as June 2019.

Purchasing of summer fashion is typically done for specific occasions, with most buying items for holidays either in the UK or abroad. Festival fashion is another area of the market that has taken off, particularly in retailers aimed at younger shoppers, creating festival fashion edits consisting of more daring or bright pieces. As a result, people generally tend to buy some summer fashion items as one-off wears rather than as investment pieces. Currently people are looking for convenience when buying summer pieces, with many wanting to spend less in order to leave items behind on holiday. There is room for more eco-conscious brands to increase awareness around disposable fashion over the summer months and promote responsible purchasing.

Products covered in this Report

This Report looks at fashion items, including clothing, accessories and footwear that people purchase for key events in the summer season.

The Report examines:

  • The holiday shop

  • Swimwear

  • Festival fashion.

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