Most fashion influencer marketing advice stops at "work with micro-influencers" and "be authentic". We wanted to see what the biggest fashion brands actually do, so we pulled the 50 most recent sponsored posts for each of the most-searched fashion brands in the US and looked at who posted, how each deal was disclosed, and which posts took off.

Here's why fashion brands work with creators, the commonalities in their strategy, and a step-by-step way to run your own campaign.

Why fashion brands use influencer marketing

Creators do a few things for fashion brands that ads and product pages can't:

• Try-ons answer the fit question. A product page can't show how a pair of jeans fits a real body, but a creator trying them on can. That's why 18 of Gap's last 50 sponsored posts feature its denim.
• Followers want the exact piece. When a follower likes an outfit, they want to buy that exact item, not search for something close. Fashion Nova's creators name the exact products in 18 of its last 49 sponsored captions.
• A sale needs people talking about it. Fashion shoppers wait for sales, and a creator posting on day one tells their followers it's happening. 7 of Old Navy's last 50 sponsored posts announce a sale, like its "50% off everything online" weekends.
• Creators help you launch a new category. Followers who already trust a creator's style will try something new from the brands they wear. 6 of Gap's last 50 sponsored posts introduce its new fragrance line, a long way from denim.

Top fashion brands using influencer marketing

These are the most-searched fashion 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+.

1. Shein: a search code in every caption

All 50 of Shein's last sponsored posts were disclosed as paid partnerships, and they all went live within five days in June. 43 captions give followers a short code to type into the Shein app ("Search 👉YEL5Y👈 on SHEIN") to shop the creator's exact picks, and 14 belong to its "Fit Check Challenge". Its creators are based in the US (10), the UAE (8) and seven other countries, and 17 posts add a personal coupon code on top.

• Creators: @lavanyavikram_ (1.1M), @moonpriyaa (358k) and @_doctorr (352k) are among the creators who've posted for Shein.
• How posts were disclosed: 50 paid partnership

What to take from it: Give every creator a code that leads to their exact look, not just your homepage. Shein's search codes take a follower from "I want that" to the product in one step, and the personal coupon on top ties each sale to the creator who drove it.

2. Old Navy: creators timed to its biggest sales

48 of Old Navy's last 50 sponsored posts were disclosed as paid partnerships, and #oldnavypartner appears in 42 captions. Two of its three most-viewed posts came from its Memorial Day sale ("50% off everything online"). Another 7 posts promote its collection with designer Christopher John Rogers. 41 of the 42 creators with a listed location are in the US, and none of the posts use a discount code.

• Creators: @overthemoonfaraway (1.5M), @stehfuhnee_ (254k) and @juliaelisa._ (63k) are among the creators who've posted for Old Navy.
• How posts were disclosed: 48 paid partnership, 1 ambassador, 1 affiliate

What to take from it: Book creators for your biggest sale weekends, and brief them before the sale starts. Old Navy's Memorial Day try-on from a creator with 63k followers got 1.5M plays, more than any post from its creators with over a million followers.

3. Fashion Nova: big creators who post again and again

Fashion Nova works with the biggest creators of the five: a median of 353k followers, and every creator with a listed follower count has over 50k. 9 of its 34 creators posted more than once in its last 49 sponsored posts, including @sileyls and @rosamariaryyti with four each. 42 posts were disclosed as paid partnerships and 6 as ambassador posts. Its creators are spread across the US (10), the UK (8) and France (3), and none of the posts use a discount code.

• Creators: @loren (22.2M), @rosamariaryyti (302k) and @sileyls (670k) are among the creators who've posted for Fashion Nova.
• How posts were disclosed: 42 paid partnership, 6 ambassador, 1 unspecified

What to take from it: Rebook the creators whose followers already buy from you, and give each post a clear occasion. @sileyls posted for Fashion Nova four times, and her "wedding guest dresses on a budget" post got 1.1M plays and 128k likes.

4. Skims: collab collections with Nike and LOVB

17 of Skims' last 50 sponsored posts promote a collaboration: 10 for NikeSKIMS, its activewear line with Nike, and 7 for LOVB, the pro volleyball league. 46 were disclosed as paid partnerships. Its creators are based in the US (21), the UK (6) and Australia (5), and none of the posts use a discount code.

• Creators: @karajewelll (1.7M), @amelia.szczepaniak (277k) and @jyanyoga (238k) are among the creators who've posted for Skims.
• How posts were disclosed: 46 paid partnership, 2 ambassador, 1 gifted, 1 unspecified

What to take from it: When a collab launches in a new market, book local creators for launch week. Skims' NikeSKIMS posts came from creators in Singapore and Poland as the line reached stores there, and a yoga teacher in Singapore teaching a class in the new onesie got 295k plays.

5. Gap: creators who don't make fashion content

31 of Gap's last 50 sponsored posts carry its campaign hashtag #HowYouWearGap, and creators use it for far more than outfit photos: a school lunch, a mug made on camera, a flower arrangement inspired by Gap's new fragrance line. It also works with smaller creators than the others, with 16 of its 47 creators under 50k followers. 38 of its creators are in the US, and only one post includes a code.

• Creators: @cookingwithkian (7.0M), @reubsfits (354k) and @camkobo (294k) are among the creators who've posted for Gap.
• How posts were disclosed: 35 paid partnership, 7 ambassador, 4 gifted, 3 unspecified, 1 affiliate

What to take from it: Let creators bring your clothes into the content they already make. A cooking creator packing a school lunch (1.6M plays) and a creator making a mug (506k plays) got Gap more views than any try-on in its last 50 posts.

What the top fashion brands have in common

Looking across all 249 posts, four patterns stand out:

• They pay per post. 221 of the 249 posts (89%) were disclosed as paid partnerships, and only 16 as ambassador posts. These brands mostly book creators campaign by campaign.
• Smaller creators get more out of their audience. Across 176 posts with visible likes, creators under 50k followers got a median of 2.6% of their followers liking the post. For creators above 50k, it was 0.9%.
• Codes are Shein's thing. Shein put a search or coupon code in 43 of its 50 posts. The other four brands used one code between them.
• Views don't follow follower count. Old Navy's two most-viewed sale posts came from creators with 63k and 57k followers (1.5M and 1.2M plays), ahead of everything its million-follower creators posted.

How to run a fashion influencer marketing campaign

Here's how to run a campaign step by step, using what the top fashion brands do at each stage.

1. Pick one goal and one metric

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 fashion brands' posts show both goals at work. Shein's search codes and Old Navy's sale posts are built to drive sales that week. Skims' collab posts and Gap's #HowYouWearGap videos are built for reach.

• Sales: track revenue per creator with a unique link and code.
• Awareness: track views, saves and reach per post.
• Revenue after returns: fashion gets a lot of returns, so judge creators on revenue after refunds and returns, not on gross sales.

Pick one metric per campaign so you can compare creators fairly afterwards.

2. Find and vet creators who fit your brand

Follower count is the last thing to filter on. A creator with 59k followers posting from Skims and LOVB's volleyball event in Austin got 14.7k likes, about a quarter of their following, from exactly the audience a volleyball collab is built for. Across all five brands, creators under 50k followers got nearly three times 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.

• Write down who buys your product (college students, new moms, petite or plus-size shoppers) and look for creators living that life.
• Search Modash's database of 380M+ creators and filter by audience demographics (age, gender, location), bio keywords, engagement rate and fake-follower checks.
• Or describe that creator in plain language, like "midsize creators who post try-on hauls", and Modash's AI creator search surfaces matching creators on the platform you're searching.

• Check who else they've posted for. @mmotherem posted for both Old Navy and Gap, and for Levi's too. Modash shows which brands a creator has already posted sponsored content for.

You can also find fashion influencers for free, for example by searching the hashtags your buyers follow.

3. Choose the deal type

The top fashion brands mostly pay per post. Shein disclosed all 50 of its posts as paid partnerships and Old Navy 48. Gap had the widest mix, with 7 ambassador posts, 4 gifted and 1 affiliate.

• Gifting works for smaller creators who already wear your style and will post an honest try-on, like the 4 gifted posts in Gap's mix.
• Paid posts suit sales, drops and collabs that have to land on a date.
• Affiliate works for staples creators can keep linking, like jeans, basics and dresses.
• Ambassador deals suit creators whose followers keep buying. Fashion Nova's 6 ambassador posts came from just 4 creators, including @loren and @sileyls with two each.

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.

4. Brief the content formats that work in fashion

The captions from the top fashion brands point to three formats that carry most of their creator content:

• Try-ons and hauls. Old Navy's and Gap's creators film try-ons of whole collections, sometimes with sizing notes ("ended up switching the jeans for a size 8"). Ask creators to say what size they're wearing and how it fits.
• Outfit details. Fashion Nova's creators list each piece by name, like "Valencia Linen Trouser Set - Multicolor". Ask creators to name every item so followers can find it.
• Collab and occasion posts. Skims' NikeSKIMS posts and Fashion Nova's wedding guest edits give followers a reason to buy now. Tie each brief to a moment, like a collab drop, wedding season or back to school.

Whatever the format, give creators one hashtag to use every time, like #oldnavypartner or #gappartner, and ask them to tag the exact product.

5. Launch with tracked links and time-limited codes

Apart from Shein, the top fashion brands barely use codes. They send people to a link instead, through LTK (9 posts) or by asking followers to comment for the link (16 posts).

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.

• Give every creator a tracked link for everyday posts, and add a code only for launches and sales.
• Put an end date in the caption so followers know the offer won't last.
• If creators use "comment for the link", make sure the link they send by DM is their tracked link.

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.

6. Rebook your best creators

Most of the top fashion brands book a creator once and move on: only 25 of their 214 creators posted more than once. That's a missed chance, because a follower who sees the same creator wear a brand again and again starts to treat it as part of their style. Fashion Nova is the closest to doing this well.

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.

• Start new creators on a single post, then offer a longer deal to the ones who hit your metric from step 1.
• Use revenue per creator, not likes, to decide who gets rebooked. Modash's campaign dashboard shows revenue, orders and ROAS for each creator.
• Give rebooked creators something new each time, like a new collection, a collab drop or a seasonal edit, so their posts don't repeat.

Where fashion creator programs go wrong

The top brands avoid a few mistakes that trip up smaller programs:

• Briefing try-ons without size info. A try-on that doesn't say what size the creator is wearing leaves followers guessing, and guesses turn into returns. Ask every creator to share their size, height and how the fit feels, in the caption or on screen.
• Offering commission-only deals to established creators. In our survey, 63% of marketers said influencers were open to becoming affiliates in 2024. In 2025 that fell to 26%. When you reach out to established creators, offer a flat fee plus commission rather than commission alone.
• Running the affiliate program on autopilot. In our affiliate research, marketers who were "very involved" with their affiliates had 71.5% of them active. "Very hands-off" marketers had 10%. Affiliates post when you give them a reason to, so check in every month with something new to share. For fashion, that could be a new collection, a seasonal edit, or a sale to share.
• Sending affiliates old product. 93% of marketers gift products to affiliates, but almost 30% don't refresh them when something new launches. Send every new collection to your creators before it goes live.
• Sending followers to sold-out pieces. A post that drives followers to an item that's already gone wastes the moment and the fee. Check stock before creators post, and give them a backup piece or a restock date to share.

FAQ

How much does fashion influencer marketing cost?

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.

Which platform is best for fashion influencer marketing?

Instagram carries most fashion creator work, and every sponsored post we analyzed for the five most-searched fashion brands ran there. TikTok is worth testing too: in our survey, marketers rated TikTok videos the highest-performing deliverable (53.2%).

Which fashion brands use influencer marketing?

Shein, Old Navy, Fashion Nova, Skims and Gap are the most-searched fashion brands in the US, and all of them run active creator programs. See the breakdown above for who each one works with.

Should fashion brands work with micro or macro influencers?

It depends on your goal. A launch chasing awareness leans bigger, a conversion play leans smaller and more trusted. In the fashion posts we analyzed, creators under 50k followers got nearly three times 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.

How do I measure fashion influencer marketing?

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.

Start your fashion creator program

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 – or browse the top fashion influencers to see who's already out there.

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