The fashion CXO’s guide to 2026

The fashion market has never been as unpredictable as it is today, forcing leaders to think beyond traditional ways of manufacturing, marketing, and selling.

This blog investigates the key technology and non-tech related considerations fashion leaders must prioritize in 2026, from reskilling teams to making Artificial Intelligence (AI) a board-level priority. It also draws on McKinsey and The Business of Fashion’s (BoF) State of Fashion 2026 report to highlight the areas that will define effective leadership in the fashion industry this year.

Making AI a strategic, board-level priority

The use of AI has permeated all aspects of fashion to the extent that it can no longer sit at the edges of business. Market trends sustained by both consumers and producers are relying more heavily on AI than ever before, and the time has come for fashion leadership to embed it across the value chain.

The McKinsey and BoF report highlights several ways in which AI can support fashion businesses, including:

• The need for companies to redesign processes and compete for AI talent, while still protecting the creativity that makes fashion unique.
  
  
• A shift in leadership mindset, away from small pilots and incremental experimentation, towards a more fundamental reassessment of how organizations operate with AI at their core.

Fortude’s agentic AI capabilities for fashion businesses are a strong example of tools that support fashion technology trends in 2026. Charlie, Fortude’s agentic AI solution, currently supports demand forecasting, inventory management, and signal-based inventory levelling, and our team is working on adding more functionalities during this year. Integrating an AI assistant such as Charlie into business processes helps fashion businesses stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

Leading with change management and transparency

While integrating AI into your business processes will support navigating the fashion technology trends of 2026, it is also vital for fashion leadership to consider upskilling and recruitment to support their technology investments. Mismanagement of constant industry change, or a lack of transparency in this process, may adversely affect business results.

What is essential here is strong collaboration between the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the Chief People Officer (CPO) within the organization. This collaboration will ensure that technological tools, such as agentic AI, and the human workforce complement each other’s performance with minimal disruption.

Areas to look out for:

• While working towards upskilling and recruiting to meet the demands of technology investments, it is important not to recruit solely from the fashion industry. Digital talent, particularly in AI, should be sourced from the broader technology industry to avoid limiting innovation.
  
  
• Do not underestimate training needs, as nearly half of retail employees feel under-supported in GenAI adoption.
  
  
• It is also important not to rely on rigid, top-down directives, keeping in mind that culture is often the biggest barrier. Fashion leadership should encourage experimentation and treat failures as learning opportunities as they navigate the market’s cycles of change in 2026.

Building a future-proof sustainability agenda into your fashion supply chain

A key theme driving businesses forward in this decade is sustainability. However, in 2026, fashion supply chains should adopt sustainability not as isolated initiatives, but as a fully integrated operational strategy.

Fashion leadership must invest in technologies such as digital product passports, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to strengthen traceability from raw materials to finished goods.
Another future-proof sustainability initiative that can be adopted in the fashion industry is bolstering climate resilience by diversifying sourcing regions, reducing dependency on water- and energy-intensive processes, and expanding the use of renewable energy.

Overproduction is the largest contributor to fashion waste. Integrating AI into work processes, as described earlier, will facilitate the use of AI-driven demand forecasting to reduce overproduction.

Fashion technology trends in 2026 also encourage closer partnerships with suppliers on emissions goals, material circularity, and compliance with rising regulations such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws and eco-design requirements.

Areas to look out for:

• Unverified sustainability claims should be avoided, as these are being more intensively scrutinized by both regulators and consumers.
  
  
• It is also important not to treat sustainability as a mere Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) function. Instead, it should be integrated into sourcing, product development, logistics, and merchandising, making it a core part of the overall fashion business workflow.

Reinvesting efficiency gains into customer-facing differentiators

It is essential for the fashion market to continue investing in customer experience, with a focus on harnessing new technologies in 2026. To achieve this, tech-driven efficiencies should unlock capital that can be reinvested into customer experience initiatives.

Some of these investments, which fashion leadership must prioritize, include product innovation, brand storytelling, and client relationship-building. The McKinsey and BoF report highlights the importance of keeping human connection at the center of the brand experience by balancing AI-driven discoverability with rich storytelling and branding that inspire human shoppers.

It is also recommended that luxury brands reinvest in enhanced clienteling, supported by AI-enabled insights. This will enable businesses to deliver deeply personalized services to their clientele while navigating uncertainties around client loyalty in the constantly shifting market of 2026.

Areas to look out for:

• When reinvesting efficiency gains into customer-facing differentiators, it is important not to over-index on cost-cutting. Protecting creative differentiation remains essential to long-term business relevance.
  
  
• Fashion leadership should also ensure that a strong value proposition continues to center on creativity, innovation, and unique customer experiences.

Leading fashion through complexity in 2026

The fashion industry in 2026 will continue to navigate constant change driven by rapidly shifting consumer trends, the accelerating adoption of AI, and ongoing global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. In this environment, fashion leadership must focus on a set of core imperatives that support resilience, innovation, and operational clarity.

These include making AI a strategic, board-level priority by embedding it across the value chain, and leading with strong change management and transparency by upskilling and recruiting talent to match the industry’s technological evolution. Together, these priorities help fashion businesses redefine operational strategies in line with broader global business expectations in 2026.

Investing in customer experience is another critical leadership priority shaping fashion businesses this year. Alongside this, organizational culture will continue to play a defining role in the direction of the fashion market, making it essential for fashion leaders to place people, creativity, and adaptability at the center of decision-making in the year ahead.