Fashion brands, at global average, budget ~8 per cent of their revenue for marketing and advertising to maintain visibility and engagement. Among them, emerging and startup brands spend 20 per cent to build brand awareness, generating demand, and first-time customer acquisition. On the other hand, global companies spend relatively less, 11 per cent of their revenue, on branding, advertising, technology and data tools to reach out to broader audiences across markets. While traditional offline and print marketing attracts 5-10 per cent share, the booming digital marketing takes away up to 60 per cent of total budget as fashion brands nowadays are relying heavily on online touchpoints, such as social platforms, search engines and digital storefronts. This has evolved as a response to a shift in consumer behaviour, as shopping is increasingly happening online. In case of D2C and e-commerce-first brands, the spend may even exceed 60 per cent. Experts observe content marketing, comprising blog posts, video production, look books, style guides and (user-generated content) marketing that helps nurturing communities and building brand loyalty, consumes 20-30 per cent of total digital spend. Anything between 10 to 20 per cent goes in social media marketing, covering both paid social advertisements (ads) and organic content on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Facebook, in addition to a part of it being spent on influencer collaborations, carousel ads, shoppable posts and short-form videos. With such diverse role and set of activities, fashion marketing and advertising is undergoing a significant change, marked by shifting trends.

Marketing

Partnership Marketing
Fashion brands are collaborating with complementary businesses to reach new audiences while sharing costs. This includes anything from a co-branded collection with another designer, partnering with a tech company for smart fashion innovations, collaborating with wearable tech brands to integrate fashion with function, partnering with eco-friendly organisations or fabric suppliers to showcase brand’s environmental commitment, or partnering with fitness, beauty or travel brands to expand reach into new consumer markets.

In October 2025, collaborating with New York designer Sandy Liang, Gap launched limited-edition Gap x Sandy Liang collection comprising women’s and children’s apparel. To promote the collection, Gap released its first animated film, marking a creative shift from typical advertising that feature choreographed dances, catchy soundtracks and celebrity ambassadors. On other side of partnership spectrum, with roots in workwear and deep influence in fashion, music and global youth culture, Levi’s marketing strategy prefers cultural partnerships like the Beyonce ‘Reimagine’ and the Shaboozey ‘Men’s Icons’ campaigns, and the Nike-Levi’s collaboration, to ensure brand stays elastic across subcultures. In November, for the fifth and final season of global series Stranger Things, Netflix rolled out a suite of brand collaborations, including names like Gap, Benetton, Nike, Converse, Pull&Bear, New era and Crocs. These brands’ merchandise includes 1980s-inspired, character-driven pieces, such as a special Benetton capsule collection worn by characters Eleven and Erica. In another development, after a 27-year hiatus, Nike decided to return as a Super Bowl advertiser, emphasising the importance of partnership marketing. Among trending partnerships, influencer marketing is on a rise.

Influencer Marketing
The $6.82 billion worth of global fashion influencer marketing market, growing at a CAGR of 33.8 per cent 2024 onwards, is predicted to reach $39.72 billion by 2030, with North America being the largest and Asia- Pacific remaining the fastest growing markets. Consuming 10-20 per cent of marketing budget, influencer marketing drives twice as many sales as display advertising, with a 37 per cent higher retention rate. Rightly so, many clothing brands, from fast fashion like Fashion Nova, ASOS, and Shein to athletic wear like Nike and Lululemon, as well as inclusive brands like Good American and luxury labels like Dior, heavily use influencers for marketing. They work with micro-influencers for authenticity or larger personalities for massive reach. Influencer marketing, involving sponsored posts, ambassador programmes, affiliate links, and campaigns showcasing style, try-ons, and hauls, provides exclusive advantages.

In an era of social media, both globally recognised influencers as well as micro-influencers with significant followings carry a level of authenticity and trust which traditional advertising often lacks. While brands like ASOS and Shein partner with smaller creators (micro-influencers) for authentic content, try-ons, and niche community engagement, companies like Gymshark and Fabletics run ambassador programmes. A trusted influencer showcasing a brand is seen as a personal recommendation by his/her followers, rather than a sales pitch. Partnering with influencers bring their followers along, which can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates. When any influencer admires or recommends certain clothing item, it inspires his or her followers to purchase it, allowing brands to build community of loyal customers from that lot. These communities connect consumers with brands at emotional level.

Community Building
Successful brands are not just selling products; they are building movements through community-driven marketing that fosters a sense of belonging. It gives customers a reason to care, share, and stay loyal beyond the point-of-sale. Take the case of US brand DadGang, which gained traction by tapping into the overlooked identity of modern father in the apparel space, with not many brands reflecting the pride and reality of fatherhood. Sensing the gap, the DadGang founders built a brand that speaks directly of that experience. Since the brand is community-inspired, it centred its marketing strategy around it too. Serving as a support group, the brand’s Facebook group allows dads to swap advice, celebrate wins and find solidarity. By giving its audience an opportunity to connect, DadGang resonates on an emotional level. This kind of authentic connection forms the backbone of word-of-mouth marketing and long-term loyalty. Similarly, micro-communities on social media, comprising small groups of people who share interests, often help brands refine their products and messaging by collecting real insights from specific groups of people sharing similar interests and challenges. There are many brands which use a niche hashtag strategy on platforms like X and Instagram. By posting content with a targeted hashtag helps brands increase visibility, drive viral marketing and build authority.

Newsjacking & Strategic Placements
Fashion brands are relying on newsjacking, i.e., utilising trending news, cultural events and social movements, to create buzz around the brand, which is a powerful method to stay relevant and engage with audiences in real time. By releasing a limited-edition collection tied to a significant event, such as a film premiere, political movement or viral trend, brands are able to generate immediate interest and media coverage. By incorporating cultural or political statements into their designs, brands align themselves with the causes which their audience cares about. Newsjacking makes brands part of a larger conversation, attracting attention, and strengthening their identity and loyalty among like-minded customers.

By placing their products strategically in TV shows, music videos and popular influencers’ daily content, brands get massive exposure. To seamlessly fit the products into the content, brands collaborate with content creators and feature their products in lifestyle vlogs, partner with stylists who work with celebrities or influencers for high-visibility placements, and use virtual influencers or integrate products into video games and the metaverse for next-level exposure. Both marketing strategies aim to engage consumers and drive sales.

FOMO Driving Sales
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) has evolved into a smart marketing strategy, often acting as a customer motivator. It creates buzz, drives faster conversions and imparts certain exclusivity to brand. By limiting product availability through limited editions or partnership lines, customers are given an impression of owning something truly rare. They are coaxed into buying something that is one of a kind which would not be seen everywhere or anywhere else. Not just as marketing ploy, the California-headquartered Goldie swimwear uses FOMO as a tool for planning and anticipation too. The brand’s team negotiates low buying minimums of new product runs to see how they perform before committing to bigger orders. The brand opens the waitlist a week before any product launches to gauge how successful a launch day will be based on the number of signups. YoungLA, a lifestyle clothing brand from Los Angeles, too builds anticipation by releasing previews a week in advance and then shutting down its website for the two hours leading up to launch, revolving its business model around high-stakes product drops. Within 20 minutes of the drop going off, a million orders are generated as customers are made to act fast or risk missing out. Whether it is a drop model or managing pre-launch interest, FOMO strategy turns the attention into action and builds loyalty over time.

Luxury Scarcity
On average, luxury brands allocate around 20 to 30 per cent of their annual revenue to marketing to sustain constant campaigns, runway shows, seasonal ads and influencer collaborations, while ‘scarcity’ remains its core strategy. Unlike Goldie and YoungLA which ‘create’ FOMO, luxury brands like Hermès have turned their genuine scarcity into a marketing advantage. In brand’s ecosystem, unavailability is the greatest advertisement, which transforms waiting lists into status symbols and leverages production limitations to drive desire. The brand’s approach centres on three fundamental pillars: manufactured scarcity through limited production, strategic silence that creates mystique, and exclusive access that transforms customers into privileged initiates. Since brand is committed to hand-crafted production, each artisan can produce only a limited number of pieces per year. This production limitation creates genuine constraints which cannot be overcome through automation or increased investment. Hermès strategy markets scarcity as a feature rather than a bug in the brand’s value proposition.

Personalisation – The Future-Forward Strategy
Using data from landing pages, content interactions and purchase history, brands are delivering tailored product recommendations and experiences to their customers. Machine learning, AI chatbots, data-driven product suggestions and other personalisation strategies are being used to connect and convert customers. Brands collect zero-party data, i.e., information that consumers consent to sharing, through surveys, polls, quizzes, or questionnaires, to improve their experience, gather customer insights, and personalise campaigns, brand messages, shopping experiences, and product lines. Adding to personalisation, live shopping and in-stream purchases offer the most visibility and interaction. People can see a product in live videos where they can ask questions, get answers, and view it in real time, without filters or tampering. Video selling, another popular personalised marketing medium on social platforms, allows customers to buy limited-edition clothing products. Since personalisation is tech-driven, it will continue flourishing with advancing technology, along with video-based visual storytelling.

Visual Storytelling
Visual storytelling, a form of marketing that conveys a brand’s message, values, and personality through powerful imagery and videos, is also gaining traction. A powerful tool to strengthen engagement, build brand loyalty and drive more conversions, it makes consumers feel a deeper connection by immersing them in the brand’s world. While celebrating 100th anniversary in 2025, Gucci Aria campaign used visual storytelling that blended heritage with modern visuals through striking video and fashion films.

Visuals show brands’ personality using behind-the-scene (BTS) videos or highlighting the inspiration behind their collections, and giving insights into their creative process. By sharing product launches, styling tips and design stories in 15-30 second shareable clips on Instagram reels, Tik Tok and YouTube shorts, brands tell their stories which motivate customers to buy. However, for a successful storytelling, visual style consistency, across all platforms to reinforce brand identity and message, is a must.

Inclusive Campaigns
Inclusivity stems from the philosophy that fashion must represent everyone. Brands that are embracing diversity and inclusion by featuring models of all sizes, ethnicities, and genders, are able to connect with a broader audience. Inclusive marketing offers size-inclusive, adaptive clothing lines for different needs and body types to ensure no one is left out. By adding inclusivity to their marketing campaigns, brands can demonstrate their commitment to diversity and identity. Consumers also now look for fashion brands that represent diverse ethnicities, genders, and body types, using models and products that meet the specific needs of the diverse population. Many clothing brands now showcase plus-size models and people of colour on their covers.

Sustainability – Marketing Communication
Since today’s consumer is captivated more by transparency and brands talking the walk, brands are getting more transparent and vocal about circular fashion practices in their business. To win the trust of environment-conscious consumers and earn their loyalty, brands are now talking more about their actions to reduce carbon footprints, policies to use sustainable materials, and ethical production practices. In marketing communication, brands are openly highlighting their ethical sourcing and fair labour practices. Some brands like Everlane break down costs of their products and share details about the factories they work with, giving customers insight into how and where their clothes are made. The purpose is even uniting like-minded brands to benefit from common pool of their loyal customers. A case in point is: Under Armour acquired Unless Collective, plastic-free apparel brand built entirely from renewable, plant-based materials, in 2024. Marking a turning point in sustainable sportswear segment, this union, with Unless’s deep expertise in regenerative fashion and Under Armour’s global scale, is likely to capture significant market share.

Advertising

Ad Format Selection
Choosing the right ad format in apparel advertising to showcase clothing in the most compelling way, is crucial. Brand marketers are required to choose most suitable ad format to serve their objective. If a brand wants to display multiple products or features within a single ad to allow viewers a peep into its collection range and versatility, carousel ad, i.e., a mini fashion show in brand’s audience’s social media feed, is the best format option. Carousel ad, most popular on Instagram and Facebook, features multiple video or images within a single ad. Combined with Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs), they automatically showcase relevant items based on viewer’s browsing history. On the other hand, video ads are most appropriate for telling stories as they bring clothing to life by showcasing movement, texture and style in a way that static images cannot. They help brands in sharing their compelling stories, and highlighting their values, inspiration or even commitment to sustainability. Whether video ads are for a high-fashion production or a peculiar social media clip, they are a powerful medium to engage audience and leave a lasting impression. As an advanced option, interactive shoppable ads allow viewers to buy clothes directly without navigating a separate website. Without leaving Instagram feed, viewers can click ‘buy now’ for the dress they like in the ad, resulting in instant sale.

Follow-up Ads
Fashion ads no longer just promote products. They have evolved into sensitive engagement as demonstrated by PerfectWhiteTee. The LA-based apparel company produced an ad that invited a lot of comments questioning the $70 price for one of their shirts. The engagement the ad generated encouraged the brand to come up with a follow-up ad, explaining why it was priced so. The brand explained its sourcing and production practices to command that price. By listening and responding to a question that end-consumer had asked, the brand showed how scepticism can be turned into stronger engagement. This shows that the more transparently brands respond to customers’ evolving needs and preferences, the stronger their connection with them becomes.

Breaking Shackles
In a brave move, Nike choose to redo its marketing tagline. The American sports giant made waves in September 2025 by replacing its iconic tagline ‘Just Do It’, with a question ‘Why Do It?’ The campaign targeted Gen Z, the youth segment that may not understand the power and resonance of the Nike’s 37-year-old tagline in the same way as the older generation which grew up watching legendary athletes like Michael Jordan and Serena Williams. Termed ‘anxious’ generation, Gen Z is not the one to try Nike inspired by ‘Just Do It’, so the brand’s new ad showed athletes from various sports spanning basketball, football, baseball, soccer, tennis, diving, and racing, in the moment of risk when they choose to take that first step towards greatness. The campaign came amidst business transformation of Nike as the brand tries to regain its cultural relevance and creative edge. Questioning ‘Why Do It?’ to a new generation of fans is seen as the brand’s attempt to reclaim its place at the top.

Meanwhile in early January, Nike’s top rival Adidas created a playful rivalry with its newest boot launch for SS26 containing its latest Predator and F50 models. The campaign asks footballers around the world to choose either of the Team Predator, led by Jude Bellingham, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Pedri, Alessia Russo and Aitana Bonmati, or Team F50, led by Lamine Yamal, including Ousmane Dembele, Florian Wirtz, Vicky Lopez and Trinity Rodman. By creating a rivalry within its own product lines, represented by football’s biggest names, the brand introduced a new advertising idea of inviting fans’ collective attention to the brand ‘Adidas’. Fans of either team eventually end up cheering for Adidas.

User-Generated Content (UGC)
In a world where customers are bombarded with advertising messages, UGC has emerged as refreshing alternative and a powerful tool for apparel brands to connect with their audience on a deeper level. UGC builds trust and fosters a sense of community. It is authentic, relatable and convincing as it cuts through the noise of polished advertising and offers a dose of reality. Coming as a style recommendation from a friend instead of a faceless brand, UGC is being used in brands’ advertising. Aerie’s (sub-brand of American Eagle Outfitters) #AerieREAL campaign featured unretouched (unaltered, unmodified or not digitally improved) photos of customers in their swimwear, and not those of picture-perfect models or celebrities. This idea created a sense of community and empowerment among brand’s customers as it makes them feel they are part of something bigger than themselves.

Shockvertising
Whether intended or not, many brands often indulge in controversial ads which wield a considerable influence on customers’ purchasing decision. In today’s competitive fashion world, brands do not mind increasing sales by challenging social norms. Termed ‘shockvertising’, controversial ads often generate massive, free and immediate media attention by boosting brand awareness, breaking through crowded markets, and driving engagement. However, they also risk long-term reputation damage.

Zara’s ‘The Jacket’ campaign, released in 2023 during the agonising Israel-Hamas conflict and meant to evoke a sculptor’s studio, instead struck a chilling resemblance to scenes of destruction and loss from Gaza. The backlash, with #boycottzara trending globally, forced the brand to retreat, pull the campaign and issue an apology. It showed how global events can cast a long, inescapable shadow over even the most carefully crafted ad campaigns. Later in 2025, UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned Zara’s ads featuring unhealthily thin models, seen as promoting unhealthy body image. From ‘Skinny denim’ in 2016 to the ‘Better in Denim’ campaign in 2025, featuring the global girl group Katseye, Gap also invited controversy. Accused of trying to cash in on the group’s existing viral popularity on TikTok instead of genuinely creating an original, creative message, Gap was accused of co-opting for profit. American Eagle’s ‘Sydney Sweeney (actress) has great jeans’ campaign sparked a debate and the brand was accused of promoting a narrative of white, blonde and blue-eyed ‘genetic superiority’. Some thought it was an unnecessary play on words that undercut American Eagle’s body-positivity efforts. Defying the controversy, the company’s shares climbed 23 per cent within a week.