Fashion extends growth to six weeks as high street momentum fades

UK fashion posted a sixth consecutive week of growth, though the gain came against a weak prior-year comparison as momentum across the wider high street faded to a standstill. Fashion total like-for-like (LFL) sales rose +4.74%, according to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker — but that was measured against a -6.56% base a year earlier, meaning much of the headline reflects a soft comparison rather than fresh demand.

Store fashion again led the category, up +6.93%, though it too lapped a negative -4.35% base. In-store has carried fashion throughout the summer, but this week's figure rests heavily on the weakness of the same week in 2025.

Online remained the soft spot. Non-store fashion fell -1.30%, a second consecutive week of decline, confirming the reversal from the double-digit online growth seen earlier in the summer.

The wider high street effectively stalled. Total LFL sales inched up just +0.08% from a -2.69% base, while total store sales edged +0.09% higher — a fourth week of nominal growth, but barely positive. Total non-store sales slipped -0.07%, ending a five-week run of growth.

Springboard footfall rose +0.2% overall, driven by retail parks at +2.4%, while high street footfall fell -0.6% and shopping centres -0.5%.

The week marked a transition from July's prolonged heat to more mixed conditions, with parts of Wales officially in drought while the north saw cloud and showers. Fashion's six-week streak remains technically intact, but with online falling and the latest gain flattered by a weak base, the underlying momentum that drove the early-summer recovery has clearly cooled.

The soft finish caps a month BDO described as one of two halves. Across July, discretionary sales — fashion, lifestyle and homewares combined — rose +2.7% year on year, with in-store sales up +3.8% for the best high street performance since January. But that growth was front-loaded: strong early weeks gave way to a near-standstill by month-end, and BDO linked the fade in part to the warm early summer pulling wardrobe spending forward, leaving less demand later in the season.