Profit = revenue – expenditure. 

⋅

A large part of the fashion industry is profit, the financial gain of a business after consumption. Agreeably, fashions importance is very large, not only as a tool for self-expression, but also financial gain. The industry is a successful global business. According to corner.f (2014) the fashion industry is worth over one trillion dollars globally. It has become vital to the worldwide economy. Although the industry has a strong front, it is not perfect, there’s a necessity for improvement, for the progression of the overall profit. 

A method this can be done through, is sustainability. If this is achieved, social and environmental issues created by the industry would be addressed, and the profit gained would be large, benefiting the global economy, as achieving this would amass $192 billion (Swatski, 2021). 

(War-on-Want, 2023) 

Consumers have become increasingly proactive in supporting the environment after the breakout of Covid 19. As informed by a survey that was done during the pandemic, 67% of consumers reported that the use of sustainable materials is an important purchasing factor and 63% consider that a brand advertising sustainability carry’s the same significance. During the pandemic the industry began facing large shifts. How they dealt with production had to change and consumers were changing: 43% of them reported that they began to shop online during the crisis, (Granskog. A 2020).  
Consumers are changing and the industry must abide to these changes for continuity in growth.


The world is currently facing economic distress. Inflation is growing due to crises that have caused shaking effects and lowered the confidence of consumers, meaning that brands must be cautious while they attend to the world’s situation (McKinsey, 2022). Debenhams was hit hard by the pandemic which caused its fall. Debenhams was left with hundreds of shops that were not doing well: rents, wages and maintenance costs were rising, and they were left with debt, forcing all the stores to close. Henceforth, Debenhams was sold to Boohoo and is part of the e-commerce, which is more suitable for consumers. (Thomas, D 2020).
(Wright, 2023)

Overall, the fashion industry is a largely profitable business that must be run efficiently, which is why brands have creative directors. They attain the visual DNA of a brand, continuously reimagining it with modern appeals to satisfy consumers (mitterfellner, 2023) as well as renewing their businesses outlook, keeping it alive to suit consumer preferences.

Reading list:

Corner, f., ed. (2014). Why fashion matters. London: Thames&Hudson.

Granskog, A., (2020). Survey: consumer sentiment on sustainability in fashion. [online], available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/survey-consumer-sentiment-on-sustainability-in-fashion(Accessed 21st October 2023)

Mitterfellner, O., (2023). Luxury fashion brand management, unifying fashion with sustainability. Abingdon: Routledge.

Swatski, A., (2021). The economic impact of the fashion industry. [online], available at: https://fashinnovation.nyc/the-economic-impact-of-the-fashion-industry/  (Accessed October 20th, 2023).  

Thomas, D., (2020). What went wrong at Debenhams. [online], available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55144922 (accessed 21st October

Wright, G., (2023). How boohoo plans to get back to growth- with help from Debenhams. [online], available at: https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2023/05/boohoo-back-to-growth/ (accessed 22nd October 2023)

War-on-Want., (2023). Report|fashioning the future. [online], available at: https://waronwant.org/fashioning-future/global-impact-fashion-industry (accessed 22nd October)

Liked Liked
No Comments