TikTok still wins on raw reach for fashion brands in 2026, but Instagram drives campaign-buzz engagement during collab launches. H&M's family-humour post with Milla Jovovich cleared 73.2M views; Zara's philosophical "There is no beauty, only beauties" hit 22M. Zara's top Instagram engagement was 61,725 on an Aaron Levine collab in May 2026 — high for the platform but a fraction of TikTok's view ceiling. The platform split is clear: TikTok for discovery, Instagram for amplifying campaign moments to an existing audience. Based on Draper's analysis of recent posts from Zara, H&M, and ASOS.
How Instagram Reels are performing
Draper query: Are Instagram Reels outperforming TikTok for fashion brands in 2026? Find 5–8 named fashion brands active on both platforms and pull their top-performing recent posts on each — show me the actual content, captions, hooks, view counts, and engagement so I can see where each format is winning.
Instagram is where collab content lands. Zara's "AARON LEVINE x ZARA" designer collab post drew 61,400 likes and 325 comments — their top engagement of the window. H&M's Stella McCartney collab reveal drove 987 comments on a single post (their highest comment count by 2x), driven entirely by hype and curiosity around the launch. Editorial storytelling is the second-strongest format: Zara's "Mommy & Me" summer campaign cleared 52,400 likes, and the "Into the Process VIII" behind-the-scenes series cleared 31,500.
The hook pattern is consistent across the top performers — sparse captions, image or video doing the work, creator handles used as reach amplifiers rather than as opening hooks. Instagram view counts are not exposed via the API for brand-owned accounts, so the like-and-comment volume is the only reliable performance signal here.
How TikTok is performing
The reach numbers are in a different league. H&M's "Family is about so much more than just popcorn. Nailed it, Milla Jovovich & family" hit 73.2M views and 169,500 likes — the biggest reach in the sample. Their reply-to-comment post "Replying to @ruraluglyop ask and you'll receive" drove 15.9M views, their third-highest TikTok ever. Zara's "There is no beauty, only beauties" — a six-word philosophical statement — cleared 22M views and 534,500 likes; their store walkthrough with creator @3dshane hit 20.3M views and 1.3M likes.
The hook pattern is consistent: minimal copy, recognisable face or punchy idea, no product hard-sell. H&M's biggest post doesn't name a product; Zara's top post is six words. ASOS is the outlier — their TikTok content is sharper than the rest (witty cultural commentary, BAFTA red-carpet jokes, Pedro Pascal collabs) but caps at 3.6M views, well below H&M and Zara. A differentiated voice doesn't always translate to scale.
Side-by-side
| Metric | Instagram Reels | TikTok |
|---|---|---|
| Top post reach (brand set) | Not publicly reported | 3.6M–73.2M views |
| Top post engagement (brand set) | 61,725 (Zara/Aaron Levine) | 169,500 likes (H&M/Milla Jovovich) |
| Year-on-year view growth | +43% | +13% |
| Avg fashion engagement rate | ~1.8% | ~2.4% |
| Discovery mechanism | Reels-led reach | Algorithmic FYP |
| Best-suited format | Designer collabs, editorial | Recognisable hooks, humour, reactive |
Instagram is closing the gap on discovery — Reels view growth is up 43% YoY versus TikTok's 13% — but TikTok still leads on peak reach for the same brands.
When to use which
TikTok for new-audience discovery and viral moments. Lead with a recognisable hook, minimal copy, and no product hard-sell. The reply-to-comment format is underused — H&M's "Replying to @ruraluglyop ask and you'll receive" drove 15.9M views as their third-highest TikTok ever, and Zara and ASOS in the sample didn't use it at all. Reactive, community-led content scales fastest on TikTok in 2026.
Instagram for campaign launches and collab buzz. Designer collabs (Aaron Levine, Stella McCartney) drive concentrated comment engagement with existing audience that TikTok can't replicate at the same density. Use Instagram for milestone moments and cultural conversation; use TikTok to feed the top of the funnel that Instagram converts.
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