Fashion wholesale regaining ground and evolving ahead of 2026

2025 has been a troubled year for the fashion industry, and as 2026 is approaching, the wholesale channel is showing signs of a remarkable evolution, according to data collected by Joor, a New York-based B2B platform that specialises in connecting premium brands and retailers. Joor’s data shows that fashion wholesale is regaining momentum, that order lead times are getting shorter, brands are developing tighter collections featuring more evergreens, and both retailers and brands are increasing their use of AI tools.

Joor has drawn the data from industry transactions that took place in 150 countries, between 675,000 retail buyers and over 14,000 brands. Analysing the data, Joor has identified five main trends.

The first is that the wholesale channel isn’t on its last legs. According to Joor, 52% of respondent brands indicated that wholesale is their most profitable distribution channel, ahead of direct physical and online retail. The wholesale channel currently accounts for 57% of the revenue generated by the brands in the panel, confirming distribution is “going back to basics.”

“The overarching theme for brands and retailers is to focus on agility and informed decision-making,” said Amanda McCormick Bacal, senior vice-president of marketing at Joor. She also noted that the trends identified by it “demand that brands and retailers have a strategy built on real-time insights.”

The second insight coming from the figures is that buyers are increasingly demanding, especially in terms of lead times. The average time from a wholesale order being placed to the product shipping has fallen dramatically, from 263 days in 2019 to just 102 days in 2024. In other words, in-season buying is the order of the day, and it is set to be on the rise in 2026, as retailers will try to minimise the risks of unsold inventory.

The same risk aversion is reflected in collection composition, as very extensive collections are being replaced by tighter assortments. In the last two years, its market surveys observed that the share of brands developing capsule collections has risen from 19% to 37%.

In parallel, developing and ordering evergreen products is allowing brands and buyers to minimise uncertainty. Evergreen styles are becoming an increasingly major business driver, growing from 37% of gross merchandise value (GMV) on Joor in 2019 to 49% of GMV in 2024. A sign that buyers are favouring the most reliable products, and that design creativity has been forced to adapt to commercial reality.

Independent retail and AI

A major mutation observed by Joor relates to client type. Department stores are still the main showcase, but independent retailers are driving growth. Their share of wholesale transactions on Joor has jumped from 49% in 2020 to 62% in 2025.

A trend that is especially strong in the EMEA and APAC regions. Independent retailers and concept stores together now account for 74% of sales volume in EMEA, and 78% in APAC.

According to Joor, AI use is the last of the five trends shaping the wholesale channel’s evolution. AI technology is shifting “from being a tool for driving operational efficiency to a powerful strategy for unlocking growth.” As brands and retailers are increasingly introducing AI in the various stages of their business, Joor too has adopted the technology, for example in its Studio Services platform, which uses AI to create custom virtual models across diverse body types, ages,‍ and styles.