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Most apparel influencer marketing advice stops at "work with micro-influencers" and "be authentic". We wanted to see what the biggest apparel brands actually do, so we pulled the 50 most recent sponsored posts for each of the most-searched apparel brands in the US and looked at who posted, how each deal was disclosed, and which posts took off.
Here's why apparel brands work with creators, the commonalities in their strategy, and a step-by-step way to run your own campaign.
Creators do a few things for apparel brands that ads and product pages can't:
These are the most-searched apparel brands in the US, according to Ahrefs. Deal types show how each post was disclosed (for example, with a paid partnership label or an ambassador hashtag). Creator tiers: micro 10k–50k followers, mid-tier 50k–500k, macro 500k+.
| Brand | What they sell | Most common deal type | Typical creator size | Signature tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shein | Low-cost fast fashion | Paid | Mid-tier | Creators sending followers to stores inside its app |
| Lululemon | Premium activewear and athleisure | Paid and ambassador | Micro to mid-tier | Everyday outfits from creators, not just workouts |
| Old Navy | Affordable family clothing | Paid | Mid-tier | Fitness creators putting its activewear to work |
| Fashion Nova | Trend-led women's fashion | Paid | Mid-tier to macro | European creators posting summer travel looks |
| Adidas | Sportswear, sneakers and streetwear | Paid | Mid-tier | Family and student creators for back-to-school |
22 of Shein's last 50 sponsored posts ask followers to search for and follow named stores inside the Shein app, like ENCHNT, MOTF or Anewsta, instead of linking to one product. Store posts usually come with a creator code for an extra discount. Its most-viewed post (674k plays) promoted its trending-brands sale, with up to 60% off from June 22. Its creators are based in nine countries, led by the US and the UAE, and all 50 posts were disclosed as paid partnerships.
What to take from it: If you sell several lines, ask creators to send followers to a store they can follow, not a single product. @dharanayogic's post naming three Shein stores to follow got 412k plays and 11.7k likes.
13 of Lululemon's last 50 sponsored posts style it for everyday life rather than a workout: a back-to-school outfit, a sweat set for the airport, a hoodie for the school run, a set for a date night in. 20 of its 45 creators have under 50k followers, the most of the five. Its creators are based in Australia (12), the US (12) and Canada (9), and none of the posts use a discount code.
What to take from it: Show your clothes where your buyers actually wear them, not only at the gym. @braylonhanson_ making the case for a sweat set at the airport got 95k plays, and a creator with 40k followers who said she'd be "living in" a jacket set got 64k.
7 of Old Navy's last 50 sponsored posts put its activewear to work, from workouts and tennis courts to a flip that ends in a fall. It also books creators from outside fashion, like a gardener showing off a summer harvest and two best friends filming a skit. All but one of its creators with a listed location are in the US, and the exception posted for Old Navy Mexico. None of the posts use a discount code.
What to take from it: Give activewear to creators who will actually move in it. @noah.rolette filming a flip in Old Navy activewear got 418k plays and 12.7k likes, the most of any activewear post in its last 50.
15 of Fashion Nova's 34 creators are based in Europe, including 8 in the UK, 3 in France and 2 in Germany, and they made 22 of its last 49 sponsored posts. 8 captions carry a local-language ad label like "collaboration commerciale" or "Anzeige", and many of the European posts are summer travel looks, from Bali to Santorini. 42 posts were disclosed as paid partnerships, and none use a discount code.
What to take from it: If you ship abroad, book creators in the markets you want to grow. A creator in France with 97k followers got 9.6k likes on a casual summer outfit, about 10% of her following and the second-highest like rate in Fashion Nova's last 49 posts.
10 of Adidas' last 50 sponsored posts are back-to-school content, from family hauls in the US to a backpack challenge at Dubai Mall. 21 captions carry its #createdwithadidas hashtag. 30 posts were disclosed as paid partnerships, and 12 have no label. Its creators are based in the US (13), the UK (10) and Germany (5), and none of the posts use a discount code.
What to take from it: Book creators a few weeks before school starts, and ask for outfits students can copy. A creator in France asking followers to "pick your fav outfit to go back to school" got 113k plays, about the size of her following.
Looking across all 249 posts, four patterns stand out:
Here's how to run a campaign step by step, using what the top apparel brands do at each stage.
Decide what the campaign is for before you pick a single creator, because the goal changes who you book, how you pay them and what you ask them to post. The top apparel brands' posts show both goals at work. Shein's creator codes and Old Navy's 50%-off sale try-ons are built to drive sales that week. Lululemon's SeaWheeze posts and Fashion Nova's summer looks from across Europe are built for reach.
Pick one metric per campaign so you can compare creators fairly afterwards.
Follower count is the last thing to filter on. A creator with 18k followers who tags her posts #newmom got 1.1k likes on a brunch outfit for Old Navy, about 6% of her following, for a brand that dresses whole families. Across all five brands, creators under 50k followers got nearly twice the likes relative to their audience.
Our survey found niche micro-creators are outperforming mega-influencers: nearly 60% of marketers said niche influencers performed better in 2025 than in 2024.
You can also find apparel influencers for free, for example by searching the hashtags your buyers follow.
Paid posts lead in apparel. Shein disclosed all 50 of its last posts as paid partnerships and Old Navy 48. Lululemon had the widest mix, with 18 ambassador and 6 gifted posts.
Commission-only is getting harder to sell, though. Over 23% of marketers in our survey said creators would take performance pay only if a flat fee came with it. If you run tiers, the average commission tiers in our affiliate research were 10%, 14% and 19%, and brands with more than one tier had more active affiliates.
The captions from the top apparel brands point to three formats that carry most of their creator content:
Whatever the format, give creators one hashtag to use every time, like #lululemoncreator or #createdwithadidas, and tell them exactly where followers can buy.
Shein is the only brand of the five that puts codes in its captions. The others send followers to a link instead: 27 posts ask followers to comment for it, and 12 go through LTK.
Codes also leak. In our affiliate marketing research, 47.6% of marketers said they struggle with code poaching, where a creator's code ends up on coupon sites.
In Modash, each creator gets a tracked link and a code tied to your Shopify data, so sales from DMs, bios and stories all count toward the right person. Commission is calculated on net revenue after refunds and returns.
The top apparel brands rarely rebook: only 28 of their 213 creators posted more than once. That's a missed chance in clothing, where a creator still wearing a piece months later is the best proof it holds up in the wash. Shein's @thesunshinestatemom, with three posts in two days, is one of the few repeat partners.
Most marketers want to do more of this. In our influencer marketing trends survey, over 60% said they plan to invest more in long-term partnerships, but only 54% actually ran more of them last year.
The top brands avoid a few mistakes that trip up smaller programs:
It depends on platform, following and engagement. Micro-influencers often work for free product plus a fee in the low hundreds per post, or an affiliate commission. Larger creators charge more. Many brands start with gifting plus commission to test fit before committing to flat fees. To estimate what a specific creator is likely to charge, drop their handle into our free Instagram influencer pricing calculator.
Instagram carries most apparel creator work, and every sponsored post we analyzed for the five most-searched apparel brands ran there. TikTok is worth testing too: in our survey, marketers rated TikTok videos the highest-performing deliverable (53.2%).
Shein, Lululemon, Old Navy, Fashion Nova and Adidas are the most-searched apparel brands in the US, and all of them run active creator programs. See the breakdown above for who each one works with.
It depends on your goal. A launch chasing awareness leans bigger, a conversion play leans smaller and more trusted. In the apparel posts we analyzed, creators under 50k followers got nearly twice the likes relative to their audience size, so most brands should build their base with micro-influencers (10k–50k followers) and add bigger names for launches.
Track sales per creator with unique links and codes, then compare revenue against what you paid (fees, product and commission). Our engagement rate calculator and fake follower checker help you vet creators before you spend, and our guide to influencer marketing ROI covers the full calculation.
Find creators, manage relationships, pay them in 180+ countries and 36 currencies, and track every sale through Shopify – all in one place, with no fees taken out of creators' pay. Try Modash free, no credit card required.