Case Study | How Brands Build Genuine Communities

The fashion industry is going to have to learn the real meaning of community in 2025.

Even before US president Donald Trump’s tariffs roiled global markets and generated widespread uncertainty, executives saw consumer confidence and appetite to spend as the greatest risks to fashion’s growth, according to The State of Fashion 2025 by The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company. Shoppers pressured by years of rising costs have been cutting back, trading down and seeking out the best deals, regardless of which brand offers them.

The political and economic turmoil only amplify the challenges facing fashion. Retaining customers is becoming more difficult at a time when acquiring new shoppers continues to be expensive. Consultancy Capgemini found in a 2024 survey that over 53 percent of consumers switch brands and retailers regularly — despite subscribing to their loyalty programmes.

“Loyalty is not a new concept, but for too long, it has been rooted in just how much a customer spends with you,” said Ty Haney, whose second act after leaving her brand Outdoor Voices in 2020 was to found Tyb, a digital community-rewards platform whose clients include beauty brands such as Glossier and retailers like Urban Outfitters.

Brands need a better way to keep their shoppers engaged and coming back. They need to build true communities.

Today, consumers are searching for genuine brand connections centred on a sense of camaraderie and purpose.

A 2024 survey by Edelman, for example, found that 84 percent of consumers across all age groups said they need to share values with a brand in order to buy it. Fashion companies that understand how to address these consumers and pull on the right emotional levers can turn first-time buyers into repeat customers who commit to brands that stand for something larger than product. These customers can also become a brand’s most passionate advocates and ambassadors.

But creating real community around a brand takes a lot more than hosting another in-store event or collecting followers on Instagram. Too often the term has been reduced to little more than a marketing buzzword.

While there’s no one formula for success, the approaches that tend to create the strongest communities in fashion and beauty fall into three camps: activity-driven, typically based on a foundation of sports or other physical activities; personality-driven, coalescing around a magnetic brand founder or leader; and values-based, where customers congregate around a brand because of shared beliefs or perspectives.

The categories aren’t mutually exclusive, however, and each approach provides insights that are more widely applicable.

This case study explores the community-building methods of brands including the fast-rising Bandit Running and outdoor label Arc’teryx; intimates retailer Aerie and inclusive beauty brand Topicals; and popular designer label KidSuper, whose animating force is the personality of founder Colm Dillane. While they have different methods and sometimes different goals in mind, each has found ways to create deeper connections with customers that offer lessons about what community means and how brands can cultivate it.