Apparel, Clothing and Footwear

In the United Arab Emirates, items such as gloves, belts, scarves, hats/caps are widely popular because local consumers have a strong penchant for accessorising their outfits. Being a fashion-forward market, there is an abundance of choices for…

Apparel and footwear in the United Arab Emirates continues to record a strong performance in current value growth terms, building on the strong momentum it gained in 2022 when sales surged due to pent-up demand resulting from the pandemic. Amid…

In the past, luxury brands often imported their marketing strategies directly from their European headquarters to the United Arab Emirates. However, the pandemic underscored the significance of localising marketing efforts, as the consumer base…

In terms of retail volume sales in the United Arab Emirates, men's footwear traditionally holds larger share compared to the women's segment, primarily due to demographics. However, women's footwear is experiencing faster growth in both retail volume…

Non-sheer options dominate demand for hosiery in the United Arab Emirates, and continues to record stable growth rates. Demand is being driven by changing fashion preferences, especially among younger consumers, who increasingly choose bare legs or…

The population of the United Arab Emirates is extremely young, with the majority comprising millennials or young professionals in this expat-driven market. As a consequence, jeans remain a popular fashion choice, and are often worn casually or for…

In the United Arab Emirates, the category of menswear is notably larger in size than womenswear, both in terms of retail volume and value sales: this is contrary to the global trend where sales of womenswear tend to be much greater. This is due to…

Nike, adidas, and lululemon are among leading global sportswear brands that are embracing localisation strategies by introducing hijab and modest sportswear to cater for residents in the United Arab Emirates. adidas stands out with its comprehensive…

The United Arab Emirates is home to a highly dynamic retail environment, where a brand’s entry and exit can occur fairly rapidly compared to more mature markets. In 2023, several formerly standalone brands, some of which had previously exited the…

Apparel accessories remains in both value and volume slumps in 2023, albeit improving upon the sharper drops seen in 2022. We can attribute this to a normalisation effect following the atypical patterns seen during the era of the pandemic. Notably,…

Apparel and footwear is seeing both value and volume growth in Saudi Arabia in 2023, thanks to a variety of initiatives under the Saudi Vision 2030 programme. Within this, there are specific government initiatives supporting the apparel and footwear…

Childrenswear sees overall support from the baseline fact that children need an ongoing supply of clothing as they grow out of their clothes within relatively short periods of time. As such, childrenswear has shorter lifecycles than apparel for women…

Trends seen in sportswear are also influencing footwear, as the sports-inspired and athleisure trends continue. Sporting activities are a large part of the Saudi Vision 2030, and we are seeing this influence trends in sportswear and sports-inspired…

Non-sheer hosiery continues to perform better than sheer hosiery in Saudi Arabia, supported by the rising athleisure and sporting trends, which support sports socks. On the other hand, the hot climate in the Kingdom, which has extreme summers, plays…

Jeans is a stable category in apparel, being an eternally-fashionable form of apparel which can be dressed up and dressed down accordingly. That said, jeans does face some competition from the rising athleisure trend, although jeans can also be…

Menswear in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is inspired by both local, traditional garments, and global fashion trends. Traditional wear for men typically consists of long flowing gowns and thobes, with the latter being a long-sleeved, ankle-length,…

Sporting activities are a large part of the Saudi Vision 2030, and we are seeing this influence trends in sportswear and sports-inspired apparel and footwear, particularly so in menswear and increasingly so in childrenswear and womenswear. Notably,…

Women’s empowerment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in line with the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030, helps to support growth in womenswear. The government continues to support female empowerment and strive for equality between men and women, through…

Seasonal sales in 2023, were impacted by unfavourable weather conditions, leading to limited and delayed consumer purchases of apparel accessories. 2023 saw unfavourable weather, with an extremely hot winter 2022/2023 leading consumers to delay…

Apparel and footwear is set to record mid-single digit growth in current value terms in 2023, which translates to a decline in constant terms driven by the challenging economic and political environment that have seen Israeli consumers limiting their…