General Clothing Industry

The clothing industry includes the mens, womens, and children fashion sectors, and ranges from affordable to luxury brands. As clothing becomes cheaper to manufacture, consumers are able to buy more of it, accelerating the cycle of buying new clothing on a seasonal basis rather than investing in a few staple pieces. In the women’s clothing industry, the company holding the largest market share is Ascena Retail Group Inc, which owns brands such as Ann Taylor and Loft. As for the men’s clothing industry, Tailored Brands Inc dominates the industry, which owns popular mens clothing brands such as Men’s Wearhouse. The trajectory of the clothing industry is heavily reliant on what is trending at the time — currently, the prevalence of casual clothing and “athleisure” has led some brands who primarily advertised formal wear to shift their model.

Retail Products and Services Industry Trends

The landscape of the retail industry has changed dramatically over the past decade, with the decline of brick and mortar establishments and the rise of e-commerce and online shopping. The closure of major department stores has only accelerated this major transformation of the retail industry, which has increased even more with the shutdown brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Operators in this industry will have to revamp their business model in order to attract a steady stream of customers, therefore competing with the convenience of online models.