The women's ready-to-wear market - Spain (2023)

1.1 Definition and presentation

Women's ready-to-wear refers to the production and distribution of standard women's clothing, as opposed to the production of luxury or made-to-measure garments. Non-textile footwear and accessories, as well as children's products, are excluded from this study.

The global market for women's ready-to-wear has been growing steadily for many years and is dominated by the United States and Asia-Pacific, which account for the bulk of demand. Asia is the fastest-growing continent, with demand driven by rising living standards and abundant supply, home to the vast majority of the world's production.

In Spain, the ready-to-wear market is dominated by fast fashion giants. The five biggest groups (Inditex, Primark, Tendam, H&M, and Mango) have seen their market share increase sharply. These five groups controlled a third of the market in 2011, compared with 50% in 2020. In a mature Spanish market, these groups have implemented strategies of very rapid renewal of their offer with an aggressive pricing policy.

However, the health crisis has had a major impact on the market, with sales plummeting. Health closures have had a major impact on sales, and the 5 leaders have not been spared, with leader Primark seeing its sales fall by 32% in 2020.

Conversely, online retailers and second-hand clothing specialists (Micolet, Vinted, Sellpy) saw their sales rise as a result of the pandemic.