‘Revenge spending’: demand for fashion defies cost of living crunch

Despite the price of cotton rising, spending on items such as underwear has increased by 10% as people restock on items after the pandemic. Photograph: Keith Morris/Alamy

As the cost of living crisis builds up UK shoppers are slashing their budgets in almost all areas. But there is a notable exception – the money spent on clothing is above pre-pandemic levels, the return of weddings, holidays and socialising fuelling a boom in “revenge spending” or buying those treats missed over months of pandemic lockdowns.

Shoppers are forking out almost a fifth more on clothing than last year, research from Kantar for the Guardian has found, taking the value 1% ahead of the 2019 figure.