People
‘People’ is another of the four pillars to be considered within the fashion industry. People are the consumers of the fashion industry and without people the fashion industry would not exist nor have revolutionised in the way it has. Generation Z or commonly referred to as ‘Gen Z’ are “people born from 1995 to 2010” (McKinsey 2018 ‘True Gen’). They are the first generation of ‘true digital natives’, who have been fully exposed to technology since birth.
Gen Z is an ‘omnichannel generation’ (Vogue Business, 2021) that utilises whatever is available to them to best suit their needs and desires. While Gen Z is exposed to such a variety of fashion, their large awareness and emphasis on ethics turns a majority of their spending to second hand or pre-loved markets rather than fast fashion. Depop, a second hand resale platform, is popular with Gen Z with an overwhelming 90% of their customers being under the age of 26 (Neate, 2021). Their chief brand officer, Peter Semple, explained to vogue that “by shopping in this way, Gen Z is redefining what ‘newness’ means” (Vogue Business, 2021). Gen Z has adopted more sustainable behaviors than any other generation. 50% of Gen Z have reduced how much they buy and 45% actually stopped purchasing and supporting certain brands because of their lack of sustainability or ethics (Deloitte, 2022). Research such as this demonstrates the changing buying habits of new generations and inspires other generations to follow.
Gen Z has inspired an age of brand interactivity and communication between consumer and producer. As digital natives, they use resources available to them to research brands, influencers and producers of the fashion industry. Allowing them to make informed decisions about who they are really supporting. At the same time, producers of the fashion industry harness this heavy use of social media to target Gen Z through methods of digital marketing. Brands acknowledge the power of media presence and the large potential reach that social media provides, to interact with their consumers. For example, Oh Polly, a British clothing company, regularly posts ‘sneak peaks’ of new collections and customer ‘competitions’ on Instagram to get consumers to repost their Instagram account. When Gen Z consumers repost a brand’s account, it engages external Gen Z instagrammers who aren’t already existing customers. New fashion brands rely on this method of digital marketing as it is highly effective and has very low costs. Fast fashion companies almost exclusively use these methods such as Boohoo, who have increased their sales by 51% through increased use of Instagram marketing (Mighty, 2019).
Reference List:
Deloitte (2022) How consumers are embracing sustainability., Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/sustainable-consumer.html (Accessed: 13/10/22).
McKinsey (2018) ’True Gen’: Generation Z and its implications for companies., Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies (Accessed 13/10/22).
Mighty (2019) Fashion Retailer Boohoo Nearly Doubles Profits Thanks to Instagram., Available at: https://www.mightycomms.co.uk/blog/boohoo-doubles-profits-instagram/ (Accessed 13/10/22).
Neate (2021) Etsy buys secondhand clothing app Depop to tap into gen Z., Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/jun/02/etsy-buys-second-hand-clothing-app-depop-to-tap-into-gen-z (Accessed 13/10/22).
VeryWellMind (2021) What Americans Are Worrying About Right Now, From the Silent Generation to Gen Z., Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-americans-of-all-ages-are-worrying-about-right-now-5202028 (Accessed: 13/10/22).
Vogue Business (2021) Gen Z shopping trends uncovered., Available at: https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/gen-z-shopping-trends-uncovered-pay-pal (Accessed: 13/10/22).