Accessories Industry Market Trends, Market Size, Offline Sales, Distribution, and Top Brands
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Accessories Brands Industry Overview
The revenue of the global accessories market in 2022 sums up to $535 billion, with the U.S. accessories market accounting for $98.83 billion out of the total revenue.
Accessories Sub Categories
Broadly, the subcategories of accessories include fashion accessories, backpacks and travel bags, eyewear, handbags and wallets, jewelry and watches, costumes and party accessories, and other forms of private accessories. However, in general terms, these subcategories are often grouped as personal or fashion accessories.
Intersections Across the Subcategories
The accessories industry makes for a consumer market with largely intertwined subcategories, with consumers often merging goods from different subcategories to achieve the desired appearance. Consequently, accessories manufacturers produce various accessories across the board as complementary goods.
Jewelry and Watches
Jewelry and watches account for the largest segment in the U.S accessories market, with the 2022 revenue amounting to $71.49 billion. The 2022 revenue indicates a $2 billion step-up from the $69 billion revenue recorded in the previous year.
This subcategory includes earrings, necklaces, watches, bracelets, rings, and anklets.
Handbags and Wallets
The United States handbags industry revenue in 2022 is $11.98 billion, recording a significant recovery from $6.78 billion in 2020 due to low retail sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This subcategory includes clutches, purses, wristlets, totes, and wallets.
Eyewear
The U.S eyewear market is generally categorized to encompass all luxury and non-luxury eyewear and prescription and non-prescription (fashion accessories). Put together, the market’s revenue in 2022 amounts to $31.56 billion. Sunglasses, mostly viewed as a fashion accessory, accounts for $4.67 billion of the total revenue.
This subcategory includes eyewear frames, sunglasses, spectacle lenses, and contact lenses.
Costumes and Party Accessories and Other Accessories (Group All Together)
This category includes party accessories, cosplay costumes, and costume jewelry (including bracelets, earrings, brooches, rings, and others).
The data available for the costume jewelry market shows a record of $33 billion global sales in 2021. In the U.S., the market is expected to reach $22.3 billion by 2027, following a CAGR of 5.3% from 2019 to 2027.
Backpacks and Travel Bags
As of 2022, the U.S. backpack and travel bags market amounts to $165.1 million, recording annual growth of 2.8% from 2017 to 2022.
Key Companies in the U.S. Accessories Market
Given the versatility of the U.S. accessories market, there are many small, medium, and large-scale enterprises of local and international origins operating in the market. Thus, making the market highly fragmented.
Despite the numerous fragments, a few conglomerate firms drive the accessories market in the U.S. These firms include:
Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH)
LVMH is a global luxury conglomerate comprising some of the top luxury brands in the U.S. accessories market, including Christian Dior, Givenchy, Fendi, and Tiffany. These brands manufacture and supply products across all segments of the U.S accessories market.
In 2021, LVMH recorded a global revenue of 39.8 billion euros in the fashion, leather, watches, and jewelry market segments, with the United States market accounting for 33.5% of the total revenue.
Kering USA
Kering USA is the U.S. subsidiary of Kering. Just like the global arm, Kering USA comprises various personal accessories manufacturers and brands, including but not limited to Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Christopher Kane.
These companies focus on luxury brands of various personal accessories categories, including handbags and wallets, eyewear, jewelry and watches, and backpacks and travel bags. In 2021, Kering Group recorded a global revenue of 17.64 billion euros, with the North American region accounting for 26% of the total revenue.
Richemont Group
Richemont is home to luxury companies in the jewelry, watches, and other segments in the accessories market. The companies include Cartier, Buccellati, Montblanc, Peter Millar, Roger Dubuis, and Piaget.
In 2022, the group made sales amounting to 19.18 billion euros. The jewelry and watches arms of the group alone recorded 14.4 billion euros in total sales, with 22% of the global sales coming from the Americas.
Tapestry, Inc.
Tapestry, Inc., a U.S.-based luxury accessories company, comprises three global brands: Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman (SW). The company recorded a global net sale of $5.75 billion in 2021. Meanwhile, in the third quarter of 2022, it recorded $1.44 billion in net sales
Emerging Brands in the Market
Aside from the top industry players, some accessories brands are fast emerging to take a top spot in the industry. They include:
Top Investors in the U.S. Accessories Market
The U.S. accessories market is a very competitive industry marked by fast-changing trends. Consequently, the market perpetually opens a window of funding opportunities to an array of eager investors. Top investors and investments in the accessories market include:
- Venture capital companies in the U.S. accessories market include Forerunner Ventures, Nordstrom, Female Founders Fund, Greycroft Partners, Index Ventures, Accel Partners, and Mercato Partners.
- Private equity firms in the industry include Huron Capital, Sycamore Partners, L Catterton, Topspin Consumer Partners, and Carlyle Group Investment Firm.
- Mergers and acquisitions. Top M & A champions in the industry include LVMH, Richemont, Michael Kors, and Kering.
- Aggregators in the industry include Amazon, Lyst, TheFasion.com, Vogue Business, Market Research, and Kavador.
Consultants in the Industry
Consultants in the U.S. accessories market include:
- McKinsey
- Boston Consulting Group
- Synergy Apparel Consulting
- Crabtree Consulting
- Elements Luxury
- Grand View Research
Marketing and Advertising Firms in the U.S. Accessories Market
Most conglomerates in the accessories industry have departments running their marketing and advertising affairs. However, some digital agencies stand out as the go-to marketing and advertising agencies for the broader market participants. They include:
Top Service Providers in the Industry
- Supply chain management: GEP, UPS, C.H. Robinson, XPO Logistics, and Elements Luxury.
- Retailers: Madison Avenue Couture, SACLÀB, Macy's, Amazon, Walmart, and Los Angeles Apparel.
- Branding and packaging: Maker’s Row, VSL Packaging, Morgan Chaney, Amber Packaging, and Bufkor.
Emerging Accessories Brands
Emerging accessories brands are also a relevant segment of the space to watch in order to understand consumer trends, as well as industry growth and innovation. According to Helio’s universal brandview data, as of June 23, 2022 the following accessories brands are some of those with the highest potential for growth:
- Fulton Bag Co, which produces insulated lunch bags, coolers and diaper bags
- and is in the $10-20M revenue range, saw 229% revenue growth, as well as a 98% increase in retail doors.
- Ridge, which makes ultra slim wallets, and is in the $10-205M revenue range, saw a 195% increase in retail doors year-over-year, as well as a 51% increase in social followers.
- Icy AF, which makes real solid gold and diamond jewelry and features artist collaborations, and is in the $1-5M revenue range, saw a 1,000% increase in retail doors year-over-year.
- Out of the Woods, which makes coolers and is in the $500K-$1M revenue range, saw a 32% increase in social followers.
Trends Impacting the U.S. Accessories Market
The accessories market is subject to an ever-changing consumer demand often driven by various global socioeconomic and environmental trends and factors.
Ethical Production: The Better for Your Brands
The industry is occasionally awash with news of businesses that source their raw materials and engage in production via unethical means. The media buzz surrounding these sorts of information probe consumers to opt for “better for you” brands with a more ethical production cycle.
Consequently, some accessories brands structure their business to meet consumer demands for ethical products with conflict-free materials, fair trade/wage policies, natural and organic raw materials, and sustainable practices. Prominent brands in this segment include Nisolo, Aurate, Raven and Lily, Angela Roi, Breda,
Towards a More Sustainable Industry
Various environmental observers list the broader fashion industry as the top 3 or top 5 most polluting industry, mostly due to the processes involved in production cycles.
To mitigate the environmental risks, most companies are adopting sustainability practices in their plans. Some of the fashion and accessories companies that stand out both in practice and the push for broader industry sustainability include Forever 21, Madewell, REI Co-op, JORD, and ABLE.
Fashion Accessories + Tech Fusion
The industry is at its foundation, still mostly guided by traditional standards that engineered its progress. However, it has recently witnessed a fast-paced integration of innovative tech strategies.
Areas of tech integration include advertising, digital showrooms, lab-grown raw materials (leather, silk materials), 3D printing, smart accessories, and touch-sensitive wearables. Companies leading the tech integration in the accessories industry include Apple, Hexosoft, Google, Modern Meadow, Gucci, and Heuritech.
A Growing Digital Fashion Universe
Although a bit of an unfamiliar scene, some fashion accessories brands are experimenting with the prospects of going digital with their products. Among the top experimenters are Gucci, which sold a digital version of its Gucci Dionysus bag at a much higher price than the actual one, and there is Prada’s Time Capsule Collection offering complimentary NFTs to people who buy products from the collection.
Bloomberg offers insights on how brands like Balenciaga, Burberry, Gucci, Roblox, and Metaverse are driving the digital fashion market.
Recent Fashion Accessories Exits
Most exits in the industry occurred through mergers and acquisitions by the industry conglomerates looking to float dying brands with unique offerings or cash in on smaller brands satisfying consumer demands for ethical or eco-friendly accessories.
Top exits include:
- Iconix, which owned accessories brands like London Fog, was acquired by Lancer Capital in a $585 million deal.
- Compass Classified acquired Lugano Diamonds and Jewelry in a $256 million deal.
- PVH facilitated the exit of its subsidiary Heritage Brands to focus more on its core brands. Heritage Brands was sold to Authentic Brands Group in a $220 million deal.
- Ralph Lauren sold Club Monaco to Regent LP, a private equity firm, for an undisclosed amount.
Primary Categories in Accessories
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