After years of neglect, the apparel industry may finally get some TLC.
According to the government’s latest read on consumer prices, the apparel index increased 1.6 percent in February. That represented a second-straight monthly gain for the category, reversing a downtrend that had persisted since 2012.
Likewise, separate data released by the government last week showed that sales at clothing stores rose 3.2 percent in the combined months of January and February. And now, with pockets of warm weather in the Northeast, analysts are optimistic that an early spring could spur further demand from shoppers.
Yet as several signs point to a boost in the category, one major headwind continues to hold back a potential recovery. Aside from athletic apparel and skinny jeans — two popular styles that already have several years of spending behind them — there has yet to be one knockout trend that consumers are clamoring to put in their closets.
