How Fashion Brands Build Community in 2025

23 snips

May 20, 2025

Lei Takanashi, a BOF correspondent and community-building expert, dives into how fashion brands can cultivate genuine connections in 2025. He highlights that consumers now prioritize brands' values over mere products. Takanashi identifies three community types: activity-based, personality-driven, and values-driven. He emphasizes the impact of shared interests and authenticity, showcasing brands like REI and Aerie that resonate with deeper consumer values. In a landscape shaped by economic pressures, the discussion reveals the importance of fostering inclusivity and emotional engagement.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Community Reflects Consumer Values

Community in fashion now matters more than ever because consumers seek brands reflecting their values and identities.
Purchases are driven by what a brand represents beyond the product, not just by product releases.

ANECDOTE

Bandit Running's Local Listening

Bandit running built community by listening locally and adapting store hours to runner needs.
They open at 7 a.m. for runners to meet, showing true engagement with the community.

INSIGHT

Three Community Types Explained

Communities can be activity-based, personality-driven, or values-driven, each needing unique engagement.
Activity-based communities engage through shared interests; personality-driven through relatable founders; values-driven through shared dynamic beliefs.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

As inflation bites and politics polarise, the fashion industry in 2025 is facing unprecedented pressure to hold onto its customers. Brands are looking to community as a deeper and more emotional form of engagement. But building true community takes more than buzzwords.

In this episode, BoF correspondent Lei Takanashi joins hosts Sheena Butler-Young and Brian Baskin to unpack his case study on what it really means to cultivate community in fashion and how brands are navigating the pitfalls.

Key Insights:

In a time when consumers are thinking hard about every purchase, community offers a sense of connection and meaning that goes beyond the product itself. "When I'm shopping today, I'm thinking more about what eggs I'm going to buy this week than the latest release from a brand," says Takanashi. "What really now drives me to make a purchase is like, what does this brand represent? What are its values? How has it improved my life beyond just something I wear?"

Different communities serve different purposes, each demanding a unique approach. Takanashi outlines three community types: activity-based, personality-driven and values-driven. Activity-based communities are rooted in shared interests or habits, such as running, where engagement happens naturally through events or clubs. Personality-driven communities hinge on a founder’s charisma and relatability: "People have to see that founder story and kind of see themselves in their shoes." Values-driven communities connect through shared beliefs and causes, but those values must be dynamic. “Your definition of a value can’t be rigid,” says Takanashi. “You have to adapt to how consumers perceive these things.”

As brands grow, scaling community takes local focus to remain authentic. "As long as you stay committed to a localized approach and understand that it’s not one size fits all," Takanashi says, pointing to Arc'teryx and Supreme as examples of brands that scale through local relevance and hiring. In addition to staying local, real-world interaction matters and brands shouldn’t rely solely on digital engagement. “You should really be there in person at pop-ups, shake hands with people, talk to the customer... Every brand I spoke about in this case study made some effort to show up in real life."

Additional Resources:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.