Profit
‘Profit’ is the third pillar of sustainability. The fashion industry’s worth reached 1.55 trillion dollars in 2021, but in 2022 is said to reach up to 1.7 trillion dollars. Also, in 2022 retail prices will go up by 3.2% (Radonic, 2022). One must also consider why people buy what they buy. 21% of UK residents say that the reason they purchased a garment was because of the low price (Radonic, 2022). That brings up the topic of sustainability and how buying something because it is the cheapest means it’s most likely not sustainable.
The global apparel manufacturing market size in 2022 is $861.5bn and has had a 4.3% growth this year (IbisWorld, 2022). It has growed because of new digital frontiers such as NFTs, and new efforts to make the fashion industry sustainable.
One area of the fashion industry that is not doing well is manufacturing. In this day in age, “new fashion designers have become famous “name” designers, such as Coco Chanel or Calvin Klein, who create prestigious high-fashion collections, whether couture or prêt-á-porter” (Major, 2022). Now, instead of making a name of themselves, designers sell there designs to high end fashion brands or names in the industry so that they are anonymous with their work, but they still make the money from it. Only a small number of designers and manufacturers sell their own apparel. Pattern cutting and assembly used to be a highly skilled profession but is now done by technology and machines.
The main way a brand can remain competitive in certain economic times is through social media. As mentioned before, social media is a big way for companies to reach Generation Z. Having an active Tik Tok, Instagram, or Snapchat will really help to spread awareness for a brand. Doing frequent polls and surveys will help brands know what their customer wants and what to produce next and at what prices. The brand Nike has over 300 social media profiles and over 150 million followers on instagram. They beat every sports brand in social media engagement, and as seen in the graph for figure 1, they have the most engagement on instagram.
Creative directors bridge the gap between creativity and commerce by incorporating art and creativity in ways that the brand will also profit. As quoted from The Guardian, “Fashion labels from Cos to Cartier sponsor contemporary artists and art events because they all tap into a certain demographic’s sense of culture and credibility.” (Ahmed, 2020) Burberry had the singer Marika Hackman (seen in figure 2) wear their sunglasses for gigs and shows to show their support for british bands but also to raise awareness to their brand and to make a profit.
References
Ahmed (2013), Bridging the gap between art and business | Ajaz Ahmed (2013) The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/oct/16/bridging-gap-art-business
IbisWorld, (2022) Industry market research, reports, and Statistics IBISWorld. https://www.ibisworld.com/global/market-size/global-apparel-manufacturing/
Major, (2022) Fashion design and manufacturing Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. https://www.britannica.com/art/fashion-industry/Fashion-design-and-manufacturing
Radonic, (2022) The most important fashion industry statistics in 2022, FashionDiscounts. https://fashiondiscounts.uk/fashion-industry-statistics/