“Challenging times” for Northern fashion brands: Is the heyday over?

“Their shoppers are really considering sustainability in the way they shop and using resellers such as Vinted as their first port of call both as sellers and buyers. This combined with less time spent eating, drinking and partying out of the home means that their shoppers are spending less with them and spending elsewhere.”

Despite Boohoo’s results, JD Sports reported a strong trading period over the festive season. The retail and online sportswear giant, headquartered in Bury with around 1,500 staff, has set trends with its results. The group expects group profits before tax for the year to 28 January to range from £933m to £985m and is eyeing just over £1bn for the year to 3 February 2024.

“JD Sports have seen really strong results as younger shoppers have gone back to the high street and are prepared to buy brands that are of value to them in an environment that they enjoy spending time in.

“A move to more casual wear driven by at home working, nights in with your mates not nights out means that JD is in a sweet spot for shoppers.”

For Sosandar, an online fashion brand in Cheshire launched by Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, it has already been a great start to the year. Sosandar signed a lucrative partnership with Sainsbury’s this week and the womenswear digital retailer reported a profitable six-months in December, following a 72 per cent uptick in revenues. 

“We are also seeing brands working with retailers to extend their reach and using their ecom platforms – Sosander have recently announced that they will be working with Sainsbury’s clothing brand TU as they have already done with M&S as part of their strategy to drive revenue.”

Listed digital retailer N Brown Group, which has a portfolio of brands including JD Williams and Simply Be, recently reported “solid trading in a tough trading environment” in the 18 weeks to December 31. Group revenue dropped 7.6% year-on-year to £249.2m. 

With the release of the results, Chief Executive Steve Johnson said customers “continue to be more cautious” with spending and although N Brown Group is cautious about the macro environment over the next 12 months, the group remains “confident in the resilience” of its business alongside the “strategic investments” it is making long-term.

Last year, the group announced it was focusing its growth on three of its strategic brands: JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo.

Although the heyday isn’t over yet for the North’s hub of online fashion brands, it’s set to be a difficult year to navigate amid the global economic pressures and evolving consumer shopping habits.

Shuttleworth added: “These are challenging times for clothing retailers based here in the North, after the buoyant market they enjoyed through lockdowns, now they have to readjust their operations to deal with a changed consumer – there will be winners and losers.”