Despite ongoing economic pressures, UK consumers continue to prioritise fashion spending, with value-led and demand-responsive brands emerging strongest. The insight, conducted by MediaVision, uses its proprietary technology, Metis, to analyse real-time consumer search behaviour, tracking how demand shifted during the final quarter of 2025 and identifying the brands best positioned for growth in 2026.
“Consumer search behaviour is shifting faster than most brands can track, and in fashion, the margin between capturing demand and losing it often comes down to weeks, not months. The quarter reveals a market in motion, with fashion still commanding the majority of wallet share across retail sectors and high-street fashion dominating at category level,” Louis Venter, CEO at MediaVision, said.
When it comes to the pounds in consumers’ pockets, it is not just a battle between brands, but also between market categories.
“Fashion holds a commanding, growing share, even if you were to disregard the short-term spike of Black Friday. Farther down the pecking order ‘nice-to-have’ and ‘need-to-have’ categories battle it out, but it appears that consumers continue to make sure a decent amount of buying power is set aside for Fashion, even whilst tail and headwinds appear to hit other markets with considerable force,” Adam Bly, growth director, said.
Over the past quarter, Primark, Vinted and Next emerged as the fastest-growing fashion brands in terms of share of search. Primark leads the way growing, increasing their share of search by 0.65, with Vinted slightly behind at 0.47. Their growth highlights a growing consumer preference towards affordability and value, with shoppers increasingly opting either for lower-cost new fashion or turning to second-hand platforms like Vinted as a way to maximise value.
“Primark’s growth reflects how customer-centric innovation and brand storytelling increasingly fuel online discovery. The brand combined high-profile product launches, seasonal brand campaigns and credible sustainability messaging with in-store innovation. This ensured Primark was present across multiple narratives at once – from accessibility and value to ethics and retail innovation – prompting consumers to actively search for the brand rather than passively encounter it,” Annabelle Sacher, head of digital PR, said.
“The global resale market – accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the average wardrobe currently – will likely reach up to $360 billion by 2030 and is growing 3x faster than firsthand fashion. As resale continues to shift from budget-driven behaviour to a socially endorsed lifestyle choice, Vinted has become the go-to for second-hand sellers and shoppers, organically scaling brand preference and therefore share of search. National media coverage, customer success stories and data-led campaigns around gifting and decluttering have only served to emphasise this positioning,” Sacher added.
Next continues to dominate overall brand share of search in Q4, maintaining its position at the top of the market while continuing to grow. With a 0.43-point increase in share, the retailer demonstrates strong consumer interest and engagement heading into 2026. Among the top five, Primark is the only other brand to record positive growth, rising by 0.65 points, while competitors see a slight decline.
