EXPLORING THE MACRO-ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES SHAPING FASHION INFLUENCER MARKETING: INSIGHTS FROM A PESTLE ANALYSIS

Influencer marketing has emerged as one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies. Social media personalities in the fashion industry play a crucial role in shaping how consumers discover brands, assess products, and make purchase decisions. The rapid growth of social media platforms has enabled fashion influencers to shape consumer attitudes, preferences, and purchasing behavior through visually driven and interactive content. While influencer marketing offers significant opportunities for fashion brands, its development is strongly affected by external environmental forces. This paper provides a comprehensive PESTLE analysis of influencer marketing in the fashion industry by examining political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors shaping its evolution. The study adopts a structured analytical approach based on existing literature and current digital marketing trends. The findings suggest that regulatory changes, economic dynamics in digital advertising, evolving consumer culture, technological innovation, data privacy laws, and sustainability concerns significantly affect influencer marketing practices in the fashion sector. The analysis demonstrates that while influencer marketing provides strong market growth potential for fashion brands, it also presents challenges related to regulation, authenticity, ethical concerns, and sustainability pressures.