The State of Fashion 2019: A year of awakening McKinsey & Company

The year ahead will be an awakening after the reckoning of 2018--a time for fashion companies to look at opportunities and not just at surmounting challenges. The ones that will succeed will have come to terms with the fact that in the new paradigm taking shape around them, some of the old rules simply don't work. Regardless of size and segment, players now need to be nimble, think digital-first, and achieve ever-faster speed to market. They need to take an active stance on social issues, satisfy consumer demands for radical transparency and sustainability, and, most important, have the courage to "self-disrupt" their own identity and the sources of their old success to realize these changes and win new generations of customers. They also need to invest in enhancing their productivity and resilience, as the outlook is uncertain.