The United Kingdom fashion industry is innovative, creative, and most glamourous. The sector has the most advanced textile technology to manufacture high-quality products. The UK textile and clothing industry worth nearly USD 13.71 Billion to the country's economy.

 

According to Technavio, the global textile market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 6 percent between 2019 and 2023. And the UK textile industry is surely driving the global textile market with a great force.

 

In the year 2018, the UK fashion consumer spending was valued 60.4 billion British pounds, and the expenditure is continuously increasing every year. The UK textile manufacturers produce 9.1 billion British pounds of products ranging from designers' creations to fabrics used in defense, medical, and transport industries.

 

With the immense growth, the fashion industry is also full of challenges. The UK government understands the need and demand of continuously changing market and fix the fashion amazingly.

 

Here are three major market trends driving the UK fashion market.

 

Read more on UKFT To Continue Supporting UK Fashion & Textile Industry.

Technology

Apparently, fashion is the last industry to embrace technology. From brick and mortar to online shopping – technology has transformed the industry inside out. Technology improving the fashion industry are artificial intelligence, data analytics, virtual technology and digital marketing. The UK fashion industry has expanded the retail industry in a more modernized manner by embracing these technologies.

 

In today's time, both UK brands and consumers are counting on advanced technology to sell and shop better. Fashion-on-demand is no more a far big dream; automation and machine learning have made it a reality. The UK fashion industry is adopting fashion-on-demand – an alternative to mass production. The fashion-on-demand trends are streamlining the UK brand's supply chain by internalizing production.

 

The rise of technology in the fashion industry is unstoppable, and this has forced businesses to create a strong digital presence to compete with innovative industry players. In recent years, UK fashion retailers have expanded big with the expansion of the digital world. 

Non-Fabrics

The next big trend in the UK's fashion market is non-woven fabrics. In 2014, the global non-woven fabrics market was valued at USD 28.41 billion and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 6.8 percent from 2015 to 2025.

In the last few years, the non-woven fabrics have replaced polyurethane foams in major end-user industries of the UK, such as building and construction, furniture, automotive, and packaging. The major driving factor behind the non-fabric market is shifting consumer preferences towards hygiene products. UK fashion consumers are more

conscious of rising health awareness, changing lifestyles, spending power, and higher living standards. Other factors driving the growth are rapid industrialization and recent innovations in the UK textile industry. On the other hand, the high production cost is the major factor hindering the non-woven fabric market's growth. Moreover, non-woven fabrics have less initial cost due to mass production compared to woven and knit fabrics.

 

Know more about: Trends In The UK Household Textiles Market

Sustainability

In a report "Fixing Fashion", UK government has identified the impact of textile production on climate change more than the aviation and shipping combined. On top of that, the fashion industry leads to depletion of water resources and local microfiber pollution. To move towards a cleaner environment, the UK fashion industry has taken the crucial first step to meet the future carbon budgets and reach net zero emissions by 2050. UK textile businesses ensure that they reduce their carbon footprint to near zero. 

Sustainable fashion will require both changing consumption patterns and improving resource productivity. The entire UK fashion players must come together to set out its blueprint for a net-zero emissions world. 

 

If the situation remains the same, the fashion industry will produce 26 percent of the world's carbon footprint by 2050. For many years, the British Fashion Council has been a leader in eco-friendly fashion initiatives. In the UK textile industry, both consumers and brands are chasing sustainability equally.

Way Ahead

Recently, the UK fashion industry has struggled over the trends mentioned above. UK high street retailers have a tough journey to compete in the digital world. But UK manufacturers have shown immense growth over the period. According to the British Fashion Council, both retailers and fashion designs are going 'strength to strength" to achieve a sustainable and digital fashion world. 

 

Yet, the journey has just begun, and there's a long way to go. And UK fashion players are ready to conquer all the challenges to transform the fashion world inside-out. 

 

Know the textile industry better with TexPro.