Fashion and the People
When it comes to the fashion industry, the people are at the forefront of a brands focus. Fashion, beauty, and wellbeing choices are an integral part of consumers daily life (Gee, 2023). Without consumers, the fashion industry simply wouldn’t exist, it’s the people that keep the fashion alive. The people should be at the heart of everything a business does and as such, the people’s want, needs, expectations, and values should be communicated through the business’s own values and products.
Generation Z comprises people born between 1996 and 2010 and this generation’s identity has been shaped by the digital age, climate anxiety, shifting financial landscape, and Covid-19 (McKinsey and Company, 2023). Gen Z is a growing generation that are the first to experience their whole lives exposed to the digital world. As consumers, Gen Z focus more on factors such as sustainability and equity, as well as seeking out inspiration through clothing and garments. According to Amed, et al (2019), ‘Shoppers, particularly younger ones, have social and environmental issues on their minds’. Due to Gen Z’s monumental focus on such issues, there is an expectation for businesses, including those within the fashion world, to address these through their brands, their products, and within everything they do.
In response to the needs of Gen Z, businesses must fulfil their expectations through their brands and what their brand stands for. As mentioned previously, Gen Z are attracted to brands that highlight the importance of sustainability and equality yet, there are various ways in which businesses can appeal to this demographic. According to the report by McKinsey and Company, (2023), Gen Z demands purpose and accountability, the creation of more opportunities for people of diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, and rigorous sustainable and green practices. Furthermore, Gen Z are far more likely to participate on online shopping than previous generations and as such, businesses within the fashion world must take this into consideration when appealing to consumers of this generation. Being the first generation to have grown up entirely in the digital age, ‘social media platforms are their primary sources of information and inspiration. To promote you brand to Gen Z, it is crucial to have a strong social media presence’ (Animus marketing, 2023).
Moreover, inclusivity and diversity are significant when it comes to the people. Consumers want to see brands being inclusive and diverse and want to see this being communicated through products, campaigns, social media etc. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways including various model sizes, various ethnicities, various sexualities, various ages, the inclusion of disabilities. For instance, the fashion industry predominantly represents the western ideology of beauty. ‘Globally, Western beauty “ideals” pressure women and girls to conform to a fair skinned, youthful, thin, toned, able-bodied and physically “good looking” woman’ (Mckay, et al, 2018).
Fenty Beauty, British Vogue (Fetto, 2023)
Fenty beauty is a beauty brand centred around ethnic diversity, includes a foundation range of 50 shades that include shades for everyone and a marketing campaign that was as diverse as they come (Fetto, 2020). ‘Fenty Beauty connected emotionally with women who had long been treated as though they didn’t exist by the beauty industry. It not only highlighted the importance of being seen, it provided to the industry that women of colour have huge spending power, and that black can, and does, sell’ (Fetto, 2020).
With the fashion industry run by people, there are several skills that businesses expect from their employees, and their brand holistically, to be successful. There are of course the general skills including organisation, time management, communication, creativity, adaptability, etc. However, there are a variety of other skills that are significant currently, and that may vary from brand to brand, industry to industry. For instance, with consumers such as Gen Z, the importance of digital and technological skills is significant if brands want to reach this particular audience. Additionally, fashion-tech skills are constantly emerging and growing (Cifre, 2021). Thus, brands need to be ‘web-savvy’ and stay up to date with the latest technological advances- also including the development and changes within the social media realm.
References
Gee, L (2023) lecture, Welcome to Fashion business School, London College of Fashion 25 September 2023
McKinsey & Company (2023), What is Gen Z? Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z (Lat accessed: 13 October 2023).
Moran, G. (2022) Drapers, Gen Z and Millennials. Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/gen-z-and-millennials-2022 (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)
McKinsey & Company (2023), The A to Z on Gen Z. Available at: Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured- insights/themes/the-a-to-z-on-gen-z (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)
Animus Marketing (2023), How to Market Your Fashion Brand to Gen Z. Available at: https://animasmarketing.com/how-to-market-your-fashion-brand-to-gen-z/#:~:text=Gen%20Z%20is%20the%20first,media%20presence%2C%20especially%20on%20TikTok.?utm_content=cmp-true (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)
Mckay A, Moore S, Kubik W (2018), Western Beauty Pressures and Their Impact on Young University Women, International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies, American Research Institute for Policy Development, Vol. 6, pg. 1. (online) http://ijgws.com/journals/ijgws/Vol_6_No_2_December_2018/1.pdf(Last accessed: 14 October 2023)
Fenty Beauty by Rihanna (2023), Beauty for All, Available at: https://fentybeauty.com/ (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)
Fetto, F (2020), How Fenty Beauty Changed The State of Play In The Industry, British Vogue, Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/rihanna-fenty-beauty-diversity (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)
Cifre R A (2021), New FTAlliance report unveils the 8 key future jobs in fashion-tech, University of the Arts London, Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/knowledge-exchange/stories/new-report-unveils-8-future-jobs-in-fashion-tech (Last accessed: 14 October 2023)