Five Ways Fashion Streetwear Brands Are Winning in a Growing Market

Streetwear is one of the most dramatic retail and fashion trends to emerge in recent years, involving the production, promotion, sale and resale of casual fashion that bypasses traditional retail channels.

Customers often come together via social media to be the first to buy products that can only be purchased directly from the brand in-store or online. The anticipation of limited-time buying opportunities helps create a close, almost fanatical relationship between streetwear brands and their consumers.

This has allowed streetwear, a high-profile fashion phenomenon that took inspiration from the counterculture of the 1980s and 1990s, to grow into a multibillion-dollar retail market. We estimate the global streetwear market to be worth $185 billion in sales and is estimated to represent about 10% of the global apparel and footwear market.

The impact of streetwear - both on retail culture and the numbers involved - has caught the attention of some of the most iconic and established names in the retail and luxury industries, as well as the fashion industry as a whole. Streetwear players come from all walks of life in the fashion industry. There are pure-play streetwear brands, while activewear brands are evolving their traditional athletic gear portfolio into a growing streetwear portfolio, with cool, stylish sneakers and hoodies as concepts. In addition, luxury brands are also struggling to gain a significant share of the streetwear market.

That's largely because it's opening up a whole new target market of younger consumers. The audience for streetwear is very young: most are under 25.

The second reason established brands are interested is that streetwear is upending the way fashion trends take off. The fashion industry typically operates on a top-down model, with insiders acting as gatekeepers to the latest styles and trends. Streetwear reversed that. Customers have as much power as industry insiders to decide what's cool. Exclusivity and attractiveness are conferred by scarcity and insider knowledge, not high prices. In short, streetwear has redefined how being cool can be profitable.

Third, the democratic way streetwear enthusiasts buy clothes is increasingly shared by all consumers, for whom the opinions of their peers are increasingly influential in decision-making.

So it's no surprise that fashion brands have jumped on the streetwear trend in recent years. The most high-profile examples of this are Louis Vuitton's collaboration with leading streetwear brand Supreme and last year's decision by the luxury giant to hire streetwear founder Virgil Abloh as artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear.

Two recent surveys were conducted to demonstrate how fashion brands find the most success selling streetwear: one survey of more than 40,000 consumers worldwide, and the other about 700 people working in the industry. The results show:

- Streetwear consumers are young: over 60% of consumers surveyed are under the age of 25.

- They're not all that rich, either: About 70 percent of respondents reported annual income of $40,000 or less.

- But they have the money to buy their favorite brands: 56% say they spend an average of $100-$300 on a single item. Asian consumers spend even more, with 32% of Japanese respondents spending an average of $500 or more per product.

- They connect directly with brands both offline and online: 53% are most likely to buy streetwear products in a brand's own store; 42% from their website.

- Social media is their top source of influence (84%), followed by other young urbanites they see around them.

- Successful brands have strong ties to the culture on which streetwear thrives: musicians had the highest credibility among consumers in our survey (65%), well ahead of social media influencers (32%) ).

- Young fans of streetwear consider themselves socially conscious, a trend that is spreading to all consumers: 70% say social awareness and brand activism are important to them, compared to 29% of PwC GCIS participants people say they buy from brands that promote sustainable practices.

Evidence suggests that growth expectations for streetwear remain strong despite a slowing global economy and dark clouds over the retail sector. A whopping 76% of industry respondents to our survey expect this market to continue to grow significantly over the next five years.

With this situation in mind, we explore how brands can function and win in the streetwear market. Five factors must be kept in mind for success: authenticity; lack; democracy; affordability;

If you are ready to start a streetwear retail business, or you are looking for a manufacturer for your streetwear brand, welcome to contact us.

RAINBOWTOUCHES is a professional custom streetwear manufacturer. It mainly produces and sells casual wear, fashion products, and sportswear. It has the brand characteristics of leisure, avant-garde, comfort, and fashion. We always value every customer and regard producing and designing exquisite products as our basic purpose and core purpose. The company adheres to a belief: to lead the fashion trend with the company brand.

RAINBOWTOUCHES OEM customization service provides you with a variety of options, including fabric, color, size, printing, embroidery and other customization options to meet the different needs of customers. We guarantee the quality of our garments and ensure that each product undergoes strict quality checks to meet our customers' standards.

In addition, we can also provide greater advantages in terms of price and delivery time. We look forward to working with you to create greater business value.