Out of four pillars in the fashion industry, “profit” is the overall purpose and motivation behind all commercial endeavours. Without it, a business simply cannot survive in the fast-changing market. Key factors of brands’ success in uncertain times, a role of creative directors and performance of different sectors of the industry will be covered in this blog.

Before discussing performance of the fashion industry in 2022, it is essential to specify its size. This year’s growth of 4.3% will bring the size of the worldwide apparel manufacturing market in 2022 to $861.5 billion (IbisWorld, 2022). Looking at the statistics one can tell that fashion industry has a big part in the global economy. However, during COVID19 conditions for the global fashion business have been extremely difficult. But the sector is starting to stabilise again after nearly two years of upheaval (McKinsey 2022). During uncertain times a brand still can not only survive but thrive. One of the ways to do that is to “play into the needs of the moment”. Those during COVID19 related to “comfort, outdoor activities and online shopping” claims McKinsey (2022). It is true to say that increased usage of social media during pandemic has changed consumers’ needs and wants. This led to digital sector having the biggest opportunity for growth in fashion, while supply chain, logistics and inventory management fell under pressure (see fig.1).

It could be argued that Digital sector can also close the gap between creativity and business. As consumers spend more time online, there has been created more buzz, hype, and plenty of room for growth in the Metaverse, says Austin Rotter (2022). Furthermore, Consumers should investigate the possibility of NFTs, games and virtual fashion because these sectors all present unique opportunities for trade, community development, and creative expression. One of the collaborations of fashion brands with Metaverse is Burberry’s partnership with Mythical Games to develop an NFT collection within the company’s main open-world videogame, Blankos Block Party (Brooke, 2022). In 2022 it is crucial for customers to have an innovative idea behind their expensive purchase. Thus, it is creative directors’ role to market a brand’s product to consumers in a way “their fashionable purchases are unique and exclusive – artworks rather than mass manufactured garments” Stevenson, C (2019).

There is still a lot of room for development in the Metaverse. 2022 is a good year for fashion industry to start investing in it to strive in the market.

Reference list:

Brooke, S. (2022) Which luxury brands have entered the metaverse?, Raconteur. Available at: https://www.raconteur.net/technology/luxury-goods-crypto-nfts-metaverse/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022). 

Drenik, G. (2022) Why it’s time for marketers to believe the metaverse hype, Forbes. Forbes Magazine. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/garydrenik/2022/06/30/why-its-time-for-marketers-to-believe-the-metaverse-hype/?sh=440f16ae634d (Accessed: October 22, 2022). 

Ibis World (2022) Industry market research, reports, and Statistics, IBISWorld. Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com/global/market-size/global-apparel-manufacturing/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022). 

McKinsey (2022) State of Fashion Technology Report 2022, McKinsey & Company. McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion-technology-report-2022 (Accessed: October 23, 2022). 

Stevenson, C (2019) “(I was there) when it all went down”, in Cronberg, A. (ed) Vestoj issue 9: On Capital

 “People” is the second pillar studied at fashion business school. It focuses on the role of society in the fashion industry. One of the key elements of the pillar are diversity and inclusivity. People play a crucial role in fashion from creating new materials for clothing to simply buying trendy pieces. Fashion revolves around people as it is made by them, for them. 

To begin with, the society one lives in always changes and develops, new generations have different needs and wants in comparison to the previous ones. However, fashion industry must meet them to prosper. If hundred years ago clothing of good quality would be enough for a consumer, in 2022 it needs to be a lot more than just practical and well-sewn. For example, Generation Z cares not only about a fashion brand’s clothing, but also how a brand includes diversity in their campaigns and collections. But who is generation Z in the first place? People who belong to Gen Z—roughly defined as those born between 1995 and 2010—are real digital natives because they have grown up with access to the internet, social media, and mobile devices (Francis, T. and Hoefel, F. (2022) ) As consumers, Gen Z care about a brand’s image and its ability to keep up with recent trends, as well as, it having a place on social media. 

Moreover, there are a few new things a brand should do to attract Gen Z. First and foremost, it should be able to sell online since Gen Z is used to do many daily things, such as shopping, online. Secondly, a brand should not only sell clothing but also be present in media: have pages on social media, show their responses to recent trends, news, problems. Thirdly, it should communicate with its consumers through inclusivity and diversity.

One of the brands, that has responded to all the points written above is Gucci. They have not only included people of different races and ethnicities on their runways, but also hired a model with Down Syndrome, advancing diversity in the beauty business by one more step (Schmid, M. (2022) ).

Lastly, a brand must have key people skills as good marketing and presentation skills (incorporating famous fashion influencers in campaigns), transparency, communication, and inclusivity to be successful. 

Bibliography

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: October 16, 2022). 

Schmid, M. (2022) Gucci Beauty: Campaign for greater diversity, inclusiveness and body positivity, Österreichs Modemagazin. L’Officiel. Available at: https://www.lofficiel.at/en/beauty/gucci-beauty-campaign-for-greater-diversity-inclusiveness-and-body-positivity (Accessed: October 16, 2022). 

Fashion business school sustains four pillars: planet, people, profit, and purpose. In this blog pillar “planet” is going to be covered in terms of how fashion impacts the world, and how the waste of water can be minimised in the fashion industry. The “planet” pillar sets a crucial obligation for the sector to achieve sustainability and expose the negative effects of wasteful activities on the environment.

One of the main issues is that the fashion industry needs the environment’s resources to prosper. However, the environment has been largely affected by the industry in various bad ways. This means that the fashion industry is mainly not sustainable. Meeting human needs today without sacrificing the potential of future generations to satisfy their own needs is what is meant by sustainability (D. Mollenkamp, 2022). For the past decades, most fashion brands have been working in a linear economy. It relates to creating something and then wasting it. It is not a sustainable model of working. Not only old clothing and materials have been wasted due to fashion production, but also water. Clean water and sanitation are 6th out of 17 sustainable development goals created by United Nations. A significant consumer of water is the fashion industry. Cotton is one of the most common materials used in clothing production. It should be borne in mind that just one kilogramme of cotton can be manufactured using up to 20,000 gallons of water (M Charpail, 2017). The water required to cultivate cotton in India would be enough to meet 85% of the country’s whole population’s daily water needs. In India, 100 million people lack access to clean water (M Charpail, 2017). This is where the fashion industry should change to a circular economy, to solve problems as water scarcity that society is facing in 2022. A production and consumption paradigm – the “circular economy” emphasises sharing, repairing, and recycling old goods for as long as possible. The life cycle of items is extended in this way. It suggests minimising waste (European Parliament, 2022).

 One of the fashion brands that has enabled a circular economy in their production process is Pangaia. Instead of cotton, they created new sustainable fabrics. One of them is PLNTFIBER. It does not only require less water to produce but also is a sustainable material. PLNTFIBER is made of bamboo, which helps maintain healthy soils and increases carbon absorption, which naturally slows climate change (Pangaia, 2021).

To conclude, if more fashion brands switch to the circular economy and adopt sustainable ideas in their production process as Pangaia does, there would be a big contribution to the 6th SDG in minimising water waste.

Reference list:

Charpail, M. (2017) What’s wrong with the fashion industry? SustainYourStyle

(Accessed: October 8, 2022)

Europian Parliament (2022) Circular economy: definition, importance and benefits. News European Parliament

(Accessed: October 8, 2022)

Fernandes, P. (2020) Circular Economy As A Way Of Increasing Efficiency In Organizations. CIRCULAR ECONOMY, CLIMATE CHANGE, GLOBAL WARMING, PORTO PROTOCOL.

(Accessed: October 8, 2022)

Mollenkamp, D. (2022) What is Sustainability? How Sustainabilities Work, Benefits, and Example

(Accessed: October 8, 2022)

Pangaia (2021) PLNTFIBER™ & FRUTFIBER™ Science

(Accessed: October 8, 2022)