A representative sample of 520 influencers working with high-street and luxury fashion brands on Instagram were used for this study covering data collected between 11 June – 11 July. Our experts have analyzed sponsored influencer posts on Instagram featuring 38 fashion brands spanning high-street retailers, DTC brands and designer labels to give insights into the state of influencer marketing in the fashion industry

This report is powered by Upfluence software.

Introduction to the Fashion Industry

The eCommerce fashion industry will generate over $1.1 billion in sales of apparel by 2025 and continues to be a growing channel for the industry, with eCommerce sales vs offline sales predicted to rise from 21% of overall sales to 24% by 2023, taking into account the worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of eCommerce users within the sector is expected to grow by more than 1 billion by 2024

What is more, the eCommerce fashion industry is not only reserved for fast-fashion retail but is seeing more and more luxury brands embrace the channel. It’s forecast that by 2025, 20% of all personal luxury purchases will take place online. Brands such as Net-a-porter and Farfetch demonstrate how luxury fashion is taking the online marketplace by storm.

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Average number of followers

This graph shows the average number of followers the influencers in our dataset have based on their category.

Average number of engagements

Top 5 high-street brands with the highest number of engagements for their influencer campaigns. 

Top 5 luxury brands with the highest number of engagements for their influencer campaigns. 

Average engagement rate

This graph shows that influencers working with luxury brands, have a higher engagement rate compared to those working with high-street brands.

Audience by country

Showcased below are the top 5 countries represented by the audience of influencers working with the following high-street brands: Aloyoga, Bershka and Nastygal; and these luxury brands: The Outnet, Gucci and DSW. 

                   Alo Yoga influencers

         38% of audience from other countries.

                       Bershka influencers

         37% of audience from other countries.

                        Nastygal influencers

              22% of audience from other countries.

                      The Outnet influencers

         44% of audience from other countries.

                          Gucci influencers

         33% of audience from other countries.

                           DSW influencers

             

   23% of audience from other countries.

Audience by gender

The audience of fashion influencers working with both high-street and luxury brands is mostly female.

                     Influencers working with high-street brands 

Influencers working with luxury brands

Audience by age

The highest represented age bracket for the audience of luxury fashion influencers is 18-24, showing a growing Gen Z audience for the sector. The highest represented age bracket for high-street fashion influencers is 25-34. 

Age break-down of high-street influencer audience

Age break-down of luxury influencer audience

Number of sponsored posts

Influencers working with high-street brands, published far more sponsored posts than those working luxury fashion brands during this period.

Top high-street  brands with the most sponsored posts

Top luxury brands with the most sponsored posts

Hashtags

We extracted the top 41 hashtags most used by influencers in the fashion industry, including branded hashtags and the most relevant keywords in the industry. 

Some Top Performing Fashion Influencers for You

madison
@madisonhfit23
  • 13K Instagram followers
  • 6.86% engagement rate
  • Brand: Lululemon
shaune
@realshaune
  • 62K Instagram followers
  • 7.1% engagement rate
  • Brand: Target
leyna
@leynabloom
  • 191K Instagram followers
  • 2.7% engagement rate
  • Brand: Calvin Klein
felicity2
@felicityhayward
  • 296K Instagram followers
  • 3.9K average likes
  • Brands: Nastygal & Fashion Nova
sunday
@inmysundaybest
  • 36K Instagram followers
  • 5.7% engagement rate
  • Brand: H&M
dior
@jbillow_
  • 6.2K Instagram followers
  • 5.3% engagement rate
  • Brands: Dior & Zara