The profit pillar explores the economic state of the fashion industry. The two elements that make up an economy are economic components and economic systems. Economic components are things such as Individuals, goods, services or minerals whilst economic systems identify the structures used to contribute to economy e.g., Value (the structure used to measure the importance we place on things within our economy).
The fashion industry is valued highly within our economy. This is evident through the size of the global fashion market which was worth $1.5 trillion in 2021 and is estimated to reach $2 trillion in 2026 (Statista 2022). There are various sectors within the fashion industry that contribute to the size of the market. Some examples of these sectors are retail, marketing, and manufacturing.
Fashion retail, specifically online, performed well during COVID. In 2020 the online retail sector saw a significant increase in online demand. Since everyone was home during lockdown, people relied on online platforms to fulfil their consumer needs. This triggered a 48% growth in online retail sales during 2020 (Mintel 2022). As we move into the current cost of living crisis, the online retail market is expected to decline and rebalance as people are becoming more conscious of their spending habits. Despite the current economic state, the market is expected to return and stay in growth up until 2027.
Figure 1: Market size for online retail 2017-2021 (Mintel 2022)
Social media enables brands to maintain their presence during uncertain economic times. The use of social media allows brands to compete with one another in an easier and faster way. As the state of the economy continuously shifts in unknown ways, brands may invest less money into advertisement methods such as TV /billboards, and instead use online platforms to promote their clothing. Another method brands must rely on to remain competitive is brand loyalty. Consumers will continue to purchase products from the brands they’ve built a relationship with. Once brands gain a customer’s trust, it is likely that the customer will remain faithful to them.
For creative directors to bridge a gap between creativity and commerce, they must nurture the skill of making their art desirable. For instance, many consumers like to purchase products with a story. Therefore, if brands portray a message of meaning through their products, there is a higher likelihood of sales. This was done by Chanel in the 1920’s with the creation of the Chanel suit. The Chanel suit was described as a ‘game changer’ as she wanted to move women out of the restrictions of corsets and into the freedom of looser clothing which was seen as masculine at the time. This is an illustration of how designers/creative directors can find balance between creativity and commerce.
Profit is the ultimate goal and driving force of business activities. A brand cannot function without profit. Brand strategy and behaviors are all for short-term or long-term profit. Without doubt, fashion industry is driven by profit.
As fashion industry develops, in 2022, it is expected that the fashion sector’s revenue would total US$0.99 trillion with a projected market volume of US$312.20 billion (Statista, 2021). At the same time, various sectors in fashion industry produce different results. According to Luxury Outlook 2022: Advancing as a Responsible Pioneer by Boston Consulting Group and Comité Colbert, the French luxury goods association, which included participation from across the industry and 40 interviews with heads of luxury houses, the global luxury industry is anticipated to increase from an estimated €388 billion in 2022 to an estimated €494 billion in 2026 (Joël et al. 2022). However, fast fashion industry has the opposite results. over the past ten years, the fast-fashion industry has expanded significantly, but the COVID-19 epidemic momentarily slowed this growth. One of the major issues for fast fashion in 2020 was the downturn in the economy, which resulted in a 12.32% decline in market value and a £23 billion drop in revenue. But according to experts, the market won’t fully recover until 2023, when it’s anticipated to generate up to £28 billion in sales (Research and Market, 2022). It is obvious that the current market environment is very complicated.
Under the double pressure of such a complex current situation and the unknown future economic situation, only to maintain and improve the competitiveness of the brand can ensure profits, but it is extremely challenging. In terms of consumer goods, great products make better profits. This will test the brand’s operators: creative director. Perfect design does not necessarily bring great economic benefits and design that generates a lot of profit can also be bad in artistic creation. How to balance the creativity and commerce is a constant question for creative director. Conversations are more likely to lead to productive exchanges between the arts and business than strategies and processes due to their distinct but connected and interacting connection. In the artistic creation at the same time appropriate consideration of commercial factors but can maximize the realization of artistic value is the way to bridge the gap between creativity and commerce. From marketing strategy, creative director can not just sacrifice design for economic benefit. It is necessary to effectively communicate and discuss the best cooperation scheme.
Bibliography
Joël, H., Sarah, W., Filippo, B. and Benjamin, F. (2022). How Luxury Companies Can Advance as Responsible Pioneers. [online] Available at: <https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/luxury-outlook-advancing-responsible-pioneer> [Accessed 22 October 2022]
Research and Market. (2022) Fast Fashion Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Growth and Change to 2030. [online] Available at: <https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5321430/fast-fashion-global-market-report-2021-covid-19?utm_source=dynamic&utm_medium=GNOM&utm_code=8qcgtg&utm_campaign=1398970+-+Global+Fast+Fashion+Market+Report+(2020+to+2030)+-+COVID-19+Growth+and+Change&utm_exec=jamu273gnomd> [Accessed 22 October 2022]
Statista. (2021). Fashion – Worldwide. [online] Available at: <https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/fashion/worldwide> [Accessed 22 October 2022]
Profit is one of the four pillars of the fashion industry, and it is also a very important one, because profit refers to the operating results of a fashion enterprise during a certain accounting period. The profit of a fashion brand can change the future development of the brand, that is, A concrete representation of the end result of this fashion brand.
Fashion Industry in China: Analysis of the world’s largest fashion market. In China, fashion is everywhere, on the streets, in commercial centers, on e-commerce platforms, on TV and, of course, on social media. There are multiple ways for brands to market in this culturally diverse country and launch their products among consumers who desire attractive designs at reasonable prices. According to McKinsey, China overtook the United States to become the world’s largest fashion market in 2019. Over the past decade, China’s fashion industry has been booming and developing. Currently, it continues to expand at an exponential rate. With rapid urbanization and the increasing ability of the population to spend, both high-rise and low-rise apparel markets are growing rapidly. From 2020 to 2021, duty-free shops have maintained a high profile in China. In January 2021, Hainan opened five new duty-free shops on the remote island and currently operates nine stores. During the Spring Festival holiday from February 11 to 17, sales of duty-free shops on the remote island of Hainan exceeded 1.5 billion yuan, double the amount during the Spring Festival holiday in 2019. During this period, there were more than 200,000 shoppers. Even in the face of the current global Covid-19 epidemic, China still maintains the highest level of luxury consumption in the world, and is an important source of profit for many fashion brands under the influence of the epidemic in recent years. According to news reports, the Guangzhou Hermès store, which was not long after Covid-19 started, quickly reaped more than 2 million yuan in revenue. (VOGUE BUSINESS IN CHINA 2020)
In order to better attract Chinese consumers to buy, many fashion brands will launch a series of products with Chinese New Year elements every year during the Chinese New Year to attract consumers to buy, such as the Chinese zodiac, phoenix, auspicious cloud embroidery, red, etc. in China regarded as auspicious elements. Many fashion brands have also entered Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as Alibaba and JD.com, to boost sales profits. With the rise of short videos in large numbers, fashion brands’ sales through short video apps are also on the rise. Chinese TikTok, the world-renowned short video platform, is taking a hard line in order to break the near-monopoly of the fashion industry by large e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com. As of September 6, 2020, brands must partner with KOLs on the platform through Douyin, and they can no longer promote products on third-party e-commerce sites through Douyin’s livestreaming service. In October, Douyin completely banned links to third-party websites from appearing on its live channel. This prevents merchants from redirecting traffic to popular e-commerce sites such as Alibaba Taobao, Tmall or JD.com. Instead, they had to trade within the Douyin platform. Douyin is not the only platform actively entering e-commerce. Its rival Kuaishou announced that it facilitated more than 500 million e-commerce orders in August 2020, claiming this made it the fourth largest e-commerce service provider in China after Taobao, Tmall, JD.com and Pinduoduo business.
The success of a fashion brand in terms of profit depends on whether the brand can capture the attention of consumers and retain consumers. For example, in many traditional festivals in China, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival, some brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Balenciaga, Hermès, Gucci, etc. will send their consumers exclusive holiday gifts to express their blessings. This is also the reason for the success of a fashion brand. They will know what their biggest consumer group wants, and having better service can also better enhance brand profits.
Bibliography
Business.css-1cd9gw4{margin-left:.3em;} Exclusive reports, industry analysis and data insights focusing on the fashion industry.css-uodor8{border-radius:50%;}.css-1y9jkzv{box-sizing:border-box;margin:0;min-width:0;max-width:100%;height:auto;background-color:#FFFFFF;width:38px;height:38px;border-radius:50%;}Vogue (no date) Why is it that the more “collapsed” people are, the more they like to buy, buy, buy?, Zhihu. Available at: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/162956950 (Accessed: October 23, 2022). Consulting, D. (2022) Analysis of the fashion industry in China, Daxue Consulting – Market Research China. Available at: https://daxueconsulting.com/fashion-industry-in-china/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022). says:, P. (2021) Fashion in China: Top marketing strategies for brands, Marketing China. Available at: https://marketingtochina.com/fashion-in-china-top-marketing-strategies-for-brands/ (Accessed: October 23, 2022).
People is one of the 4 pillars discussed in the fashion business, the focus of this is that people are the main subject of every organization/brand and it discusses the impact which the fashion industry has on people both societally and across global cultural dimensions. ‘People’ focuses on consumer behavior, society, and the influential changes that may cause a fashion business to operate differently, for example, using their marketing techniques to create a more diverse and inclusive portrayal of their brand.
Generation Z frequently known as ‘Gen Z’ is anyone born between 1997 and 2012, as consumers of the fashion industry Gen Z are the most demanding consumers in history and this high demand is for fast fashion brands such as H&M, Zara, and Shein. The reason for this is that fast fashion is low-cost and easily accessible. On average Gen Z spends 10.6 hours per day online (Adobe), mainly on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, therefore brands have moved towards social media marketing and creating fun and engaging quality content that generates an interest in Gen Z. In order to attract Gen Z, a brand should be able to provide same-day delivery, as Gen Z want to be able to consume with ease and the purchases to be as quick as possible. Generation Z has become more aware of the environmental impacts of the fashion industry, so in order for a brand to attract generation Z they should make them aware of their sustainability and ethical values, as this may attract Gen Z to purchase from there rather than fast fashion brands as they will be free from there guilty conscious and feel as though they have made a more environmentally friendly purchase.
Diversity is ‘the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.’ A brand that has represented diversity is Savage X Fenty by Rihanna. Savage X Fenty shows inclusivity in its sizing making the brand accessible to a large range of consumers, as its sizing ranges from XS to 5XL and a 30A to a 46H. Savage X Fenty also creates brand inclusivity and diversity by featuring plus-sized, older, pregnant, and disabled models in their fashion shows and campaigns, this has been shown within social media strategies by using models of different sizes, races, and gender since the beginning of the brand in 2018.
Fashion brands need to develop some key people skills in order to become successful, for example, a brand needs to have open communication skills with their customers in order to gain a true perspective of what the consumer’s wants and needs are. For a fashion brand to improve the problems which consumers have with their products, they should use a direct feedback system to gain an understanding of improvements, rather than an indirect communication channel. allowing consumers to express their opinions about product improvement will also help to create long-term relationships between the brand and its customers. Another key skill that a fashion brand should take into consideration is being a social and environmental entrepreneur, this is due to the fact that consumers are more concerned about the environment and therefore are seeking brands that use sustainable practices.
References:~
~What years are Gen Z? (14th October 2022) ~ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/09/02/what-years-gen-x-millennials-baby-boomers-gen-z/10303085002/
~Gen Z approach towards fashion (14th October 2022) ~ https://www.fashionsfinest.com/blog/item/6187-gen-z-the-ethical-fashion-generation
~Attracting Generation Z ~ sustainability and ethical values (15th October 2022) ~ https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2022/01/21/what-do-gen-z-shoppers-really-want-4-ways-retailers-can-capture-the-younger-generation/
~Attracting Generation Z ~ Online/Social influence (15th October 2022) ~ https://www.apptus.com/blog/generation-z-online-shopping-habits/
~Diversity (16th October 2022) ~ Oxford Languages Dictionary
~Savage X Fenty (16th October 2022) ~ https://www.savagex.com/featured/aboutus
~Key People Skills (17th October 2022) ~ Hethorn, J., & Ulasewicz, C. (eds). (2015). Sustainable Fashion: What’s Next? A Conversation about Issues, Practices and Possibilities. New York: Bloomsbury (page 27 and 73)
McKinsey said back in 2017, “Fashion is one of the world’s most important industries, driving a significant part of the global economy. An industry that creates value for the world economy. As one of the four pillars of the fashion industry, profits deeply influence the future of this industry, with global revenues for the p-fashion industry estimated at between $1.7 trillion and $2.5 trillion in 2021 according to Fashion United (Before the Covide-19 pandemic).
The production of raw materials, the creation of fashion items by designers, retail, and advertising and promotion are some of the different industries that make up the fashion industry. The fashion industry is now dealing with a number of problems, according to the State of Fashion 2020 report from McKinsey. For instance, the processing of raw materials for the textile industry still contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, and a fifth of industrial water pollution is caused by chemicals like insecticides and dyes. Additionally, as noted in The State of Fashion report 2022, consumers are becoming more aware of sustainability-related issues and are demanding details about the materials, manufacturing methods, and the people involved, which has led more and more companies to improve the sustainability of their supply chains.
BY Coleem Ramos Best Sims 4 Gucci CC: Clothes, Shoes & Accessories
With the rise of Generation Z and consumers looking more for purpose online, the habits of this demographic are beginning to change the way retail and advertising is delivered. Some fashion brands are beginning to flock to the virtual market where young people are the most numerous, for example the gaming ‘skins’, examples include LV’s collaboration with the character Qiyana from League of Legends, and limited-edition clothing from Moschino or Gucci in The Sims DLC. Also the more recent concept that has emerged – the metaverse. Also being transformed are companies that bring in a large number of young employees, who, having grown up in a more inclusive environment, implicitly promote diversity. Companies that show enough goodwill will gain the support of many people and move closer to success in this age of rapid information flow.
Many artists create art as a hobby rather than as a method of supporting themselves, although commercialization is necessary to spread their work. Today’s most obvious examples of art and business overlap admirably, but they also thrive because of an uncomplicated fit between the audience for the brand and the artwork. Burberry and British music groups get mutual leverage through a shared sense of national style and sexy chic. 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(Ajax, 2013). Even though the above example is a little too old, it cannot be denied that successful art cannot be achieved without the help of business. In the meantime the benefits of this cooperation are mutual. By thinking more like artists, businesspeople have an opportunity to take a radically new approach, with more freedom, more creativity, and more possibilities（Amy, 2018)
REFERENCE:
McKinsey & Company(2022) State of Fashion 2022: An uneven recovery and new frontiers
McKinsey & Company(2020) The State of Fashion 2020: Navigating uncertainty
The fashion industry is a collection of clothing，footwear and accessories. Statistics show that the market size of the global fashion industry has grown steadily from $145.6 billion in 2016 to $1,570.1 billion in 2021. And they are growing at a compound annual rate of 1.5%.With gradual economic development in the next few years, it will increase to 17,502 per billion US dollars by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 2.2%. In terms of product types, apparel is the largest contributor, accounting for 71.0% of the total market size in 2021, while footwear is the second contributor, accounting for 20.3% of the total market size in 2021. This year has seen significant positive trends in the e-commerce market. For the fashion market, these trends appear to be particularly strong. In the next five years, the fashion industry online transaction size will maintain a compound annual growth rate of 7.18 per cent. That would make the Internet industry more than $1 trillion.
Figure 1: Statista,2021
Fashion is no longer a reliable long-term powerhouse and the global economy is in turmoil, but the fashion industry has no intention of stopping. The fashion industry, especially the fast fashion industry, is becoming increasingly competitive, and fast fashion brands are also facing the threat of “super fashion”. Fashion e-commerce, unburdened by physical stores, poses a threat to traditional fast-fashion brands with faster clothing delivery and lower operating costs. Some fast-fashion brands that focus on young fashion are also closing stores and stagnating, which means that superficial fashion can’t sustain the brand in the long run. What really builds brand value is a complete operating model and close to contemporary consumption. In addition to “fast” and “fashion”, these traditional fast fashion brands clearly need a more solid core competitiveness. In my opinion, this core competence is the unique value orientation of the brand. For example, the choice of the fast fashion brand Uniqlo is based on the life style concept with technology as the fulcrum (Ulasewicz, C., Hethorn, J., Ulasewicz, C., 2015). Second, it’s important to be able to constantly explore ways to market your product. Uniqlo penetrates clothing into more scenes to enhance the freshness of the brand for consumers. In this process, high-tech fabric technology has become a clothing booster suitable for weekend travel, daily commute, family leisure, outdoor sports scenes.
For fashion brands, the designer is the soul. Three years ago, CELINE was facing a brand crisis. Phoebe Philo, the former creative director of CELINE, has been hailed as the most feminine of designers and is known for her minimalist style, arguing that luxury should not be sacrificed for comfort. She has spent 10 years establishing CELINE as a benchmark for contemporary female pop, cultivating a fan base with a strong sense of identity and belonging. However, that all changed when new creative director Hedi Slimane took over in 2018. Huddy is known for his intense grunge style and teen subculture. He changed the brand logo and deleted all posts on CELINE’s official IG, symbolizing a new era and drawing criticism from many loyal fans at the time. Hedi’s aggressive actions over the past three years have succeeded in taking CELINE’s career to new heights. CELINE’s success depends not only on Slimane’s creative genius, but also on finding the right marketing strategy. CELINE’s clothes also tend to trend brands, moving towards the sporty styles and mix-and-match styles favored by the younger generation. From baseball caps to baseball jackets and even sports underwear with CELINE written on the elastic, luxury brands have shattered the impression that they are not accessible to the common people.
One of the most influential pillars within the fashion business school is people. It is the reason business adapt and run. To understand how to target a product to a customer you first need to understand the market and within that is the consumers. Moreover it encourages you to understand the needs and wants of the customer (David Meerman Scott, New Rules and Marketing and PR).
Generation z is one of the biggest and more influential generations, as well as one of the biggest consumers in the market, they were born in a when there was massive financial struggle where have more awareness on spending as watching their parents struggle. In addition they also are more likely to shop sustainably as well as high-quality, products as they are more cautious on being ethical. 73% of Generation Z consumers are willing to pay 10% more for sustainable products ( iiii) furthermore they have strong views as well as beliefs on diversity as well as brands being socially responsible value personalised products and are often drawn to brands that share their point of view on political issues as they are more cautious on who they are buying from.
Generation Z is more or less born with a phone in their hand and has a completely different approach to social media and digitisation in general. They use social media to seek inspiration, research products and connect with their favourite brands. majority of their research or information is coming from tiktok or other social media platforms Gen Z are YouTube (95%), TikTok (67%), and Instagram (62%). —-60% of Generation Z in the US use Instagram to discover new brands, products and services. therefore majority of purchases are made online as well as Generation Z embracing mobile payments like mobile apps and mobile wallets encouraging them to shop majority online, this would force brands to adapt their style of marketing to appeal to gen z such as creating tiktok accounts of promoting their products by creating a instagram. gen z one of the biggest buyers in the market so it is important that brands are adapting to the current trends.
Furthermore a brand that has taken initiative is third love a lingerie brand who uses measurements from millions of real women instead of industry size templates. The brand created a line of bras with 78 different sizes including half cup sizes. Not only does ThirdLove create a product that’s made for real women’s bodies, it also offers a wide range of nude shades to offer options for more skin tones they highlights real women with diverse backgrounds, body types, and ages. this would attract attention. as it is humanising it has a estimated valuation of $750 million proving to be successful. consumers escpially generation z would be more drawn to brands like third love rather than brands such as Victoria secret who have a specific brand image on who they want purchasing their products. diversity is very import in our modern world today as when making a purchase our generation are going to be cautious on what the brand stands for as well as their values due to being social responsible.
Referancing
Inglis, A. (2016). Importance of Buyer Personas for Your Business. [online] Grow. Available at: https://wearegrow.com/importance-of-buyer-personas-for-your-business/.
Apptus (2022). Generation Z: Online Shopping Habits and Behaviour [2022]. [online] www.apptus.com. Available at: https://www.apptus.com/blog/generation-z-online-shopping-habits/.
www.pixlee.com. (n.d.). 4 Brands Embracing Diversity in Their Content | Pixlee TurnTo Blog. [online] Available at: https://www.pixlee.com/blog/4-brands-embracing-diversity-in-their-content.
Profit is a necessary incentive for commerce to thrive. Its significance is debated in regards to the associations between creative and business industries. Currently, the fashion industry is worth $1.5tr USD (Smith, 2022), and its magnitude suggests great margin for profit, as well as other factors determining this level of surplus including human and economic capital investments.
All sectors of the fashion industry, including manufacturing and retailing, were disrupted by Covid-19. With McKinsey & Company, Business of Fashion projected that non-luxury and luxury fashion sales would mostly recover in the US and China, but growth would be less imminent for Europe (McKinsey & Co., 2021). Such expectations can imply that performance varies globally, based on differing consumer trends and incomes.
In unpredictable economic times, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and anticipated recession in Q4, 2022, competitiveness for brands can be derived from greater flexibility (Corner, 2014, p.6). As long as they remain aligned to their heritage, values and target consumer base, brands should consider expanding their offer, and in turn, presence in the fashion industry. For example, Supreme’s collaborations with Pat McGrath, Tiffany & Co., and Louis Vuitton have attracted new audiences to the streetwear label. Through envisioning a youthful yet distinct take on luxury, Supreme has successfully employed visual codes (Mitterfellner, 2019, p.121) such as the iconic red logo and inspiration from skate culture, to build a brand identity strong enough to enable such collaborations, thus enabling their competitiveness despite macroeconomic disruption.
Figure 1: Supreme x Tiffany & Co. Fall 2021
The capitalistic nature of the global economy has placed fashion brands under pressure to marry creativity with commerce. Several companies have responded by introducing new chief creative officers to boost commercial growth. Burberry appointed Daniel Lee as Riccardo Tisci’s successor, due to his role in sustaining revenue growth of ‘nearly €1.2 billion in 2019’ at Bottega Veneta (O’Connor and Williams, 2022). This was mainly due to his influential footwear and accessories designs, helping to commercially and culturally elevate the brand despite worldwide economic downturn.
Figure 2:Look 19/63, Balenciaga Resort 2023
It may be argued that no one has unified creativity with commerce better than Demna of Balenciaga. The Georgian designer presented his Resort 2023 collection at the New York Stock Exchange, quite literally portraying the relationship between fashion and business. While sending latex-clad models down the trading floor appears to be an absurd concept, such originality has translated into undeniable success for the fashion house. Off the runway, Balenciaga’s sunglasses and bags are heavily popular with Gen Z and millennials. These accessories are intentionally at lower price points, a conscious commercial decision made to generate greater sales from aspiring customers. Overall, profitability is possible for brands who are unafraid of taking risks without compromising their creative vision, and strike a balance between commercial and artistic success.
Profit is an essential outcome of running a business. Making a profit is the main goal of the company. It shows the company is doing well. However, the fashion industry is changing. Many other important factors and values coexist alongside the profit factor to build the most sustainable and developed fashion industry.
Figure 1: Profit (Bui. L, 2022)
Fashion is one of the most important industries. It is holding the “key value-creating” industries for the global economy (McKinsey & BoF, 2016). There was an increase in apparel when the pandemic happened. In 2021, the fashion industry’s worth was approximately 1.55 trillion U.S. dollars. Fashion is not the biggest industry. Although, it is the biggest e-commerce industry in the world. According to Statista, the largest segment belonged to fashion with a revenue of 666 billion U.S. dollars (2022). This segment will increase to over one trillion dollars in 2025 (Statista, 2022). Additionally, one of the potential markets in the fashion industry is ethical fashion. Statista estimates the value of this market will rise by over three billion U.S. dollars in the 2021 and 2025 period.
As a part of e-commerce, social shopping is a vital way for fashion brands to boost their sales and attract customers. Due to Covid-19, it changes consumers’ behaviors. Social networks play a vital role in people’s lives such as shopping, entertainment, and connection. According to a research firm Data Reportal’s The Global State of Digital 2021, about 4.3 billion users (over half of the world’s population) now use social media (Draper, 2022). Therefore, reaching them is an important goal of fashion brands. At the same time, the circular economy is one of the most important sectors of the fashion industry to reduce its footprint. This industry produces around 40 million tons of textile waste into the environment a year. Renewcell partners with brands such as H&M, Levi’s, Beyond Retro’s parent company Bank and Vogue to deliver post-consumer waste to Renewcell.203. They are building a new facility and 60,000 tons of textiles will be recycled. (McKinsey&Company, 2022)
Figure 2: Estimated value of the ethical fashion market worldwide from 2020 to 2025. (Statista, 2022)
The new normal after the pandemic has just begun. While uncertain times, fashion brands need to find the correct direction to overcome competitors. Firstly, reliability is always the most vital point. In every single step during the process, brands should show sustainability in there. Transparency in the production process will gain the customer’s trust and they are more willing to buy the product. Secondly, there are many possible platforms, tools, and technologies for marketers of brands to develop and be open-mind to them (Clausen, 2020). Because with only one click when accessing the platforms, customer can buy their favorite products. The power of technology and its global is unquestionable.
Figure 3: Collaboration: Sterling Ruby & Raf Simons, Vetements & McDonald’s, Simone Rocha x H&M, and Gucci and Balenciaga’s Hacker Project (Bui. L, 2022)
Balancing creativity and commerce is always particularly challenging for creative directors. When designers present themselves as artists, they reveal their unique vision. However, this also protects their desire to live and work creatively. They can market themselves to consumers who also want to buy a work of art rather than mass-produced clothing (Stevenson, 2019). The designers can still keep their impressions on the garment and have the customer satisfied. In addition, collaboration is also an ideal choice for the brands. During the campaign, the impact of the media will help art spread and commercial purposes are also met (Stevenson, 2019). Nevertheless, the coin always has two sides. Before starting the projects, the creative director and brands understand the partner’s value and vision to make the most successful handshake.
Bibliography:
Business Wire (2020) Global Ethical Fashion Market to reach $8.25 billion by 2023 (COVID-19 adjusted) – researchandmarkets.com. Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200619005202/en/Global-Ethical-Fashion-Market-Reach-8.25-Billion (Accessed: October 16, 2022).
McKinsey&Company (2022) The State of Fashion 2022. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/state%20of%20fashion/2022/the-state-of-fashion-2022.pdf. (Accessed: October 19, 2022).
UK fashion industry statistics (2022) FashionUnited. Available at: https://fashionunited.uk/uk-fashion-industry-statistics (Accessed: October 16, 2022).
Image reference list:
Bui. L (2022), Profit, (Collage).
Bui. L (2022), Collaboration: Sterling Ruby & Raf Simons, Vetements & McDonald’s, Simone Rocha x H&M, andGucci and Balenciaga’s Hacker Project(Collage).
1. Profit is the data used to analyze finance and understand and analyse the enterprise.
2. The scale of the fashion industry ranges from small to large, small to only studios, and large ones will set up brands and their own exclusive studios. The scale of the fashion industry is usually fixed. Some are responsible for the design, as well as for the procurement of fabrics for samples, and the public relations department for publicity and distribution. The fashion department needs designers to design samples, and designers also have design assistants to help design clothes. And It also requires a board division to tailor the size of the clothes. “Decades-high inflation is likely to drive many shoppers to hunt for discounts and bargains at physical stores. ‘Retail store traffic will increase over the holiday season, whereas e-commerce demands will perhaps remain steady,’ said Corey Berkey, senior vice president of people and talent at human resources services firm Employ Inc. Retailers will need to react to that big shift and adjust their in-store staff.” (Reuters, 06, Oct, 2022)
4. Brands should identify audience preferences and recent trends. Like a Chinese luxury customer, she always likes buying luxury. “Long thought of as a thorn in the luxury industry’s side, the daigou seller’s grey market has long been fuelled by tax rebates and price differences for luxury products, which have historically been much more expensive in China than in other markets. “Since daigou’s share of the market has declined in recent years and international travel is now at a near standstill, one might expect it to be over for good. Not so: like luxury spending in general, the daigou market is rapidly reshoring, with resellers taking advantage of lower prices on the duty-free island of Hainan to cater to value-seeking Chinese customers on the mainland.”(Hall, Williams, 25, Feb 2021)
5. Creative directors should be aware of fashion trends and what their audience has been interested in lately. It’s not just about new ideas, it’s about finding what the masses really need. Combining comfort and environmental protection with the brand concept. It is also necessary to find alternative fabrics, reduce the price of fabric recycling, and choose some durable and environmentally friendly materials for the selection of materials. Up to now, fashion profits continue to be sluggish, and there is still a long way to go to increase profits.
