Profit
Profit is one of the four pillars of sustainability. Profit is the money a business makes after costs are taken away from the revenue that is acquired from product sales. Profits can also be a measure of success or change in business markets. For example, the fashion industry in 2022 was predicted to be worth $1.53 trillion US dollars and then forecasted to be at $1.7 trillion by the end of this year (Smith, 2023).
A sector in the industry that is that is performing well is the sportswear sector, this is especially true with the footwear inspired by trail or hiking shoes. Nike, Adidas or New Balance sports styled shoes are becoming increasingly popular in particular the shoes that are specific for sports such as Nike Dunks or New Balance 550s. However, shoes brands that make their shoes solely for the purpose of sports not just aesthetics, for example, Asics, has seen a significant rise in profits. By 30th June this year, Asics found that they had a 51.5% increase in net sales and 72.5% increase in profit (Miller, 2023). This is likely due to the longevity of the shoes because of the craftsmanship as the purpose of the shoes are specifically for sport. However, the fast fashion sector is the decline according to thred., large fast fashion brands are losing their market value and fashion fashion is on a steady decline. Brands such as Zara has lost 15% brand value and H&M’s brand value has gone down 26%.
For brands to remain competitive in uncertain economic times they need to focus on the consumer feeling as though the product is worth the money and can be treated as an investment or is sustainable. Looking after the planet and saving money is a major factor especially due to climate change and the changing value of money during inflation. Brands are being strategic by using social media as a competitive edge as it is being utilised to show transparency within and its production processes (Hethorn and Ulasewicz, 2015). Moreover, Zara uses vertical integration to help with transparency due to the reinvestment of profits into production processes. Moreover, shops such as Selfridges and Harrods have introduced rental programs which allow customers to borrow high-end designer clothes for an amount of time and then return them, reducing the amount of clothing bought and possibly thrown away later.
Creative directors can bridge the gap between creativity and commerce through experience (Tide-Frater, 2023). Creative directors want to convey their image to their customers and consumers, for example Karl Lagerfeld used sets and props that resembled biomes during his later fashion shows for Chanel (Mitterfellner, 2023). Another example is the Gucci Garden in Florence, Italy. The Gucci Garden is an immersive experience which includes the inspiration of Gucci collections and how iconic names of products such as the Jackie bag. Also, the Gucci Garden includes a tea room and boutique which include exclusive Gucci products that can only be purchased at that store.
Bibliography:
Byrne, J. (2023) ‘How the fashion industry will need to change in the coming years’, Thred. (Online) Available at:https://thred.com/style/how-the-fashion-industry-will-need-to-change-in-the-coming-years/ (last accessed 21st October 2023)
Hethorn, J and Ulasewicz, C. (2015) ‘Sustainable Fashion What’s Next?’, Fairchild Books (Online) Available at: https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781501312250&tocid=b-9781501312250-chapter4&pdfid=9781501312250.ch-004.pdf (last accessed 17th October 2023)
Mitterfellner, O. (2023) ‘Luxury Fashion Brand Management’, ProQuest Ebook Central (Online) Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/UAL/detail.action?docID=7260416 (Last Accessed 16th October 2023)
Smith, P. (2023) ‘Global apparel market – statistics & facts’, Statista (Online) Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/5091/apparel-market-worldwide/#topicOverview (Last accessed 20th October 2021)
Miller, D. (2023) ”Sportstyle’ Footwear is taking over the sneaker resale market’, Business of Fashion (Online) Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/retail/sportstyle-footwear-is-taking-over-the-sneaker-resale-market/ (last accessed 20th October 2023)
Tide-Fratner, S. (2023) ‘From Product to experience A journey in Fashion’, Profit, PowerPoint, Online Available at: https://ual-moodle-sitedata.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/5a/ca/5acae3448363ed334ee7126210706516304ded61?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22L2%20Industry%20Guest.pdf%22&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2PCH3OG65JHUZNKL%2F20231022%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20231022T192536Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21564&X-Amz-Signature=9ee51d6aea9c5d11d399baed9df0ff8c0877fac94d389371c21f1503c91180b1 (Last Accessed 16th October 2023)