Is British fashion’s new safe haven America?

Here in the UK right now, fashion retailers are facing a much tougher consumer environment than they’ve been used to previously. According to recent research from Cardlytics’ State of Spend analysis, the overall picture across retail is one of slowing momentum. Yes, overall spend grew 8% year-on-year in 2024, but this slowed to 4% in 2025, and has been coupled with declining transaction volumes as consumers enter 2026 with a “spending with intent” mentality.

 

In other words, frequent, habitual shopping has been replaced with far more selective purchasing behaviour, especially when it comes to discretionary, higher-consideration items, and it looks like this change is here to stay.

 

December 2025 - a period that typically benefits from last-minute festive demand -  saw luxury and designer fashion spend fall 12% year-on-year, while department stores declined 6%. As the Cardlytics report put it, it was a clear test of whether seasonal behaviour would override price discipline, which it did not.

 

Meanwhile, a rather different story is unfolding over in the United States. There, the country is facing rising prices similar to the UK and elsewhere, but consumers are still spending strongly. According to new US Commerce Department data released this month (June 2026), retail sales rose 0.9% in May, up from a revised 0.4% gain in April - growth included for clothing and accessory stores.

 

 

An opportunity to grow elsewhere

For UK fashion retailers, it’s a clear contrast and one that presents a compelling opportunity. Not only is the fact that British consumers are becoming more deliberate about where and when they spend creating challenges on home turf, but the sheer scale and spending power of the US market is enough of a lure in itself for brands looking to find new growth.

 

For those unaware, the US remains the largest apparel market in the world, worth over $372bn annually. It accounts for around a fifth of global apparel consumption, and is heavily reliant on imports – approximately 78% of apparel and 75% of footwear sold in the US are imported. Many UK-based fashion brands have a huge audience of customers in the US market that admire their brand and are keen to shop with them. 

 

It’s perhaps no wonder then that both UK and wider European retail brands are increasingly pivoting towards the US market as their primary growth engine. In March this year, we saw Marks & Spencer announce its US fashion debut in-store, partnering with premium American fashion retailer Nordstrom. But we’ve also seen Europe’s largest mass-market fashion companies - including Inditex, H&M, Primark and Mango - all double their store networks in the US market over the past 5 years, up from 386 stores in the US to 735 outlets collectively.

 

 

The challenges of entering the US

While it’s clear the American consumer has a strong appetite for European fashion, it has to be said that cracking America is no easy feat.

 

Aside from the fact that style trends in favour in the US affects the way brands should sell and market their products, UK fashion brands expanding stateside also face a much more complex operating environment than they have in the past. Tariffs, fulfilment costs, pricing decisions and inventory management are all affecting strategy, and their impact must be considered.

 

Recently published ONS data is already revealing the impact of this, with UK goods exports to the US falling by £1.5 billion (24.7%) in April 2025 following the introduction of tariffs. For fashion brands, it means the economics of selling cross-border are becoming harder to balance as additional costs and administrative requirements put pressure on margins.

 

The removal of the US de minimis exemption in August 2025 has also added another layer of complexity. Previously, commercial shipments valued under $800 (around £600) could enter the country duty-free through a simplified process; now these shipments are subject to duties, customs requirements and additional processing costs.

 

For brands built around direct-to-consumer international ecommerce, this can have a direct impact on profitability. Businesses must decide whether to absorb the additional costs, reducing margins, or pass them on to consumers, all of which has the potential to affect conversion rates and the overall customer experience.

 

 

The three things that actually decide success

Rather than writing the US off and succumbing to the challenge of fewer selling opportunities on home turf, many brands are instead being smarter with their approach. This is how they’re doing it, and doing it well: 

1. They don’t underestimate cultural fit: Of course, having a strong brand identity, product and style that resonates with American consumers is essential. But there is an ongoing assumption that UK or European fashion will not translate well in the US market. This isn’t true; in fact, European fashion is not only understood in North America, but actively sought after. What is true, however, is that demand alone doesn’t guarantee success. Brands need to understand how to turn initial interest into lasting customer relationships if they want sustainable growth. That in itself requires knowledge of how American consumers discover and shop for products, whether that’s pricing expectations and merchandising preferences or sizing, returns and customer experience. A product that works in the UK market may still require adaptation to succeed stateside.
2. They’re moving closer to the customer with US-based fulfilment: Where many brands are falling short is assuming that generating demand is the hardest part. The far bigger challenge is servicing that demand. Brands can be well-known, well-liked and even already have a strong US customer base, but they can still struggle if inventory’s not in the right place at the right time, or equally, if delivery, returns and landed costs create friction. And this is why more brands are looking at US-based fulfilment as part of their expansion strategy. Moving inventory into the US also changes the economics of selling there. Instead of treating every order as a cross-border shipment, brands can fulfil locally, giving them more control over delivery times, returns and the costs customers see at checkout. This is key as American consumers are used to a certain standard of convenience. While a brand might have a great product and lead to a sale, a slow delivery or a difficult return experience can decide whether they ever come back.
3. They’re building for the new rules of discovery: The way consumers find products is also changing. The traditional ecommerce journey of search, browse, compare and buy is being disrupted by AI-powered shopping assistants and retailer-controlled discovery platforms. For UK brands selling into America, US inventory is effectively becoming the new SEO. AI systems and retail platforms increasingly prioritise products that can demonstrate certainty of fulfilment, speed and reliability. This means brands need more than strong marketing. They need clean, standardised product data, reliable inventory availability, local fulfilment capabilities and integration into the wider US retail ecosystem. 

The brands that succeed in America will be those that consider all of the above, combining the right product, the right operational infrastructure and the ability to deliver a seamless experience from discovery through to delivery.

 

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Dan Cate is CEO and Founder of SoldThrough

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and andykazie