Why Should We Care About Fashion in 2024?

08-02-2025
As FashionCapital’s hometown – London, prepares to showcase its design talent with the start of London Fashion Week, commencing Friday 13th September, some are questioning fashion’s relevance in what has become an excessively saturated market.

Increasing concerns about fashion’s impact on the planet has dramatically swayed consumer shopping habits and principles when it comes to clothes. From those vowing to buy less to increased sales in vintage and reworked clothing – it is clear we are in the midst of a wake-up call to do better.
As London Fashion Week celebrates its 40th anniversary with stalwarts such as Burberry, Bora Aksu and Paul Costelloe, designers are acutely aware of evolving practices in sustainability and circularity. On 12th September the British Fashion Council announced S.S.DALEY as the recipient of The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. (Pictured right with HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh and Caroline Rush CBE, image by Darren Gerrish)
S.S.DALEY uses deadstock and donated fabrics to create designs, and the decision to highlight and award a brand that endorses this ethos is a strong indicator of the industry’s developing direction.
So, why should we care about fashion now? Can it really be an economic powerhouse and environmentally conscious?
The UKFT stated in 2023:
+ The UK fashion and textile industry directly supported a £62 billion contribution to UK GDP, 1.3 million jobs across the country and raised more than £23 billion in tax revenues.
The Economic Impact of the UK Fashion Industry In 2021 from Oxford Economics 2022 said:
- In 2021, it was estimated that retail was the biggest contributor to the fashion industry. About two-thirds of the fashion industry’s total economic impact measured as GVA was supported by retailers.
- The UK fashion industry was directly responsible for more than 800,000 jobs in the UK in 2021 – equivalent to 2.5 percent of UK headcount employment.
- In total, the UK fashion industry supported above 1.4 million jobs in the UK in 2021.
- Fashion retail is a major contributor to UK employment. In 2021, we estimate that retailers accounted for 75 percent of the jobs supported by the UK fashion industry.
- In 2021, the UK fashion industry directly generated tax revenues worth £21 billion. The large majority of the UK fashion industry’s direct tax contribution is collected as value-added tax (VAT) on sales.
- The fashion sector’s total contribution to the UK government budget was close to £32 billion in 2021.
- The UK fashion industry’s total contribution equaled 3.6 percent of the UK government’s revenue in 2021.
Industry Overview from the British Fashion Council’s – Value of Fashion Report 2021:
- London is one of the four major fashion capitals known for creativity, community, and culture.
- Fashion is an industry that employs nearly 900,000 people and contributes around £21 billion to the economy.
- Fashion influences spending in other industries, ranging from IT to tourism, is calculated as more than £16 billion. This means that, including direct, indirect, induced, and ‘spillover’ effects, the fashion industry’s total contribution to the UK economy is estimated to stand at over £37 billion.
- The UK fashion industry is the 15th largest industry (out of 81) in the UK – similar in size to the food/beverage services and telecommunications industries and bigger than the wholesale and retail of automotive, sports activities.
Recent data clearly shows the fashion industry as a major economic player for the UK, and despite the knock-on effect of the pandemic along with a challenging period for retail and sales, the sector does have the potential to play a significant part in the UK’s economic growth. Let’s hope the new government is listening!
Top image: Paul Costelloe at LFW by Chris Daw