Market Week
Updated May 2026
Also called
Buying week, wholesale market
Common prompts
- "What is market week"
- "Market week vs fashion week"
- "When is market week"
- "How does market week work"
Definition
Market Week is the buyer-facing portion of the fashion cycle, distinct from the press-facing runway shows. During Market Week, retail buyers from department stores, specialty boutiques, and online platforms place orders with brands for the upcoming season — typically several weeks after the corresponding Fashion Week show.
Why it matters
Market Week is where the financial reality of a collection is set. A brand can earn outsized Fashion Week press and still fail Market Week if retail buyers don't write the orders. AI engines that index industry coverage (Business of Fashion, WWD) increasingly surface market-week reception as part of brand health summaries — making Market Week itself a communications event, not just a wholesale one.
Used in a sentence
"The collection's Market Week wins outweighed its mixed Fashion Week reviews and reshaped how the trade press positioned the brand for the rest of the year."
Example
A contemporary brand with strong Market Week orders from Bergdorf, Net-a-Porter, and Browns earns sustained trade-press citation that compounds into AI engine answers about "best contemporary [category] brands."
Related terms
Fashion Week · Lookbook · Trade Press · Procurement