Executive Summary
This report examines the performance of the children's clothing sector from the mid-1990s onwards. The market was valued at £4.11bn in 1999, having grown by 18.6% since 1995. The main four segments are girls' and boys' clothing for up to 12 year-olds, children's footwear for up to 12 year-olds, and infantswear for those up to 2 years old.
Childrenswear has experienced growth slightly ahead of the clothing and footwear markets as a whole. The trends towards more working women, smaller family sizes and older parenthood mean that in many households there is a higher level of per capita spending on children than in any previous period. The child population itself is ageing as a result of the declining birth rate, with a higher proportion now falling into the older age ranges, where spending tends to be higher than for infants.
Fashion awareness is increasing among the young. The earliest manifestation of this is with character merchandising, where children are unaware of labels, but are well aware of cartoon and other media favourites. Parents are encouraging the label boom by looking for child versions of their own favourite brands, designer or otherwise, and this is being exploited by suppliers.
At the other end of the market, the mid-market retailers and multiple grocers have expanded their basic offering of items such as schoolwear, underwear and other clothing basics, and have now begun to battle it out on price. The result has been a polarisation in the market between higher and lower price points, leaving the mid-market with a need to re-invent itself to secure its positioning.
In retail terms, the major chains, including the mixed retailers, tend to dominate market share. The growth in designer labels and trading up will begin to be beneficial to smaller outlets. The Internet is providing a further means to the market, which businesses of all sizes are beginning to pursue.
In the medium term, childrenswear is likely to experience growth apace of that in the clothing and footwear markets as a whole, with rising spending per child offsetting the shrinking size of the target market. Key Note estimates that the childrenswear market will increase by 14.7%, to £4.85bn, between 2000 and 2004.
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