Fashion Forward: The top 30 fashion retailers by 2026

Fashion retail has experienced a turbulent time, but retailers investing in elevation, partnerships, acquisitions and focused transformation are set to win. Our Retail Week analysts reveal which retailers will lead the sector in 2026

The UK’s top fashion retailers by 2026 ranking marks the launch of Retail Week’s Fashion Forward: Forecasting the sector’s future model campaign, in partnership with Bloomreach.

Across a series of five articles running each month between July and November, this content series will provide a groundbreaking look at how retail’s most dynamic and fast-paced sector will develop over the next three years.

So, which retailers will dominate the fashion space by 2026?

Lisa Byfield-Green, Data and Insights Director and Hanna Hua, Data Analyst, Retail Week

With reined-in discretionary spend, stock and supply chain headaches and the post-pandemic shift from online back to stores, fashion retail has had a bumpy ride of late. Many of these factors have significantly shaken up the leadership table, but the good news is that there is growth ahead.

By 2026, seven of the top 10 retailers will have changed position and there is a new leader in the number-one spot, reflecting the competitive landscape and rapid pace of change.

Notably, three of the top 10 retailers in our ranking for 2026 are fashion and sports retailers, demonstrating the resilience of sportswear and athleisure.

Other notable climbers within the top 10 include Marks & Spencer, with its focused transformation strategy, and Primark, which has seen strong growth as customer footfall returns to stores.

Frasers Group acquires its way to the top by 2026

By 2026, Frasers Group will make a significant leap from third place to the number one spot, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2% attributed to its premium elevation strategy and lucrative acquisitions.

In the past year, the retailer has snapped up digital-first fashion brands such as Missguided and I Saw it First, while also rebranding its Flannels store on Oxford Street to Flannels X to attract Gen Z consumers.

Establishing strong relationships with global brands such as Nike is bolstering its sports division, which accounts for the largest share of its sales.

With its eye firmly on the mid to premium end of the market, Frasers will continue to deliver a solid sales performance through a clear and considered group strategy.

Note: The retailers in this ranking are mainstream fashion retailers, but it is worth noting that a few also sell in other categories such as home, beauty and sports. See notes column for details.

Next holds on to second position, with growth across all top 10 retailers

Next is forecast to put in a solid performance over the next five years and holds on to the number-two position in our ranking. Like Frasers Group, it has adopted an acquisitive strategy and recently acquired Made.com, Joules and Cath Kidston out of administration.

Retail Week senior analyst Kate Doherty anticipates ongoing third-party growth at the retailer. “The appointment of Jeremy Stakol as an executive director, heading up group investments, acquisitions and third-party brands in 2023 also shows intent in terms of Next’s third-party push,” she says.

Next’s investment in new formats, such as its Beauty Hall concept and department store-style shops that bring together fashion, home and beauty, has been paying off, as well as its channel-agnostic, customer-focused strategy. The retailer upgraded its full-price sales and profit guidance for its latest financial year and is in a strong position to grow through its third-party-branded Label business and Total Platform, which is speeding up the rate at which it can on-board new partners.

Other retailers that held on to their position in the top 10 include JD Sports, TK Maxx, Nike, The Very Group and Asos. These demonstrate stability in their projected performance over the next few years.

Focused transformation and partnerships accelerating growth

The focus of its recent strategy and new brand partnerships are contributing to strong growth for M&S, which is propelled two places up the table to occupy the number-three spot by 2026.

“Strong growth will be driven by ongoing improvements to its own product offer and its brand partnerships, both through building on existing partnerships and potentially establishing new ones,” says Retail Week’s senior analyst Wendy Massey.

“There is a real sense of excitement that the transformation that had eluded successive management teams is now fully under way, under the direction of new-generation leaders.”

Meanwhile, Primark rises two places in the ranking, driven by customers returning to stores. With its year-end in September, its CAGR of 13.5% reflects Covid recovery falling in FY2022, rather than FY2021 like many of its peers, but the group is also capitalising on returning footfall to drive growth with new innovations, such as its brand tie-ups with Greggs and most recently the Barbie movie.

The rollout of click-and-collect and stock-checker tools is also a footfall driver, with customers typically building an additional basket in the store when they visit.

Despite falling from the top spot, John Lewis’ fashion sales saw a strong bounceback in the year to January 2023, with the share of total sales moving up from 33% to 37%.

In June 2022, it appointed its first director of design for fashion, Queralt Ferrer, aiming to become a “more significant player in fashion and home”. More recently, it relaunched its kidswear offer in a bid to capture the tween market.

“An innovation to watch is John Lewis’ move into rental across childrenswear and womenswear with partners Thelittleloop and Hurr, which is sure to bolster future revenues,” says Retail Week senior analyst Beth Bloomfield.

There are several other movements to note within the top 30 ranking. The shift from online to physical retail sees Boohoo drop four places, for example.

Meanwhile, Harrods moves up four places, from 21st to 17th position, with a CAGR of 12% suggesting strong future potential and increased market recognition. Similarly, The Foschini Group made a significant leap by moving up six places, from 30th to 24th, with a five-year CAGR of 11.6%.

Categorised by a competitive landscape and ambitious growth strategies for the leading players, the fashion sector is certainly in for interesting times ahead.

Partner viewpoint

Alice Chidgey, Customer Success Manager, Bloomreach Engagement UK

As we know all too well, forecasting the future – especially after the last few years – is no easy feat. The most conclusive resource we have to lean on is our data, to help us try to understand what might be ahead of us. This is why reports such as Retail Week’s Fashion Forward campaign are so important and why a tool that helps you understand your customer base, what they like and how they react should be a business priority.

From looking over this report, what stuck with me is that only two of the top 10 companies are trading as online-only businesses. There is, as can be seen especially in Primark’s performance – as it currently relies on bricks-and-mortar store sales – a real hunger from consumers to get back to an in-person shopping experience. This is compounded by the need for consideration of spend, given the economic landscape, and so consumers want to feel, try on and access their purchases pre-transaction. This is something I am seeing and hearing more and more about from the retail customers I work with.

Choice, all-in-one and a more traditional department-store model rule the top seven slots for 2026, something I think indicates the continued need for convenience alongside the want for a shopping experience. This approach, while convenient for a customer, also benefits brands when they can use the store’s organic footfall as an acquisition opportunity. This is why we are seeing the growth of brands moving towards a multi-brand offering and also the speed with which additional brands are being acquired by existing retailers.

The move to channel-agnostic, customer-focused strategies, like the one used by Next, will be key for other brands to keep in mind. Where online-only has been winning for the last few years, the merging of physical and digital innovation, as seen in John Lewis’ launch of clothing rental, will be key to keeping customers engaged and making sure a store's offering – wherever their customers may be – is relevant and timely. Adding these new experiences and differentiating enticing offerings or brands into their communication and marketing strategy will be key to the top-performing brands by 2026.

What does a successful fashion strategy look like?

The Fashion Forward: Forecasting the sector’s future model content series will provide the answers. Upcoming content includes:

August – Strategy deep-dive: The who’s who of fashion’s biggest players by 2026 
September – The future fashion consumer: How they’ll shop and what it means for your business
October – Next season tech: The investments powering the future of fashion
November – The products consumers will be buying three years from now 
Date to be confirmed – Virtual panel discussion, Fashion Forward: Forecasting the sector’s future model