Profit

The profit pillar in the fashion business school discusses economy being less about monetary value and more about it being a series of systems through which humanity provisions the requirements of life and society. The economic components are known as actors, made up of individuals and households, human-made, being goods and services and lastly, planet-made, such as plants and animals. Capitalism is also discussed within this which is an economic system using finials, human and planetary resources to produce goods and services to supply the demand of consumers. The fashions industry’s current size sits at $1.7 trillion in 2022.  The global fashion industry’s profit is expected to fall by 93% in 2020. Globally the fashion industry has been valued at $2.4 trillion (McKinsey state of fashion). (https://fashiondiscounts.uk/fashion-industry-statistics/) 

According to Forbes May 2020 report on the world’s largest apparel companies, luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy has the biggest market value of $194 billions making it 73rd largest publicly traded organisation in the world. Sportswear company Nike finished is ranked 244th largest publicly traded company in the world, with Adidas ranking among top 400 with more than $25 billion in sales and athelisure brand Lululemon ranking 1209th with nearly $4 billion sales. (https://fashinnovation.nyc/fashion-industry-statistics/)

Mckinsey State of Fashion report 2017 sates ‘Companies are adapting to new consumer priorities, and digital is providing a nexus for growth’. In order for a brand to stand out remaining competitive it needs to establish a strong identity that is shown to be consistent throughout the brand. Customers are beginning to factor in sustainability into their purchasing as reports such as UNECE 2018 on sdg’s (unece.org/forestry/news/fashion-environment) shows that 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from the fashion industry. Reports such as these have made consumers more aware of their carbon footprint and therefore are wanting to shop more sustainable where they can; therefore in turn may search for a brand with sustainability values. 

Charles Frederick Worth who is known as the grandfather of haute couture aggressively marketed himself and the clothing revolutionising women wear for everyday use. He was the first to use real life models in his studio for fittings, recognise the use of magazine marketing and began to sew his signature into clothing as if it was a piece of art.

Virgil Abloh, the creative director of ‘Off White’ bridged this gap by representing the importance of youth culture. Abloh took normal objects and transferred them into a fashion accessory. HIs collaboration with Nike in 2017 used an everyday item of a zip tie on the shoe naming the date and creation of the product. Creative directors must look at the cultural economy to gain a profit.

As John Hawkins observes, “creativity is not new and neither is economics, but what is new is the nature and extent of the relationship between them, and how they combine to create extraordinary value and wealth.” The idea of a ‘cultural economy’ into which these activities and personas exist, provides a ’critical tool for grasping the dynamics between art and commerce.’ (Slowinska, 2014: p 239 – 241). Creative directors must look at the three capitals discussed by Pierre Bourdieu 1993 (Richardson, J., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education) Cultural, the knowledge of culture acquired through upbringing and education as breaking that down into fashion capital of your knowledge in the fashion world, Social, who you know and your social networking groups and economic, how much money you have. 

References 

Mckinsey state of fashion 

unece.org/forestry/news/fashion-environment

Slowinska, 2014: p 239 – 241

Richardson, J., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education

fashiondiscounts.uk/fashion-industry-statistics