The UK’s official statistics body released its retail sales figures for August on Friday and the overall number was up, with clothing being one of the most buoyant categories.
Photo: Pixabay
Retail sales volumes are estimated to have risen by 0.5% in August 2025, following an increase of 0.5% in July (revised down from a 0.6% rise in the last bulletin). Clothing stores, butchers and bakers, and non-store retailing grew in August, which some retailers attributed to the good weather. Textile, clothing and shoe stores actually rose 1.3% for the month.
But volumes are estimated to have fallen by 0.1% in the three months to August 2025 when compared with the three months to May 2025. Although increases in non-store retailing and clothing stores (the former up 2.9% and the latter up 2.2%) helped to partly offset drops in other sectors.
August marked the third consecutive period of monthly growth, but volumes didn’t quite return to their recent March 2025 peak and are still below the last month before the pandemic hit the UK (February 2020).
The amount spent online rose by 2% when comparing the three months to August 2025 with the three months to May 2025, and by 3.4% year on year.
In addition to those figures, there were some interesting stats released Friday by Shopify with its MD EMEA, Deann Evans, saying its data showed back-to-school shopping “remained a key driver, with the sales of school uniforms up by 55.2% compared to July”.
But the data also showed that “consumers are already looking ahead to the festive season, with sales of advent calendars up 36.3%, wreaths up 32.7%, and fireworks and firecrackers up 15.4% in August. This could be an early indication that households are spreading out festive spending and avoiding a last-minute rush”.
Analysts were generally upbeat but also cautious with Oliver Vernon-Harcourt, head of retail at Deloitte, saying: “Retail sales in August were bolstered by continued warm weather as consumers enjoyed the final month of summer. Encouragingly, spending on discretionary items including clothing also rose. While the summer months have been positive for retail sales, all eyes are now on the Golden Quarter – the most important few months of the year for retailers. The change of the seasons in September should no doubt encourage consumers to purchase items for their winter wardrobes, but many businesses will be hoping that rain doesn’t deter shoppers from the high street.”
Meanwhile Jacqueline Windsor, Head of Retail at PwC, said: “Overall, August caps off a better-than-expected summer, particularly for non-food retailers, with sales of seasonal lines boosted by the hottest summer temperatures on record. However, overall sales volumes remain below pre-pandemic levels, so the high street is far from being out of the woods. After some respite from the cost-of-living crisis last year, over four in five consumers now tell us they are concerned about inflation”.
And that’s a concern that can’t be ignored as consumer confidence was down two points in September to -19, according to GfK’s long-running monthly measurement that was also released on Friday.
All measures were down in comparison to last month’s announcement.
Neil Bellamy, GfK’s Consumer Insights Director, said: “There’s an autumnal chill in the air this month, with all five measures of consumer confidence down and the Overall Index Score for September slipping. The August seventh decrease in interest rates does not appear to have provided any obvious boost to the financial mood of consumers or drawn attention away from day-to-day cost issues. Both personal finance measures – past and future – are lower, while our major purchases measure has dropped three points to -16.
“Even more striking is an eight-point fall in saving intentions. Looking at the economy, sentiment is sliding sharply: in June 2024 our forward-looking measure stood at -11, but just 15 months later it has slumped to -32. Perceptions of the past year remain weak too, down three from last month to -45. With tax rises expected in the November budget, the risk is that confidence inevitably falls, just like the autumn leaves.”
Louis Vuitton has named Grammy Award–winning artist Future as its newest ambassador, deepening the maison’s ongoing commitment to celebrating talent across cultural landscapes.
Louis Vuitton names Future as its newest ambassador. – Louis Vuitton
The Atlanta-born rapper, producer and composer continues to dominate the global music landscape. Most recently, he released back-to-back chart-topping albums, “We Don’t Trust You” and “We Still Don’t Trust You”, which became an international phenomenon and further cemented Future’s status as a cultural trailblazer. Over the course of his career, Future has earned 11 number-one albums and multiple chart-leading singles.
“Future embodies the core values of Louis Vuitton, including creativity, artistry, and a pioneering spirit that resonates with international audiences,” the maison said in a statement. “His unique style and creative vision make him an invaluable addition to the Louis Vuitton family.”
It’s not the first time Future collaborates with Louis Vuitton. He attended Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Spring–Summer 2026 show in Paris at the invitation of Pharrell Williams, a longtime friend and creative collaborator. Earlier this year, Future also appeared at the 2025 Met Gala, themed “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” wearing a custom Louis Vuitton grey quarter-zip ensemble layered with a tie, designed by Williams.
Rent the Runway announced on Monday sales for the third quarter rose 15.4% to $87.6 million, with the U.S. rental platform clocking growth across its subscriber base.
Rent the Runway
The New York-based firm said ending active subscribers grew 12.4% to 148,916 during the three months, and average active subscribers totalled 147,645, up 12.9% on the prior-year period.
Meanwhile, total subscriber numbers lifted 6.1% to 185,166 during the quarter ending October 31.
In line with strong sales growth, the company reported a net income of $76.5 million, as compared to a loss of $18.9 million in the third quarter last year.
“This year we’ve repositioned ourselves for sustained growth in the category,” said Jennifer Hyman, co-founder and CEO of Rent the Runway.
“Not only did we execute operationally on our stated goals to return to our customer-obsessed origins, reinvigorate our brand, and drive double-digit growth in subscribers; but we also restructured our balance sheet, closing the recapitalization transactions in October that offer improved financial flexibility to better position us for continued growth.”
Earlier this year, Rent the Runway said it will hand over a controlling stake in the company as part of a plan to cut debt and grow.
The deal, with lender Aranda Principal Strategies and other partners, will wipe more than $240 million of debt from Rent the Runway’s balance sheet, according to an emailed statement released in August.
Looking ahead, Rent the Runway said it forecasts revenue of between $323.1 million and $325.1 million for the full-year.
Elisabetta Caldera, 55, has been named global chief people and organization officer for Chanel Ltd., succeeding Claire Isnard, 64, starting next month, the company told Bloomberg News in a statement.
Isnard is retiring after more than 17 years at the group, which had a workforce of around 38,400 employees last year. Caldera will join Chanel’s leadership team, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Leena Nair, and be based in London.
Caldera spent more than four years as global chief human resources officer at Aegon Ltd. where she was also part of the insurer’s executive committee. The Italian executive previously spent 17 years at Vodafone Group Plc in various HR roles until 2021 when she joined Aegon.
Under CEO Nair, the former head of HR at Unilever Plc, Chanel has been rebuilding the roster of top managers at the company as an older guard retires.
Chanel, known for its No. 5 fragrance, is privately owned by the billionaire brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer whose fortunes are estimated at about $43 billion each, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The company, founded in Paris but headquartered in London, reports its financial performance once a year, generally around late May. Revenue fell 4.3% to $18.7 billion in 2024 on a comparative basis with operating profit sliding by almost a third partly due to heavy advertising spending and a rise in hiring.
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