People
‘People’ is one of the 4 main pillars of the fashion industry (planet, purpose and profit), and is a huge part of any organisation, as a part of the supply chain as well as in the form of the various kinds of consumers a brand has. It can also be described as the diverse demographic (in terms of race, age, size etc.) a brand aims to market their products to. The current, ‘new’ consumers for the fashion industry are the youth who are also better known as generation z or gen z.
Gen Z can be described as people born between 1995 to 2010 (Francis and Hoefel, 2022) and are the youth. Gen Z consumers are advocates for sustainability, inclusion, correct and diverse representation. They are also described as “true digital natives”. (Francis and Hoefel, 2022). They relate to one on one communication, and this is where influencers come into play. The one on one communication helps the consumers emotionally connect with the brand and understand the brand’s philosophy as well. However, this also often times puts the brand at risk, because with digital platforms and Gen Z also comes ‘cancel culture’ which is a harsh attempt at holding brands and people accountable for making mistakes. This means that brands cannot afford to not take actions according to their brand philosophy.
Glossier, for example, has fairly inclusive campaigns, and is a huge advocate for it as well. They also send out postcards with their packages with an aesthetic image for several hands of different skin colours coming together. However, their shade range is pretty limited compared to what a lot of other brands are doing, especially given that they are a rather well established brand now. Even though they have an extremely light shade and an extremely dark shade, there are barely 13 shades. Fenty beauty, on the other hand, has been a great advocate for diversity and inclusion, with not only inclusive campaigns but also a rather wide shade range containing 59 different options. (Fetto, 2020). Fenty beauty’s motto is “beauty for all”, and they truly are practicing what they preach.
As aforementioned, people are a key focus of any brand, and there are certain key people skills required for a fashion brand in particular to be successful. One has to be patient, open minded to others’ ideas which goes hand in hand with being good at teamwork, and being accepting of others. This means one has to be flexible. For a business to be successful, the people working for the brand have to listen proactively to not only their colleagues and employees but also the consumers. (Smith, 2022).
References:
Fetto, F. (2020) How Fenty Beauty changed the state of play in the industry, British Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/rihanna-fenty-beauty-diversity (Accessed: November 9, 2022).
Smith, J. (2022) The 20 people skills you need to succeed at work, Forbes. Forbes Magazine. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/11/15/the-20-people-skills-you-need-to-succeed-at-work/?sh=11792cac3216 (Accessed: November 9, 2022).
Francis, T. and Hoefel, F. (2022) ‘true gen’: Generation Z and its implications for companies, McKinsey & Company. McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies (Accessed: November 9, 2022).