France: one in five online clothing purchases is from ultra-fast fashion

During Fashion Reboot 2025, Gildas Minvielle, Director of the Economic Observatory at the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM), delivered his annual report. Below are the primary insights regarding the shifts in the French fashion market from 2024 to 2025.

Total turnover for the apparel and textiles sector in France fell by 1.3 percent between January and September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Surprisingly, while the menswear sector has been booming in recent years, it recorded the largest decline (-1.9 percent).

Evolution of distributor turnover: multi-brand retailers under threat

The distribution channel most affected by this decline in turnover is multi-brand stores (-2.5 percent). Conversely, department stores saw an increase (+1.4 percent).

53 percent of retailers reported a decrease in footfall (compared to 58 percent in 2024). The same was true for the average basket size (47 percent) and the conversion rate (41 percent).

Sales volume decreased by an average of 1.6 percent. Prices, however, increased (+1.5 percent), with a forecast increase of +0.7 percent for 2026.

30.7 percent of all clothing and textile purchases in 2025 were made online, rather than in physical stores. 11.9 percent were second-hand fashion.

The top five market players by volume and average purchase price are: Vinted, followed by Kiabi (13 euros), Amazon (25 euros), Decathlon (21 euros) and Shein (10 euros).

The apparel/textile consumption forecasts are +1 percent for an optimistic scenario, -0.5 percent for a median scenario and -2 percent for a pessimistic scenario.

Ultra-fast fashion: high sales volume but low valuation

38 percent of consumers surveyed have purchased from Shein, Temu and AliExpress. Among 16 to 24-year-olds, the distribution is roughly equal between women and men. The average purchase price is around nine euros, which is three times cheaper than mid-range products.

19 percent of all clothing items purchased online come from ultra-fast fashion platforms. In terms of value, they account for only 8 percent of online sales turnover.

In the total French apparel market (including both physical stores and e-commerce), 6 percent of all clothes sold in France come from ultra-fast fashion platforms. This represents 2 percent of the total apparel market turnover in terms of value.

Ultra-fast fashion and second-hand fashion account for 13 percent of the apparel market by value.

Consumer perceptions show that the narrative on sustainable fashion remains unclear, even unheard

38 percent of consumers surveyed believe that the working conditions in ultra-fast fashion are identical to those of other retailers. 45 percent believe the environmental impact is similar.

The primary purchasing criterion remains price for 38 percent of consumers, ahead of quality (32 percent). However, respondents surveyed by the IFM also cited product diversity and the availability of a wide range of sizes.

28 percent of second-hand fashion consumers believe that new products are “too expensive”.

“The proliferation of low prices is blurring consumer reference points, gradually devaluing the concept of a garment's worth,” said Gildas Minvielle. “This trend puts pressure on companies and risks leading to an impoverishment of the market in the long term.”

Objective and challenge for 2026: good quality, ethically made products at an accessible price

Restoring meaning to price to reconcile economic value with ethical values.

Winning back consumers whose purchasing power has weakened or who have chosen to consume less, with an offering that combines quality and ethics at a fair price.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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