Modern MBA

How UNIQLO, H&M, and ZARA Conquered Fashion (2025x3)

Air date: Feb 28, 2025

Fast fashion, for better or worse, has withstood the test of time. The biggest brands today are not British, American, or Italian, but instead Spanish, Japanese, and Swedish - with annual sales exceeding even the luxury powerhouses like Chanel, Gucci, and Hermes. UNIQLO, H&M, and ZARA emerged in the 1990s and have dominated the mass market for the past three decades. These upstarts rapidly expanded across the West in the 2010s - taking market share from giants like GAP and Ralph Lauren on their home turf, driving J Crew to bankruptcy, and turning Abercrombie and American Eagle into afterthoughts. When the industry realized they couldn’t beat fast fashion, they joined them. Why gamble on innovation when you can profit from proven demand? Even the fashion houses and legacy labels who built their empires on selling timeless, buy-for-life clothing have transformed themselves over the years to be more like UNIQLO, H&M, and ZARA.