Profit
Profit focuses on balancing the importance of art and commerce within a brand and understands that the economy within the fashion industry does not solely focus on monetary value. It should be viewed through a more holistic lens, where the economy is a series of systems which humanity provisions the requirements of life and society.
The fashion industry has been regarded as “one of the key-creating industries for the world economy” (McKinsey, 2016). Before the Covid-19 pandemic it was generating $2.5 trillion USD in global annual revenue (McKinsey, 2021). However, in 2020 the value of the fashion industry has dropped and in 2021, it was worth $1.7 trillion USD (Fashion United, 2021). Furthermore, the “20% decline in revenues for the 2019-2020 fiscal year” (McKinsey, 2021), exemplifies the effect of the pandemic on the size of the fashion industry.
The various sectors of the fashion industry include fashion design and production, retail, media and e-commerce. The retail sector “enjoyed a 7.5% growth in 2021-2022” (Fashion United, 2021) and a further 6.1% growth is expected in 2023, where the value of the sector will jump to $1.95 billion USD (Fashion United, 2021) (see fig 1). The booming of the e-commerce sector can be credited to the Covid-19 pandemic and showed it is vital for brands to focus on marketing and e-commerce strategy, particularly appealing to the Gen Z consumer. E-commerce sales have continued to rise to $4.9 trillion in 2022 (Fashion United, 2021) which accounts for almost 20% of all retail sales worldwide (Fashion United, 2021). This became a permanent change where 48.6% of the Gen Z consumers prefer to shop online (Drapers, 2022) and regularly consume media online. Social media influencers are their main source of inspiration for their next purchase and brands can capitalise on this during uncertain economic times. Influencers are viewed to be more authentic because they “have the privilege of far more freedom in what they write” (Mitterfellner, 2019 p.83) and in what they promote.
The creative director bridges the gap between creativity and commerce through protecting the artistic value of their brand thus protecting its commercial value. Virgil Abloh (see fig 2), the CEO of Off White, a luxury streetwear brand was able to understand the relationship between art and commerce. Through adding his signature label, with the iconic quotation marks, he gave once ordinary objects a sense of exclusivity (see fig 3). This exemplifies that “what is involved is not the rarity of the product but the rarity of the producer” (Bourdieu, 1983 p.137). Creative directors understand that through creating products that are viewed as art, they can ensure the economic capital of their brand will remain high.