The Best of Marketing: Fashion’s Cultural Crossover Continues

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2024

Dear BoF Community,

In 2024, fashion marketers got creative with their strategy and aligned themselves even more closely with culture to connect with cautious consumers who had moved on from the age of post-pandemic YOLO spending.

It was the year fashion solidified its love affair with sports: The Olympics proved a major moment, with official sponsors like LVMH, Nike and Ralph Lauren benefitting from the event's halo effect, as well as brands like J.Crew, which rolled out a product collaboration with USA Swimming. WAGs made a comeback — this time, as influencers inking major brand deals. The US Open and the New York City Marathon also saw a number of brands activate, while women's sports gained more and more traction, with WNBA stars like Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark working with the likes of Good American and Prada.

Fashion's cultural crossover went far beyond sports, however: The November release of "Wicked" provided another opportunity to test the power of last year's "Barbie" marketing strategy, with brands from handbag maker Vera Bradley to mall giant Gap saturating the market with a deluge of collaborations. Charli XCX's "Brat Summer" provided a months-long celebration of all things Brat green — and XCX herself emerged as an in-demand ambassador, as did classic Hollywood hunks like Glen Powell. Fashion-centric shows like "Emily in Paris" also provided an opportunity to experiment with shoppable TV.

Marketers also considered what audiences they were attempting to reach — beauty brands found a massive growth opportunity in catering to Gen Alpha, while labels also reconsidered the potential of older consumers.

Influencer marketing in particular saw plenty of change. As the industry grows, so does the gulf between creators (those whose primary skill is in making content for platforms like TikTok and Instagram) and influencers (those who hold sway over their audience's purchasing decisions. The world of affiliate marketing, long dominated by incumbent player LTK, got a shake-up with the rise of a new competitor ShopMy. Influencers experimented with paid subscriptions, while gifting also made a comeback, as a more cost-effective way than traditional sponsored posts to get influencers talking about a brand's products.

2025 is set to be another year of change and upheaval: With the ticking clock on TikTok's time in the US set to run out in just a few weeks, marketers will have to — once again — rethink how they reach shoppers.

Diana Pearl, Senior News and Features Editor