It's estimated that the global apparel market will peak at a value of $1.5 trillion by the end of 2020, with this sector's incremental growth having largely been uninterrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the market is poised for considerable change in the near-term, with sustainable fashion becoming a key driver of growth and investment across the board.

This term refers to the process of fostering widespread change in the industry, both in terms of the materials used to manufacture garments and the way in which garments are sourced, manufactured and shipped across the globe.

But how can you access sustainable fashion brands as an investor, and what advantages does this type of investment offer in the current marketplace?

What are the Most Attractive Sustainable Fashion Assets and Indices?

There's a growing number of sustainable fashion brands on the market, including brand new entities and others that have dominated the wider space for decades.

Take Nike, for example, which has continually shifted towards a more sustainable business model and embraced brand new materials in recent times. One of its most recent products (the Air VaporMax 2020 Flyknit) is made from at least 50% recycled content by weight, ultimately contributing to a significantly lower carbon footprint for the brand.

This is indicative of a wider trend in the fashion market, as the leading brands in 2020 tend to combine sustainable and eco-friendly practices with an ecommerce-led business model.

This has helped online retailers like ASOS and Boohoo to outperform traditional fashion brands in recent times, while Zalando also saw its stock value rise by 7% after a significant spike in Q2 sales.

Of course, this was also driven by the impact of Covid-19 and the increased dominance of ecommerce channels, but there's no doubt that lean, sustainable and online brands are the best-placed to succeed in the current climate.

How Best to Trade Fashion Stocks in the Current Market?

While the fashion market is clearly offering opportunities to investors in the current climate, the question that remains is how best to capitalise on this?

While you can trade stocks and shares directly, this requires you to assume ownership of the underlying financial instruments, and this is far more ideal in a volatile and changeable marketplace.

Another (and increasingly popular) option lies in fashion and clothing stocks indices, such as the Fashion Transparency Index 2020. This features the brands that are the most open about their social and environmental policies, enabling investors to target a raft of sustainable and high-growth companies.

You can also target the world's largest fashion brands through popular indices such as the Dow Jones and S&P 500, with these indexes affording you access to a truly global market. Similarly, brokers such as Tickmill feature several indices across a range of industries, helping you to refine your portfolio according to the real-time market conditions.

You can also use flexible investment vehicles such as CFDs to access fashion indices through forex trading, primarily by speculating on upward or downward price movements of associated stocks. This allows you to earn margin-based and inflated profits in a relatively short period of time, without requiring you to assume ownership of specific stocks or shares.

Ultimately, the key is to understand the growth indicators that define fashion stocks, before identifying the best vehicles through which to invest your capital.

In the current market, this means leveraging flexible methods that negate the need to own physical shares, with CFD trading offering the most relevant case in point.