Apparel, Clothing and Footwear

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries in Q4 2023 and 2024. Global inflation is moderating, although divergence remains among the key economies. Higher volatility in the energy markets and disruption of…

Womenswear is set to see retail volume and current value growth in Japan in 2023, continuing the trend from 2022. Sales in the category experienced a significant decline in 2020, followed by a year of stagnation in 2021, as COVID-19 prevailed in the…

Sportswear experienced a double-digit current value decline in 2020 due to the pandemic. Consumers could not go out to enjoy sports or go to gatherings for yoga, for instance, due to home seclusion. However, in 2021 consumers were able to return to…

After a rebound to growth in 2022, menswear in Japan is set to maintain positive retail volume and current value growth rates in 2023. The category experienced a significant decline in 2020, followed by a year of slower decline in 2021, as COVID-19…

Jeans experienced a significant drop in sales in 2020, followed by a year of stagnation in 2021 as COVID-19 prevailed in the country in these two years. Home seclusion, or “sugomori” in Japanese, was a hot term at this time. As society began to open…

2020 was a year of decline for overall apparel and footwear, but for hosiery it was a disaster. One-third of the category’s volume and value sales vanished in just this year. 2021 and 2022 also saw declines, although at a much slower rate. Even in…

Footwear saw significant declines in retail volume and current value terms in 2020 due to the pandemic, followed by minimal declines in 2021, as many consumers did not need as much new footwear due to spending more time at home. The category saw a…

Childrenswear did not perform well even before the pandemic, as the number of children has been continuously decreasing in Japan. Growth was then hit hard in 2020, experiencing a double-digit decline, followed by a year of little movement in 2021 as…

The fading of COVID-19 has been a significant turning point for Japanese consumers, who have been leaving their homes and therefore driving the return of footfall in town centres. In May 2023, the Japanese government changed the legitimate…

Overall apparel accessories is set to register positive current value growth in 2023, although there are expected to be different performances across categories. These movements are due to sales continuing to normalise after the disruption in 2020,…