Secondhand fashion creates a closet refresh

Bank of America Institute finds consumers seek value-oriented shopping as clothes spending rebounds, with Gen Z leading the shift to buy and sell secondhand.

After almost three years of declines, clothing spending growth per household has shown a largely steady trajectory of positive year-over-year (YoY) gains since August 2025. More recently, overall clothing spending rose 5.1% YoY in March, surpassing total card spending.

But not all clothing purchases are in style: per Bank of America credit and debit card data, luxury fashion saw the biggest gains in Q1 2026 — more than five times higher than growth in Q4 2025. Conversely, teen retail apparel and department stores declined further from Q4 2025.

Against this backdrop of shifting apparel preferences, one segment stands out: secondhand. March card data shows transactions per household in secondhand apparel grew nine times faster than overall secondhand spending.

Read our full analysis for a more in-depth look at these trends.