People
Historically, brands usually aimed their marketing at a specific demographic excluding a large diverse and realistic audience. The Eurocentric beauty standards within Fashion and other industries have dominated advertisement, entertainment, etc – meaning we have been a part of a global conditioning that developed during the colonial era. The affect of this exclusive demographic has created an underlining assumption of superiority in certain classes, races, sizes and other factors of appearances when in reality, this goes against the belief of many, especially people in Gen Z – they now ‘represent a broad – and for most fashion businesses, crucial – swathe of consumers’ (Moran, G. 2022, Drapers, Gen Z and Millennials 2022). We can see evidence of this, not only in the fashion industry and beauty trends (double eyelid surgery in East Asian cultures with Dr Mikayo saying ‘makes Asian’s more attractive’) but also in Global South news. Disasters in places such as Syria and Afghanistan do not get broadcasted as much as disasters like the War in Ukraine, for example.
The reality of our society is far from what used to be represented in media. Our cultures inhabits people in all sizes, races, ages and sexualities. Times are changing as the media has a much more vast representation of people. Brands are able to appreciate different cultures and express them through clothing and advertisement – for example the Dior Cruise Collection. However, problems are still made when rather than cultural appreciation, cultural appropriation takes place. Moreover, there is still a lingering sense of underlining misogony with women being grabbed and groped in pictures – objectified and the male gaze theory (Laura Mulvey and the male gaze in the 21st century, 2016, Emily Lowe) being a large factor behind a lot of campaigns and the unrecognised white privilege with images in campaigns normalising the privilege of white people, putting them in the forefront of images, and people of other races in the background (an example,Tom Ford).
These problems are gradually being recognised and called out (cancel culture) by the younger generation, commonly known as Gen Z. People are pushing away from and boycotting brands that do not support the new perspective that Gen Z has brought to life. Companies like Brandy Melville, Pretty Little Thing and Abercrombie&Fitch are slowly going downhill or already have lost a lot of money due to their lack of sizing, treatment of workers and lack of diversity. In order for brands to adapt to their new, large demographic, they must evolve by not only paying their workers a reasonable wage and having advertisements excluding a large amount of diverse people but also being transparent and honest with their customers – not just using terms ‘sustainable design’, ‘second life’ and ‘slow fashion’ just to attract customers (Social Responsibility and Innovation in the Sewn Products Industry by Connie Ulasewicz) having the company be diverse from within not just their advertisements. Using influences and characters that the audience and customer can connect with will also encourage Gen Z to utilise the brand – for example Fenty by Rihanna and Skims by Kim Kardashian.
Ref List:
Moran, G. 2022, Drapers, Gen Z and Millennials 2022 –
Laura Mulvey and the male gaze in the 21st century, 2016, Emily Lowe
https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781501312250&tocid=b-9781501312250-chapter2&pdfid=9781501312250.ch-002.pdfSocial Responsibility and Innovation in the Sewn Products Industry
by
Connie Ulasewicz