Fashion brands are reaching larger audiences on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, but engagement rates are falling across all three platforms, according to a new social media benchmark report from Dash Social covering the second half of 2025.
The report, which analyzed data from 1,361 TikTok accounts, 3,363 Instagram accounts, and 616 YouTube accounts between July 1 and December 31, 2025, found that view counts climbed while engagement softened across the fashion industry.
On TikTok, fashion brand video views rose 13% compared to the prior six-month period, yet engagement rates declined from 2.9% to 2.4%. Instagram views grew 43%, while the platform’s engagement rate fell from 1.9% to 1.3%. YouTube video views increased 68%, with Shorts views specifically growing 121%.
The fashion industry’s average TikTok engagement rate of 2.4% sits below the cross-industry overall average of 3.4%, and fashion brands on Instagram averaged 1.3% engagement against a cross-industry average of 1.9%.
TikTok Posting Volume at Record High
Fashion brands now publish an average of eight TikTok posts per week, a figure the report identifies as the highest level on record. Brands with fewer than six weekly posts, however, see 93% higher engagement according to Dash Social’s separately published Social Media Trends report, which the benchmark cites.
Among fashion brands segmented by follower count, large brands with more than 230,000 followers averaged 307,500 video views per post and a 2.5% engagement rate, while growing brands with fewer than 40,000 followers averaged 86,500 views per post and a 2.3% engagement rate.
TikTok retention remains a challenge for fashion, specifically: the report notes a retention rate of 23% for fashion brand content. Hurley, Sandy Liang, and FWRD ranked as the top three fashion brands by TikTok engagement rate, with Hurley and Sandy Liang both reaching 8.4% and FWRD at 8.3%, all well above the 2.4% industry average. FWRD also led the fashion industry in Entertainment Score, a proprietary Dash Social metric, with a brand average of 6.5 against the fashion industry average of 2.7.
Instagram Reels Lead on Engagement; YouTube Shorts Drive Views
On Instagram, Reels generated a 1.9% engagement rate for fashion brands, compared to 0.8% for static images and 0.8% for carousel posts. Reels also averaged 60,000 in reach per post, ahead of carousels at 44,500 and static posts at 27,900. The report identifies the first four seconds of a Reel as critical, noting that users move on after an average of four seconds.
Fashion brands on Instagram averaged 3.4 million followers, posting eight times per week. Brand posts averaged 212 shares and 161 saves per post. Maeve by Anthro led the fashion industry in Instagram engagement rate by followers at 2.5%, followed by GAP at 1.7% and Lululemon at 1.1%, compared to a fashion industry average of 0.1% for the same metric.
On YouTube, fashion brands averaged 156,800 video views per post overall, with Shorts averaging 80,700 views and 201 engagements per video, and on-demand videos averaging 311,600 views and 45 engagements. The report notes that fashion audiences watch an average of more than 100% of videos, indicating rewatch activity. Old Navy led the fashion industry in average video views at 964,400, followed by Aerie at 787,600 and DKNY at 556,200.
Cross-Channel Context
The report notes that Instagram delivers 25% more reach per post than TikTok across all industries. YouTube recorded an average video completion rate of 90% across all industries, which Dash Social describes as evidence of the platform’s retention strength.
White Fox Boutique ranked first among fashion brands by Total Social Impact, Dash Social’s proprietary cross-channel performance score, followed by EGO, Alo, Stradivarius, and Mejuri. The overall fashion industry average Total Social Impact score was 628.6 million.
The data in the report covers organic, boosted, and promoted content, and excludes paid advertising. It applies to accounts with at least 1,000 followers and includes both Dash Social customers and non-customers.
Image source: Dash Social Get the full report here
Jonathan is a South African content creator, photographer and videographer with 25 years of experience in journalism and print media design. He is interested in new developments in AI content creation and covers a broad spectrum of topics within the creator economy.
Fashion brands are reaching larger audiences on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, but engagement rates are falling across all three platforms, according to a new social media benchmark report from Dash Social covering the second half of 2025.
The report, which analyzed data from 1,361 TikTok accounts, 3,363 Instagram accounts, and 616 YouTube accounts between July 1 and December 31, 2025, found that view counts climbed while engagement softened across the fashion industry.
On TikTok, fashion brand video views rose 13% compared to the prior six-month period, yet engagement rates declined from 2.9% to 2.4%. Instagram views grew 43%, while the platform’s engagement rate fell from 1.9% to 1.3%. YouTube video views increased 68%, with Shorts views specifically growing 121%.
The fashion industry’s average TikTok engagement rate of 2.4% sits below the cross-industry overall average of 3.4%, and fashion brands on Instagram averaged 1.3% engagement against a cross-industry average of 1.9%.
TikTok Posting Volume at Record High
Fashion brands now publish an average of eight TikTok posts per week, a figure the report identifies as the highest level on record. Brands with fewer than six weekly posts, however, see 93% higher engagement according to Dash Social’s separately published Social Media Trends report, which the benchmark cites.
Among fashion brands segmented by follower count, large brands with more than 230,000 followers averaged 307,500 video views per post and a 2.5% engagement rate, while growing brands with fewer than 40,000 followers averaged 86,500 views per post and a 2.3% engagement rate.
TikTok retention remains a challenge for fashion, specifically: the report notes a retention rate of 23% for fashion brand content. Hurley, Sandy Liang, and FWRD ranked as the top three fashion brands by TikTok engagement rate, with Hurley and Sandy Liang both reaching 8.4% and FWRD at 8.3%, all well above the 2.4% industry average. FWRD also led the fashion industry in Entertainment Score, a proprietary Dash Social metric, with a brand average of 6.5 against the fashion industry average of 2.7.
Instagram Reels Lead on Engagement; YouTube Shorts Drive Views
On Instagram, Reels generated a 1.9% engagement rate for fashion brands, compared to 0.8% for static images and 0.8% for carousel posts. Reels also averaged 60,000 in reach per post, ahead of carousels at 44,500 and static posts at 27,900. The report identifies the first four seconds of a Reel as critical, noting that users move on after an average of four seconds.
Fashion brands on Instagram averaged 3.4 million followers, posting eight times per week. Brand posts averaged 212 shares and 161 saves per post. Maeve by Anthro led the fashion industry in Instagram engagement rate by followers at 2.5%, followed by GAP at 1.7% and Lululemon at 1.1%, compared to a fashion industry average of 0.1% for the same metric.
On YouTube, fashion brands averaged 156,800 video views per post overall, with Shorts averaging 80,700 views and 201 engagements per video, and on-demand videos averaging 311,600 views and 45 engagements. The report notes that fashion audiences watch an average of more than 100% of videos, indicating rewatch activity. Old Navy led the fashion industry in average video views at 964,400, followed by Aerie at 787,600 and DKNY at 556,200.
Cross-Channel Context
The report notes that Instagram delivers 25% more reach per post than TikTok across all industries. YouTube recorded an average video completion rate of 90% across all industries, which Dash Social describes as evidence of the platform’s retention strength.
White Fox Boutique ranked first among fashion brands by Total Social Impact, Dash Social’s proprietary cross-channel performance score, followed by EGO, Alo, Stradivarius, and Mejuri. The overall fashion industry average Total Social Impact score was 628.6 million.
The data in the report covers organic, boosted, and promoted content, and excludes paid advertising. It applies to accounts with at least 1,000 followers and includes both Dash Social customers and non-customers.
Image source: Dash Social
Get the full report here
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