The fashion industry in 2025 is at a pivotal crossroads. After years of upheaval from pandemics, economic shocks, and climate pressures, it faces a “particularly tumultuous and uncertain 2025” where the old playbook is no longer enough.
Brands are grappling with seismic shifts, from supply chain disruptions and stricter sustainability regulations to fast-evolving consumer behaviors in the digital age.
In this moment of change, a number of forward-thinking “playbooks” and guides have emerged to help fashion brands and designers navigate these challenges.
Below, we’ve curated some of the standout 2025 fashion business playbooks, split into two key categories:
Supply Chain & Sustainability Playbooks
Listrak H2 2025 Retail Outlook (Fashion Edition)
This report analyzes retail data from the first half of the year and gives actionable strategies to finish 2025 strong. It blends market insights (consumer surveys and sales trends) with tactical recommendations.
Key focus areas include:
Price and discounting tactics – noting that 37% of shoppers plan to cut non-essentials, it suggests value-driven engagement like automated price-drop alerts and highlighting resale/pre-loved offers to capture cost-conscious customers.
Inventory and supply chain – flagging continued disruptions (e.g. a 65% YoY drop in imports from China and spikes in order cancellations), it advises retailers to adjust inventory triggers (raising “low stock” thresholds, extending back-in-stock notifications) to avoid stockouts during holidays.
Technology/marketing trends – with 53% of consumers expected to use AI assistants (like ChatGPT) for shopping, it urges brands to optimize for AI-driven discovery and personalize outreach across channels.
Why it’s valuable: this mid-year playbook is a timely roadmap for fashion brands in the US and Europe to pivot quickly in response to current consumer behavior and economic signals.
By following its guidance, from omnichannel marketing tweaks (SMS, email performance shifts) to supply chain agility and AI integration, retailers can capitalize on late-2025 opportunities (holiday season, etc.) and mitigate risks. It’s essentially a health check and play-by-play plan to ensure that cautious optimism turns into concrete growth by year’s end.
The Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook – UNEP & UN Climate Change
This playbook provides a shared vision and principles for aligning fashion’s consumer-facing communications with sustainability goals.
It calls on fashion marketers, brand storytellers, and influencers to counter greenwashing and overconsumption narratives, instead inspiring sustainable lifestyles and empowering consumers to demand action.
Why it matters: it positions communication as a powerful lever for systemic change, recognizing that shifting consumer mindset is as crucial as cleaning up production in achieving fashion’s climate targets. In a world where misinformation and the cult of “newness” hinder progress, this guide offers a roadmap for more honest, impactful storytelling in fashion.
Playbook 2025: The Data Advantage for Fashion & Textile Supply Chains – TrusTrace (Tech Platform)
This playbook tackles one of the biggest hurdles in sustainable fashion today: data.
TrusTrace argues that the ability to gather and share accurate, meaningful supply chain data is now a strategic imperative, not optional The “Data Advantage” guide introduces a clear framework for streamlining data collection to satisfy compliance requirements and drive sustainability outcomes simultaneously.
Its centerpiece is the “Compliance Canvas”, outlining the minimum data sets fashion companies need for key laws and regulations (16 major regs grouped in 8 categories).
It also features insights from brands and suppliers piloting solutions like Digital Product Passports, and an executive briefing on the rising tide of policy risks.
The takeaway: fashion businesses must shift from chaotic spreadsheets to smarter data, collecting fewer but more meaningful points. By adopting the playbook’s blueprint, brands can cut through data overload, ensure they’re regulation-ready, and use information as an ally for supply chain resilience and transparency.
This is especially urgent as this year the industry is seeing regulators worldwide tighten their grip, and those unprepared, an estimated “50 to 75% of the industry”, risk failing to survive the next wave of enforcement.
Fashion Impact Toolkit – Deloitte & Global Fashion Agenda
Co-developed by Global Fashion Agenda and Deloitte and launched at Global Fashion Summit Copenhagen 2025, the Fashion Impact Toolkit is an interactive playbook for sustainability and resilience across the fashion value chain.
It provides a comprehensive impact inventory (nearly 3,000 potential environmental and social impacts mapped across raw materials, production, retail, and end-of-life) and a framework aligned with emerging regulations (like the EU’s CSRD/ESRS standards)
The toolkit is free and globally accessible, offering fashion companies – from high-street and luxury brands to suppliers, a way to identify their sustainability hotspots and integrate impact data into decision-making.
It includes a detailed report with findings and a user-friendly digital tool to model scenarios, helping brands of all sizes prioritize actions on climate, circularity, and social issues.
Why it’s valuable: As the US and EU tighten ESG requirements and consumers demand transparency, this playbook helps fashion businesses navigate compliance and turn sustainability into a strategic advantage.
It serves as an up-to-date roadmap to build more competitive, “net-positive” business models by 2050, outlining enablers like innovation, financing, and partnerships needed to accelerate change.
Brand Building & Development Playbooks
The 2025 Playbook for Employer Branding – Business of Fashion (BoF)
BoF flips the script inward with this article style playbook on strengthening your brand’s appeal to current and potential employees.
As the fight for talent intensifies, with Gen-Z entering the workforce and insisting their employers’ values align with their own, companies must reinvent how they attract and retain people.
This guide (based on a BoF Live session) offers insights into meeting evolving workforce expectations – from offering perks and wellness services that appeal across generations, to navigating hybrid work and return-to-office policies in a post-pandemic reality.
It emphasizes embodying and demonstrating company values authentically (e.g. commitments to DEI and sustainability) to win employee trust.
Why it matters? For fashion brands, especially growing ones, talent is as crucial as customers. A strong employer brand can differentiate you in a competitive market.
This playbook reminds us that in 2025, internal brand building – creating a purpose-driven culture and engaged team – is a key part of business success. Happy, value-aligned employees ultimately translate to stronger brands and better products.
Social-First Brand Building: Key Shifts for 2025 – Ogilvy
2025 is a year brands are proving that going “social-first” can be the key to growth.
Ogilvy’s 2025 playbook dives into how brands must rethink marketing in a world where communities and creators hold the power. It’s not as simples as just posting on TikTok or Instagram; it envolves reimagining brand building from the ground up for a connected, creator-driven era.
The report explores crucial shifts needed: embracing decentralized influence (letting go of some control and co-creating with communities), leveraging new rules of engagement on emerging platforms, and balancing agility with coherent brand memory.
It offers actionable strategies for agencies and brand teams to unlock sustainable growth amid the attention economy’s chaos.
Why it matters: in 2025 the consumer’s attention is fragmented across countless feeds and channels. This playbook arms fashion marketers with a forward-thinking approach to cut through the noise – by being culture-centric, highly agile, and authentically engaging.
It validates that social media is no longer a mere marketing channel, but the arena where brand value is built or broken.
The State of Fashion: Beauty Vol. 2 (2025) – Business of Fashion & McKinsey
Beauty’s era of effortless growth is giving way to a more complex landscape, and this report serves as a strategic playbook for navigating the shift.
According to the report, once a $441 billion sector, beauty is now showing signs of cooling – after growing about 7% annually from 2022 to 2024, its expansion is projected to moderate to around 5% per year through 2030.
Geopolitical uncertainty, market saturation and changing consumer behavior have made the old formula for success “a challenging puzzle to solve”. Consumers are also broadening their definition of “beauty” (embracing wellness, personal care and even cosmetic treatments) and have become more value-conscious and skeptical of hype, laser-focused on whether products actually deliver results.
It spotlights five key themes reshaping the beauty industry’s future.
The Fragmenting Consumer – one global playbook no longer works as shopper profiles splinter, so hyper-local insight is now essential.
True Value– affordable upstarts are matching premium brands in quality and innovation, raising the bar on consumer expectations and forcing every player to clearly justify its price-value equation.
Beyond the Founder – celebrity brand founders can boost awareness, but fame alone is insufficient for long-term success (only 13% of consumers cite a famous founder as a purchase driver); enduring brands need genuine product quality and originality to sustain loyalty.
Marketing’s Balancing Act – with influencer impact fading and digital ad channels oversaturated, companies are refocusing on creativity and bold brand storytelling over heavy paid marketing.
Channels at a Crossroads – even though e-commerce marketplaces are surging, in-store retail remains crucial for product discovery, so brands must differentiate the physical experience while integrating seamless online-offline strategies.
Ultimately, this playbook underscores that future success lies in balancing creativity with rigor and championing value, differentiation and individuality over a “more is more” mindset – a message especially pertinent for brands navigating fashion and beauty in today’s dynamic market.
TikTok’s 2025 Fashion Playbook for SMBs – TikTok for Business
TikTok has become a discovery engine for fashion, and this playbook is tailored for small to mid-size brands looking to “level up” their game on the platform.
It highlights how inspiration on TikTok turns into influence and sales, noting that 70% of global consumers have changed their style based on advice from smaller creators.
The guide provides tips on making the most of seasonal “peak moments” (from fashion weeks to holiday sales) with TikTok’s tool, best practices for authentic content (e.g. try-on hauls, community spotlights, styling tips), and leveraging features like Creator Marketplace and Smart Performance to optimize campaigns
Why it matters: TikTok is a level playing field where niche brands can outshine big players through creativity and community. With consumers of all ages now using the app to discover new products (even 50% of Gen X are on TikTok for brand discovery), fashion SMEs can’t afford to ignore this channel.
This playbook demystifies TikTok marketing and shows that by embracing authenticity and data-driven tools, even a modest brand can build real relationships and drive growth on social video. In an age of short attention spans, it’s a crucial manual for turning scrolls into sales.
2025 Fashion & Apparel Video Commerce Playbook – Firework
E-commerce is evolving from static catalogues to interactive video, and this playbook illustrates how fashion brands can ride that wave.
Firework’s guide touts video commerce as a game-changer: brands using video shopping experiences see 2.5× higher conversion rates on average and up to a 20% boost in average order value.
It breaks down the why and how of video commerce – explaining formats like Shoppable Videos, Live Video Showrooms, 1:1 Video Chat consultations, and AI-powered virtual stylists.
The playbook shares success stories from major players (Levi’s, Burberry, etc.) leveraging these tools to increase engagement, session durations, and even drive in-store traffic via online video experiences.
For fashion brands, especially those selling direct-to-consumer, the message is that video-driven shopping isn’t the future – it’s here now, blurring physical and digital retail.
Why it matters: as consumer expectations shift to more immersive and humanized online shopping, brands that adopt video commerce can create rich, interactive experiences that deepen customer connection.
This guide provides a practical primer on integrating video to boost sales and customer lifetime value. In today’s hyper-digital market, it’s a playbook to ensure your e-commerce strategy isn’t stuck in 2015.
As we move forward, it’s getting even more clearer that a new playbook for fashion is needed – one that balances radical transparency and sustainability with creativity and genuine connection. The resources above serve as signposts toward building smarter, more resilient brands in this new era. It’s a journey of continuous learning and adaptation.
For more insights, tools, and guidance on fashion’s journey to a smarter and more sustainable fashion business, read the following posts:
Opportunities Ahead: Key Textile Fairs to Grow Visibility As a Supplier in Late 2025
Crafting the Future: How Digital Tools Empower Handmade Fashion
Beyond Firefighting: New Operating Model for Resilient Fashion Supply Chain
What Fashion Still Doesn’t Understand About Cause, Effect, and Real Impact
How to Buy Fabric in 2025: A New Vision for a Changing Fashion Landscape
