People

Nicholas Figueroa ⋅ 16th October 2022

In terms of the fashion industry, the ‘People’ pillar taught by Fashion business alludes to the foundation of the industry as without consumers, there would be no industry. Consumers/ ‘people’ produce trends, which enable businesses to forecast the future direction and form of the fashion industry. ‘People’ represent themselves through fashion, whether it is to display uniqueness or to convey their values and views (Mckinsey, 2018).

Figure 1: (Drapers, 2022) – In the next 12 months, will shop online for clothes, accessories and shoes…

The youngest generation, generation Z born within the years 1997- 2010 has been the most knowledgeable generation to date about the value of diversity and sustainability (Meola, 2022). Gen Z has, for instance, taken matters into their own hands, as 46.8% of them appear to stop buying from brands that don’t promote diversity or sustainability (Drapers, 2022). This gives brands valuable data on what they should be doing to grasp the attention of Gen Z which is to be more inclusive and acknowledge the needs to be more sustainable.

Figure 2: (Gucci, 2018) – Milan fashion week Gucci runway.

There are two different ways that brands tend to approach inclusivity the first one being more problematic due to the fact that it gears towards culture appropriation, an example of this would be Gucci’s “Indy full turban”, This sparked controversy on social media and was perceived as disrespect to Sikhism. The turban is regarded as a religious article by practising Sihks, and Gucci made the decision to make money off of it by charging $790 for it (Ilichi, 2019). Conversely, companies like ASOS received more good press on social media for their efforts to promote change by correctly catering to Gen Z’s requirements. In 2010, ASOS debuted their plus-size selection and “In the 42 weeks to January 17 sales at Asos grew 38%, with UK sales growing 25% year-on-year and its burgeoning international business up 102%.” This supports the data that Gen Z is more likely to buy products from companies who change their brand to be more inclusive(Drapers, 2010).

Figure 3: (ASOS, 2017) – Introduction to plus and tall size clothing range for men.

In order to succeed and appeal to the Gen Z generation, brands must be able to satisfy numerous requirements: Being inclusive is essential, being conscious of how important differences in appearance and recognition of cultures are for creating loyal consumers. However companies should also make sure that every aspect of their online presence is optimised for the greatest possible user experience. This is due to the fact that 31.3% of Gen Z customers would continue to purchase online and 35.9% would increase their online shopping compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic (Drapers, 2022), which goes to show how important a social media/online presence is to Gen Z.

Reference list:

Francis & Hoefel ,2018. ‘True Gen’: Generation Z and its implications for companies. McKinsey&Company.

Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Consumer%20Packaged%20Goods/Our%20Insights/True%20Gen%20Generation%20Z%20and%20its%20implications%20for%20companies/Generation-Z-and-its-implication-for-companies.pdf

[Accessed Oct 15, 2022].

Meola, 2022. Generation Z News: Latest characteristics, research, and facts.

Available at: https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/generation-z-facts/

[Accessed Oct 15, 2022].

Drapers, 2022. Gen Z and Millennials 2022.

Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/gen-z-and-millennials-2022

[Accessed Oct 15, 2022].

Ilichi, 2019. Gucci Accused of Cultural Appropriation Over ‘Indy Turban’.

Available at: https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gucci-indy-turban-cultural-appropriation-backlash-1203132880/