Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Fashion slows its stride
Consumer | Fashion
January 28, 2026 – The global fashion and luxury retail sectors are entering a new phase of low growth amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, which is expected to affect the behavior of value-conscious consumers. China saw a rebound of fashion retail sales in 2023, but that may slow amid lower projections for GDP and disposable income growth compared with the past two years. Meanwhile, luxury retail sales in Europe and the United States are expected to persist in the low single digits, note McKinsey’s Anita Balchandani, David Barrelet, Felix Rölkens, Gemma D’Auria, and coauthors.
To read the article, see “The State of Fashion 2026: When the rules change,” November 17, 2025.
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Visual form
Line Chart: six-panel small-multiple forecast of fashion and luxury retail sales growth by region.
Layout / body structure
The chart uses a two-row by three-column grid. The top row shows fashion retail sales growth for Europe, the United States, and China, and the bottom row repeats those regions for luxury retail sales growth.
What is being compared
It compares year-over-year sales growth by region and retail segment, separating fashion retail from luxury retail and separating historical years from the forecast path.
Measurement system
The vertical scale is year-over-year growth in percent. The horizontal axis runs from 2022 through 2026, with solid line segments for observed years and dotted segments for estimates and forecasts.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Each panel uses one regional growth line, a shared time span, and the same solid-to-dotted shift into the forecast years. The repeated panel structure makes Europe, US, and China patterns directly comparable across both fashion and luxury.
Main takeaway from the visual
The chart shows global fashion and luxury growth settling into a low-growth period. Europe slows from a strong starting point, the United States stays near low single digits, and China shows the sharpest boom-and-drop pattern.
Key standout values or extremes
Europe fashion falls from roughly 13 percent growth in 2022 to about 2 percent by 2024 and remains near that level through 2026. China luxury rises near 12 percent in 2023, drops to about negative 8 percent in 2024, and recovers only to around 4 percent by 2026.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static six-panel line chart; there are no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the fashion and luxury retail growth line chart is the full visual on this page.