Fashion Market in the U.S. Hits the Brakes, Concludes October with 5.7% Increase

Fashion continues to drive retail sales in the United States. Fashion retail sales in the US rose by 5.7% year-on-year at the end of October, according to data published by the US Bureau of Commerce.

The turnover of clothing, fashion accessories and footwear stores in the tenth month of this year reached $25.896 billion, $1.537 billion more than a year earlier.

Although higher than that of the country’s retail trade as a whole, the increase in sales recorded in October in apparel, accessories and footwear in the U.S. slowed down compared to previous months. In August, fashion retail sales grew by 6.9% year-on-year, while in September they grew by 6.2%.

In the cumulative January-October period, US fashion retail accumulated a turnover of $247.36 billion, an increase of 5.2% compared to the same period in 2024. Fashion accounted for 3.5% of aggregate U.S. retail salesin this period. 

Fashion continues to drive retail sales, up 5.7%, compared to 3.5% of total U.S. retail sales

Overall, retail sales remain up in the United States, but at a declining rate. They posted year-over-year increases of 4.2% in August and September, which have slowed in October 2025 with a 3.5% increase.

October, like September, is usually a transitional month for retail in the United States and especially for the fashion sector.

Between the traditional sales peaks of August and November, the former driven by sales and the latter by the anticipation of Christmas shopping and the effect of Black Friday, September and October are usually off-peak months. For example, in October 2024, fashion retail had a turnover of $24.359 billion, compared to almost $29 billion in November of the same year.