StockX reports surging demand for Vans, activewear, and live commerce in 2026 trend report

Global secondary marketplace StockX has released its Big Facts: 2026 Trends report, detailing shifting consumer demand across footwear, apparel, and collectibles between January and October 2026 alongside third-quarter search metrics, according to a press release provided by the company.

The findings underscore a broader diversification of the resale sector beyond traditional deadstock footwear, highlighting rapid growth in skate and activewear brands as well as early traction for StockX’s newly introduced live-shopping and used-goods marketplaces ahead of the fourth-quarter holiday rush.

Within footwear, heritage skate label Vans recorded a 301 percent year-over-year sales increase—effectively quadrupling its volume on the platform—while average resale prices climbed 49 percent, according to the report. Vans rose from outside the top 100 search terms in 2025 to rank 22nd overall, led by collaborative drops such as the Vans OTW Era 95 Satoshi Nakamoto Round Lucky Charm, which commanded an average resale price of 656 dollars.

Women’s basketball emerges as a commercial driver

Meanwhile, Jordan Brand posted an 8 percent overall sales gain, anchored by the Jordan 5 (up 73 percent) and the Jordan 4 (up 3 percent), which maintained its position as the brand's highest-volume silhouette. Women’s basketball also emerged as a measurable commercial driver: Caitlin Clark’s Player Exclusive Kobe 5s accounted for 48 percent of all Kobe 5 trades in 2026, while the "Caitlin Blue" Caitlin 1 achieved the highest release-day sales of any performance basketball shoe on the platform this year.

In the apparel and non-sneaker footwear categories, activewear and emerging contemporary labels captured significant market share. Activewear brands saw sharp secondary-market acceleration, with Gymshark sales rising 151 percent and Alo Yoga surging by more than 6,000 percent, according to StockX data. Emerging streetwear labels also scaled rapidly; newcomer Vale Forever reached the fifth spot among apparel brands in October with 1.6 million dollars in year-to-date gross merchandise spend, while Mixed Emotion recorded a 3,604 percent quarter-over-quarter sales jump between Q2 and Q3.

Elsewhere, Crocs reversed two consecutive years of declining resale volume with a 13 percent sales increase, supported by intellectual property collaborations with Disney, Lego, and One Piece, alongside a 48 percent uptick in its Echo line.

Beyond category shifts, the report marks the first operational disclosure for two new business models launched in 2026: StockX Live and StockX Listings. Seeking to expand its total addressable market and capture higher engagement, StockX reported that its livestream commerce channel generated hundreds of thousands of sales within its first three months, with active users averaging over an hour per day in-app.

Concurrently, StockX Listings, the company’s dedicated marketplace for pre-owned and vintage inventory, saw Jordan retros lead footwear volume, while sports-related merchandise accounted for roughly 30 percent of vintage apparel orders. StockX chief executive officer Greg Schwartz noted in the release that integrating live entertainment and peer-to-peer vintage formats has deepened customer engagement as the platform prepares for holiday demand across high-velocity categories, including trading cards—where basketball card spend jumped 462 percent—and consumer electronics.

Multi-format social and circular marketplaces

As traditional primary retailers navigate promotional pressures and cautious discretionary spending heading into the final quarter of 2026, StockX’s expanding format mix signals an ongoing structural evolution in re-commerce from pure-play authentication hubs toward multi-format social and circular marketplaces. The Detroit-based company, which operates a global network of verification centers, will look to leverage these higher-engagement formats through the fourth-quarter holiday shopping cycle before publishing its full-year performance review in early 2027.