PROFIT
One of the most crucial pillars of the Fashion Business School is Profit. Profit represents the financial aspect of the industry. This particular pillar depicts the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in the production of a garment.
Fashion is one of the key industries, which contributes to a large amount of the overall global economy. With the fashion industry growing at such a fast pace and fast fashion booming, its value of the industry is equivalent to 3 trillion dollars. “That means, it corresponds to 2% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product” (Fashinnovation, 2022). These numbers showcase the huge impact the fashion industry has on the global economy. Therefore, the financial status of a country can be majorly dependent on this industry. For instance, in Bangladesh, the garment industry employs over 4.4 million people which contributes more than 11 percent to the country’s GDP. In other words, the fashion and garment industry is a central pillar of the country’s economy.
Within the fashion industry there are several sectors that dominate the market including womenswear, menswear, kidswear, footwear, luxury… These different sectors specialize themselves in individual markets which makes them more profitable. For instance the womenswear sector is one of the dominating sectors in the industry, “the global women wear market size was valued at USD 1,386.1 billion in 2018” (GrandViewResearch, 2019). With the immense profit and economic growth this market brings to the industry, it is clear to see why this sector is flourishing.
In addition, to keep a sector thriving a brand needs to become adaptive in uncertain economic times. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic most of the brands had to transition from in store shopping to online shopping because of the restrictions. This was a great alternative to keep business alive, create profit and exceed customers expectations.
Percentage change in online purchases due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom from March 2020 to February 2021, Statistica, 2021
As visible on the graph above, the majority of the respondents started online shopping more than before the pandemic. That is exactly why a brand should be clever about their distribution since the demand in the industry is always growing.
Lastly, economic leverage is not the only skill a brand needs to be profitable, creativity and commerce go hand in hand when discussing a brand’s financial algorithm and appeal to the public. Creative directors have to adapt to the new way of shopping – social media, that is exactly why most brands are in search of ambassadors to represent them in the media. Brand ambassadors can be anyone from influencers, bloggers or even celebrities who would promote a brand in exchange for a fee. According to Olga Mitterfellner, there are several criterias of how a brand chooses their ideal ambassador. “X has several thousand or hundred followers and they are a perfect fit for the brand” “The blogger is active on different platforms such as blog, YouTube,Instagram, Twitter etc. The brand can choose to do a campaign either on several platforms or just the strongest one.” The idea of teaming up with a public figure benefits both parties since the brand gets to grow their audience and make more profit and the influencer receives PR, builds a relationship with the brand and gets paid.
References:
Mitterfellner, O 2019 Chapter 5- social media, blogs, and opinion- leaders: who is leading your opinion?
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/reader.action?docID=5981798
Ilana Winterstein and Christie Miedema of Clean Clothes Campaign for Aljazeera, The garment industry is ignoring the plight of its workers, 2021
https://cleanclothes.org/blog/the-garment-industry-is-ignoring-the-plight-of-its-workers
GrandViewResearch, Women Wear Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Top Wear, Bottom Wear, Sports & Active Wear, Intimates & Sleepwear, Footwear, Accessories), By Distribution Channel, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 – 2025, 2019
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/women-wear-market
JÚLIA VILAÇA, FASHION INDUSTRY STATISTICS: THE 4TH BIGGEST SECTOR IS WAY MORE THAN JUST ABOUT CLOTHING,Fashinnovation, 2022
FashionUnited, Global Fashion Industry Statistics, 2021
https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics
TopConcept, Freepik, 2020
Percentage change in online purchases due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom from March 2020 to February 2021, Statistica, 2021