Growing a fashion & clothing brand
US clothing and accessories stores sold $299.9 billion in 2025, and households headed by 35-to-44-year-olds spend the most on clothes. Reach shoppers on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.
How big is the fashion & clothing industry?
US clothing and clothing accessories stores sold $299.9 billion in 2025, up 5.2% from 2024.
| Measure | Figure | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Sales at clothing and accessories stores | $299.9 billion | 2025 |
| Growth in those sales | 5.2% | 2024 to 2025 |
| Household spending on apparel and services | $2,001 a year | 2024 |
| Fashion designer jobs | 32,700 | 2025 |
| Fashion designers' median pay | $80,960 a year | 2025 |
Store sales come from the Census Bureau's Monthly Retail Trade Survey, which counts online-only retailers separately. Most fashion designers work in New York and California.[1, 2, 3]
Who are fashion & clothing shoppers?
Households headed by 35-to-44-year-olds spend the most on clothing, and spending climbs steeply with income.
| Group | What the figures show |
|---|---|
| Ages 35 to 44 | $2,649 a year on apparel, the most of any age group |
| Highest-income fifth | $3,872 a year, over 3 times the lowest fifth |
| Women's and girls' clothing | $744 a household a year, against $467 for men's and boys' |
Household spending figures are for 2024.[2]
Which platforms should a fashion & clothing brand grow on?
Instagram reaches 51% of US adults, more than TikTok or Pinterest. Pinterest's users are mostly women: 51% of women used it in 2024, against 19% of men.
Pew's Pinterest figures are from 2024, its latest survey of the platform; the others are from 2026. Sell from your own Shopify store on your .com, and read Protecting your trademark once your name is filed. For domain endings and trademark classes, see naming a fashion brand.[4, 5, secondary]
Checks the .com, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Shopify store and trademarks in one search.
Who are the top fashion & clothing creators?
Wisdom Kaye, Nava Rose, Camila Coelho and Remi Bader are all on TIME's 2025 list of the 100 most influential creators.
| Creator | Known for | Named by |
|---|---|---|
| Wisdom Kaye | Outfit and style videos on TikTok; a model signed to IMG | TIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
| Nava Rose | Fandom-inspired outfits on TikTok, from emojis to Disney princesses | TIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
| Camila Coelho | A Revolve collection and her own beauty brand, Elaluz | TIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
| Remi Bader | "Realistic haul" videos that call out uneven sizing | TIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab) |
Sources [6, secondary]
Which sites are the authorities on fashion & clothing?
The American Apparel & Footwear Association, the CFDA, the FTC's labeling guide and BLS are the main authorities on the US clothing industry.
| Site | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| American Apparel & Footwear Association (opens in a new tab) | The policy voice of the apparel and footwear industry, for 1,100+ brands | Trade, tariff and sourcing news |
| Council of Fashion Designers of America (opens in a new tab) | A not-for-profit trade association of US designers, founded in 1962 | The US designer community |
| FTC: Textile and Wool Acts labeling (opens in a new tab) | The FTC's business guide to clothing labels | Fiber, origin and maker labels, online listings included |
| BLS: Fashion designers (opens in a new tab) | US government job data | Pay and job growth for designers |
Sources (9)
- PrimaryUS Census Bureau: Monthly Retail Trade, sales by kind of business, 1992 to present (opens in a new tab), 2025 annual totals, not seasonally adjusted
- PrimaryUS Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Expenditure Surveys, 2024 tables (opens in a new tab), Table 1300 (age) and Table 1101 (income)
- PrimaryUS Bureau of Labor Statistics: Fashion Designers (opens in a new tab), Occupational Outlook Handbook
- SecondaryPew Research Center: Social Media Fact Sheet (opens in a new tab), survey of US adults
- SecondaryPew Research Center: Social Media Fact Sheet (archived copy) (opens in a new tab), Pinterest figures from a survey of US adults, 1 Feb to
- SecondaryTIME100 Creators 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryAmerican Apparel & Footwear Association (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryCFDA: About (opens in a new tab)
- PrimaryFTC: Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts (opens in a new tab)