LONDON, United Kingdom — Next year, Greater China will for the first time in centuries overtake the US as the world’s largest fashion market, while external shocks to the system - from slowing growth to Brexit - lurk around the corner.

Those are just some of the findings in The State of Fashion 2019, co-authored by The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company. Over 270 fashion executives, thought leaders and pioneers gave their outlook for 2019, one that many expect will be a year of awakening, filled with both opportunities and challenges.

Growth in the overall fashion market is forecasted to slow to 3.5 to 4.5 percent. In the US, the luxury sector is optimistic about what's to come; struggling mid-market brands and retailers less so. Far-sighted companies will make bold moves in automation and artificial intelligence, and will disrupt themselves before others do it for them. Consumers will make or break brands based on trust. And global economic and political trends hover over the whole picture.

McKinsey and BoF also recognise the rise of “super winners,” the top 20 publicly listed companies that are increasingly dominating the industry in terms of value creation. This group includes brands such as Nike, LVMH and Inditex, and it now accounts for around $25 billion of economic profit, which is 97 percent of total industry value created, compared to 70 percent in 2010.

In the latest episode of Inside Fashion, Imran Amed, founder and editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion and Achim Berg, global leader of McKinsey & Company’s apparel, fashion and luxury group, unpack these and other key themes and topics for the year ahead.

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