Mollie Dew

The fourth pillar of Fashion Business schools is ‘purpose’. Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term; a journey with a purpose (Johnson et al, 2011). ’Where, why and how we choose to buy our clothes has become a reflection of who we are’ (Corner, 2014) meaning that a brands purpose must reflect the values of its consumers in order to appeal to and attract them.

Gen Z in particular expects the brands they love to stand for something (Fromm, 2019) meaning brands must focus on purpose in order to be successful. ASOS is an example of a brand who responded to this and launched ‘fashion with integrity’ in order to drive the company to positively benefit people and minimise its impact on the planet. Global warming and fast fashion has become a cause of concern for Gen Z consumers who are wanting to shop more sustainably and support brands who share this purpose. ASOS has released its four goals that it aims to reach by  2030; to be net zero, be more circular through the extended life of garments, to be more transparent, and to be more diverse. These purpose align with the values of their target market making them attract consumers through their promise and

delivery- as seen through regular updates. Another purpose that attracts Gen Z is charity, which ASOS has also contributed to through the funding of centrepoint helpline in order to help young people at risk of homelessness, and launching a ‘#StopAsianHate’ support hub during the crisis in April 2021. Not only does this purpose attract the consumers through the shared value of charity but they’ve also chosen to support charities which directly impact and support Gen Z- their target consumers. This is successful in gaining the support and trust of Gen Z consumers.  

Brand Philosophy creates a brand image reflecting the values the brand take pride in. This is derived from passion and is reliant on the brands success. Brands philosophy’s are often the same; divulging on helping people, so what stands out to consumers is what brands are against. This creates a more powerful brand philosophy that allows the passion for these ethics, beliefs and values to stand out instead of appearing performative and untrustworthy to consumers. A brands sales, and relationship with consumers relies solely on the brand being deemed trustworthy by consumers and therefore this will be affected by how the brands philosophy is perceived and if it is genuine or not. 

Reference list 

• Corner, F. (2014) Why Fashion Matters. Thames & Hudson, Limited. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=5878041# (accessed: 02/11/2022) 
• Asos (2022). Available at: https://asos-12954-s3.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/9316/4974/2308/Fashion_With_Integrity_-_Progress_Update_-_120422.pdf (accessed: 02/11/2022) 
• Fromm, J. (2019) Gen- Z And The Three Elements Of Purpose Brands. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2019/07/26/gen-z-and-the-three-elements-of-purpose-brands/?sh=3ab2372e37e3 (accessed on: 02/11/2022) 
• Silva, P. (2020) Why Philosophy Has Much To Do With Brand- Building (And What That Looks Like). Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/piasilva/2020/11/19/why-philosophy-has-much-to-do-with-brand-building-and-what-that-looks-like/?sh=1766c1fa71f9 (accessed on: 02/11/2022) 
• Figure 1: Circular. (2021) ASOS announces ambitious new 2030 ESG goals. Available at: https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/asos-announces-ambitious-new-2030-esg-goals/ (accessed on: 02/11/2022) 
• Figure 2: Mosi, A. Business Philosophy Examples. Available at: https://www.hatchwise.com/resources/business-philosophy-examples (accessed on: 02/11/2022) 

‘People’ is one of the four pillars in fashion business, and is crucial to a brands success or failure. Gen Z is one of the leading consumers of the market making them the target audience for most brands. Gen Z are described as ages 12-26 years, as of now, and are different from other generations of shoppers due to being the first generation to grow up as digital natives, meaning they’ve been surrounded by technology their entire lives (Morgan, G. 2022). This means that brands marketing strategies need to differ in order to appeal to this generation as traditional marketing is less effective than to prior generations. Gen Z are far bigger users of video app ‘TikTok’, 50.3% of Gen Z use it as opposed to 25.7% of Millennials (Morgan, G. 2022). The popularity of this app has led to an increase in marketing through social media in order to target Gen Z, one brand who utilised this was Hugo Boss with the ‘#HowDoYouHUGO’ Ad campaign. Hugo Boss effectively ‘split into two brands’ in order to target both

Gen Z and Millennials through different marketing techniques. ‘Hugo’ targeted Gen Z and created a dance trend using influencers such as Maddie Ziegler, Diversity and Chloe Cherry who appeal to Gen Z as consumers. The use of celebrity culture has shifted for Gen Z and they relate more to influencers who they form a trust of rather than the ‘traditional’ celebrities, such as movie stars, who don’t connect with their audience as much. This shift has seen the rise in influencers working with brands in order to help build a brands reputation for being trustworthy amongst Gen Z. 

Diversity within the fashion industry is a recurring issue, due to the lack of diversity and inclusivity within marketing. With the rise of Gen Z there’s been a demand for diversity within brands due to Gen Z’s need for consumption of ethical products (Francis & Hoefel 2018) and this has resulted in increased representation. In 2018 Teen Vogue created ‘the new faces of fashion’ campaign featuring disabled models in order to increase representation and diversity to appeal to Gen Z consumers. However, brands are capitalising off of their use of diversity so could arguably be increasing their representation in order to profit from sales which questions how ethical these ‘ethical’ brands are. 

The average size in the UK for a woman is size 16, whereas most models are a size UK 4-6. There has been an increased demand for representation of different body types that reflect most women in the UK. However, there’s been a debate that this won’t appeal to consumers as it doesn’t reflect the ideology their clothings trying to represent. (Diedrichs, P.C, Lee, C., & Kelly, M. 2011) conducted a study concluding that participants do want more diversity within the industry, supporting the idea that more representation would appeal to consumers and these values would align with the targeted consumers. 

Reference List

Braun, D. (2022) Maddie Ziegler – Hugo Boss 2022 Available at: https://celebmafia.com/maddie-ziegler-hugo-boss-2022-3067627/ (Accessed: 21/10/2022)

Falquez, C. (2018) What It’s Like to Be a Disabled Model in the Fashion Industry Available at: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/cover-story-representation-fashion-industry-jillian-mercado-mama-cax-chelsea-warner (Accessed: 21/10/2022)

Planet is one of the four pillars in the fashion industry that contributes to sustainability, this includes People, Profit and Purpose. Sustainability is described as ‘meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’ Brundtland Report (1987). Within the fashion industry there are three main branches of sustainability; social, environmental, and economic. Environmental sustainability is most key when divulging into the planet pillar as it promotes protecting and caring for the planet and ecosystems to renew resources. 

Currently we are a linear economy meaning we take the earths materials, create a product and then dispose of them, resulting in waste that contributes to the 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted annually from textiles production. The circular economy reduces this waste through processes such as reusing materials, repairing and remanufacturing them in order to create new garments out of old resources. The circular economy model also allows nutrients from biodegradable materials to be returned to the Earth in order to regenerate nature. A solution for consumers to aid in circular economy is to purchase pre-loved items rather than fast fashion. This keeps garments out of landfill and helps fashion to become more environmentally sustainable and not contribute to the demand for new resources. The UK fashion industry alone is expected to reach £60.1 billion in 2022, which is rapidly increasing due to a demand for fast fashion, which is unsustainable and detrimental to the planet. 

Sustainable fashion is the aim to achieve a carbon neutral fashion industry with ecological integrity. Whilst the production of textiles and garments is s huge contributing factor to unsustainable fashion and waste, the whole process including consumption and disposal of products are also factors that need to be addressed. The sustainable movement of the fashion industry aim to reduce the large carbon footprint currently produced by the overconsumption of products that result in an increase annually in resources used and waste produced. Over 2

million tonnes of clothing are purchased annually in the UK with fast fashion contributing to 1/5 of the UK market. There are no government laws or legislations currently in place to  reduce this within the fashion industry despite countless meetings to discuss solutions. 

In 2015 the United Nations set up 17 sustainable development goals in order to encourage sustainability and take action. The 14th goal ‘life below water’ aims to ‘conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’. The fashion industry impacts oceans negatively through many different ways. One way in which we as consumers harm the oceans are through washing clothes that contain  microfibres which

are tiny plastic fibres that release 700,000 into the water system with every wash. Another prominent way the fashion industry contributes to this problem is through being responsible for 20 percent of global waste water, created through using dyes and finishing processes when producing a garment. These toxic chemicals are then released into the oceans and are toxic to fish and the ecosystem. 

Steve Madden

Steve Madden has famously been the ‘biggest name in women’s shoes’ for over 20 years, being a more affordable luxury designer, and targeting sixteen to twenty-eight year old women. From a slow start, selling shoes out of the trunk of his car, to being desired worldwide, Steve Madden is inspirational to many young designers. 

A standout from the company is the innovative and obscure marketing used to attract consumers. Most recently causing a stir was the remake of the ‘big heads’ campaign. Originally released in the late nineties, the ‘big heads’ advert became infamously known due to its uniqueness, and went on to define early 2000’s fashion. The caricature used was a contributing factor to the campaigns success in standing out as it subverted from the normal marketing techniques used of manufacturing jealousy and desire in order to entice a consumer. This campaign was not only influential to the fashion industry but notably influenced the creation of ‘Bratz dolls’. This shows the immense impact Steve Madden had on all types of culture. Due to it’s success in the 2000’s, Madden seized the opportunity to rebirth it when 2000s fashion became increasingly prominent in todays society. This created a sense of nostalgia for loyal consumers of the brand and created a sense of brand loyalty, paying homage to the brands roots. With the relaunch of the campaign in 2021, Madden used well known faces in order to attract the younger generation through celebrity culture. This was also hugely successful and received well by both the younger audience and the loyal brand consumers. 

With the increase in global warming many brands are making a move towards sustainable fashion in an attempt to decrease fast fashion. Steve Madden released a sustainability report in 2020 where they proposed their plans to help contribute to the planet. One of their notable contributions was their ‘cool planet’ collection which consisted of total transparency with material usage with the consumer and for every pair purchased a tree was planted. Alongside this collection they’ve vowed to avoid using new materials and instead use environmentally preferred materials which will help to lower toxic chemical pollution. With the increase in recycled materials being used in their shoes Steve Madden has contributed positively to the move to sustainable fashion, however not all their shoes fit this remit meaning they aren’t as sustainable as they could be. Whilst this move towards sustainability is a step in the right direction they need to push this further and ensure all their products are helping to abolish fast fashion. 

Steve Madden (2020) ‘Sustainability report 2020’ investor Steve Madden 

Erin Schwartz (2018) ‘The Story Behind Those Steve Madden Big-Head Ads’ Garage